No, really, it's free. Promise.

The way things have been going in the world in recent years (read: downhill like a roadblock boulder on a sled), people feel they have countless excuses to feel miserable and depressed. Most people can't afford to drive as much, fly as much, or eat out as much. The American Dream, it seems, is quickly becoming a nightmare.

Adjusting to changing economic conditions is a pain, isn't it? When people are forced to cut back significantly just to survive, they often rather uselessly long for the old days when things were cheaper and they could live more extravagantly. They wish their neighborhoods are still as safe as they used to be. They feel a dread sense of emptiness wash over them when they realize they won't be able to finance a trip to Orlando next winter and will have to involve SPAM in a home-cooked dinner at least three nights a week. They will be tied to their jobs year-round, providing they're lucky and won't have their jobs slashed. And once they can no longer cover it up with evening trips to elaborate restaurants, annual vacations to overrated tourist destinations, and drives across the city to the biggest mall in the country for excessive shopping sprees, many of them will begin to realize just how superficial and empty their lives were in the first place, because it mostly revolved around money.

My life is much less about money and materialism, and I think that's why higher gas prices, more expensive seats on flights, and a suffering housing market doesn't really get me down much. I admit that I am fortunate in my circumstances, being a young bachelor living in a magnificent tropical wonderland of rainbows and waterfalls. I'm hardly immune from many of the economy's problems, but I feel as if I'm somewhere on the edge of it rather than inundated in the middle of it. I feel the creature comfort of being able to dash off into the rainforest or the mountains and leave it all behind at any time, if only temporarily, is vital for me at this point. If it wasn't for my profound spiritual connection with Mother Earth, and the love in my heart transferred to and fro the other beloved hearts of my friends and family, I would probably be one with the miserable masses. What else is there to live for? Oh yeah, all the simple pleasures that can make each day unique... and don't require a dime.