How to get rich in 5 years

Mr. E.....pondering the ancients

Another five year anniversary came and went on August 1st with little fanfare.  My wife was in Haiti and my kids were with their grandparents, otherwise it may have been more eventful.  August 1 marked the first day of my preservation/consulting business after I left the only post-college job I had known in 2008.  I wasn't sure where that leap of faith would take me.

Well, I'll tell you where it took me.

I spent the better part of the day on August 1, 2013, trompsing around in the woods with a most interesting 88 year old man with a long career in agriculture on a federal level, and a profound history with politics.  The old kind.
Mr. E, as we'll call him, had a number of questions about the history he has managed to preserve on his family's farm that dates back to 1854.  The history of the farm includes some fascinating glacial kettles that are believed to have been American Indian meeting sites, along with a known Indian trail that traverses his property.  As would be expected, I was soaking it in.

He asked if I would stay for lunch.  Sure.  A helper made us sandwiches, we said grace, and dove in.  After some more interrogation by Mr. E, he stopped and said "what absolutely fascinating work you are involved in".  I concurred, then I followed it up by saying it was never going to make me rich.  To which he suggested the measure of wealth is not in dollars, but in the richness of people in our lives and then what we give our lives to.....the satisfaction of enjoying what we do.

Well said.  I'd still like to be pulling down six figures, but well-said nonetheless.  And it was probably what I needed to hear on this 5-year anniversary of sorts.  I get dang frustrated on any number of issues that arise but I still set my own hours doing what I enjoy.  I'm not sure you can put a price tag on that.  I've been fortunate to have met so many great people, visit cool and interesting places, and learn some fascinating Hoosier history.....and to this day when people ask what I do, I get a smile on my face when I say, well, it's a little hard to explain.