I'm what is called an avid reader. In addition to reading fiction for enjoyment, I like to read to gain information, especially health-related articles and those that give me financial information.

For at least a decade, I've subscribed to the Motley Fool for easy-to-read financial information. Today's article was headlined: "Warren Buffet's advice on how to get rich."That's one I didn't read. I have no interest in reading it because I don't need to get rich.I am rich.So many times I glory in nature and think it's almost too wondrous to comprehend the riches of nature."It's a beautiful day," my husband often says. And he's right. It is. I feel rich when I have another full day to call my own stretched out before me.Each day is a treasure chest, and I can fill it whatever way I choose, selecting the riches I most want for myself.There are plenty of things to do, plenty of places we can rush off to. But that's all "busyness." What fills the soul is a bit of solitude to drink in the beauty of our little piece of paradise.No matter where we live, we each have a little piece of paradise if we just take time to appreciate it. But if we're always rushing, always "doing," we might miss soothing sights that are ours for the taking.Sometimes I sit in my hot tub at night and look at the full moon, taking in the way its light dances on the still water in the lagoon.A blue heron nested in the tree across the way breaks the silence of the night. Briefly, others join in before settling down once again. I hear what I think are tree frogs calling. Sometimes I just like to close my eyes and listen.I feel rich when I can sit here appreciating the night and the sounds of nature. It is so peaceful. So relaxing.David and I often comment to each other that we are thankful for the riches in our life, starting with the riches of having each other.There are so many times and so many ways when we know we are rich.My sweet daughters and the friends in my life are my most cherished riches. Old friends are my pure gold while new ones are my silver.When I can go to the beach, I know I am rich.It doesn't matter if it's windy, rainy, cloudy or a beautiful sunny day. Every experience at the beach fills me with the richness of our world.Often, when I pass beachfront mansions, I think it doesn't matter if you own one of those mansions or if you're just passing by. No matter how much money you have or don't have, you can drink in the awe, the wonder and the tranquility of sitting by the sea.Sometimes when life gets to be too much about money or possessions, it crowds our mind and takes away that sense of wonder.Little kids have the most incredible sense of wonder. If you're lucky enough to have a little one in your life, you know what I mean.A baby will look at its toes in total fascination.A small child will jump in a puddle and laugh with glee.Somewhere along the way, as we age, we lose that spontaneous joy, that sense of wonder with the world.We become caught up in what we call life. We always have a problem that needs to be solved or something that needs to be done.We think we have no time for frivolous things. We tell ourselves we would like to walk in the park or sit and listen to nature. But we have no time. We have things we have to do.Eventually though, we get to another stage of life. We leave the stage of accumulation and constant busyness and enter the stage of appreciation.We stop rushing and start noticing things we never did before. We learn a new way of "seeing."We see the faces of the people we encounter.We see the miracles of creation and we think about the wonder of it all.We pay a price for a ticket to that Land of Contentment. Often, the price is age and the passing of years.Sometimes it's retirement and sometimes it's changing life's circumstances that allow us to buy a ticket to that new contentment.But once we have arrived, once we have rediscovered the sense of awe and wonder that we lost after childhood, we know with all certainty that we are rich.The Motley Fool and Warren Buffet can tell us how to create lucrative stock portfolios and how to accumulate wealth.But they can't tell us about true riches.That's something we each have to discover for ourselves.