Sometimes in life, you come across a thing that empowers you to have that extra edge in life that gives you an advantage over other people lost in the struggle to survive. Many people remark about my life, about how I have kept it going with so much enthusiasm and productivity. If I were to boil it down to its simplest terms, these would be the secrets to a happy and long life, by Herb Roi Richards.
Top 10 Steps to a Long and Happy Life
- Purpose and Passion
- Independent Thinking
- Find Your Thing
- Address Mortality
- Nutrition and Consciousness
- Consider Joyous Joblessness
- Overcome Obstacles
- Embrace Alternative Methodologies
- Eliminate Disease
- Biological Raw Materials
1. Purpose and Passion
Before one even has the idea about living a happy and long life, one must have a sense of meaning, a reason to live, something in your life that you can look forward to, something that gives you the idea that by living your life you may be able to make a contribution to others or the world in some way, something that you are passionate about, that activity that when you’re doing it, the time just slips away.
2. Independent Thinking
I was raised by intellectuals who were well-educated, avid researchers, who never believed any cover story as it was represented. They always dug into the details to come to their own conclusions. My mother was renowned for creating new alternative methods of teaching children for alternative schools. Of the many contributions she made, she authored Teaching and Learning Made Simple. Growing up, like that, gave me the skills to think independently and dig deep into any subject I put my mind to while remaining outside the box of tradition.
3. Find Your Thing
For me, early on in life, I found my passion in a two-wheeled driving machine, the motorcycle. I was enthusiastically enthralled with every detail about the machine, and I just could not get enough of it. As no surprise to anybody who knew me back then, I ended up opening my own motorcycle engineering shop and began modifying motorcycles for customers who had higher expectations for their bikes that were not commercially available at the time.
I raced motorcycles, a passion that I passed on to my sons, we built a racetrack out back, and I was one of the first importers of Honda motorcycles in the USA. I successfully modified one of their early designs to create the first two-wheeled ATV. The design was so impressive that Honda adopted the design, creating one of the most popular models ever created by Honda, introducing a whole new line of on-road/off-road bikes industry-wide.
All that is to say, I had found my passion and felt like I could contribute, and I did.
4. Address Mortality
Then I was hit by the idea of limited mortality when I lost my wife to cancer treatment. This guided me into the field of alternative healing and longevity. I received my Ph.D. in Natural Nutrition, and as I discovered more about life, our bodies, the food we eat, and our relationship with the planet we were entrusted with, my mind and my heart began to expand.
5. Nutrition and Consciousness
I adjusted the framework of my studies to expand into consciousness, which would later turn into quantum physics, and my mind expanded considerably. I met a woman who was also deeply interested in these emerging expanded ideas, and she became my wife. I cannot emphasize enough the freedom and empowerment that comes from being equally yoked with that special someone traveling a path similar to yours.
6. Consider Joyous Joblessness
Not content with the idea of having to support ourselves with a 9 to 5 job, we decided to take a creative approach to support ourselves in a way that was more congruent with our new beliefs and lifestyle, and our journey was detailed in our book, “The Joy of Being Jobless.” Breaking free from “working for the man” is one of the greatest things you can do to eliminate day-to-day stress from your life and increase your income exponentially.
7. Overcome Obstacles
My new wife and I were blindsided by a health challenge when I came down with Lyme disease and passed it on to her when it was not supposed to be contagious, and I was never bitten by a tick. As you may have expected by now, I began digging and discovered alternative methods of dealing with chronic Lyme disease. Using alternative methods that would send any doctor running and screaming into the sunset in disbelief, we were able to get over the incurable disease in one year. Our journey is documented in, “Lyme Disease Non-Medical Diagnosis and Treatment: How I Kicked Chronic Lyme Disease in One Year for Pennies.”
Had I not been able to discover an alternative method of dealing with chronic Lyme disease, it may have greatly impeded my intention to live a long and happy life. I am so grateful for my parents creating within me the inkling to look outside the box and do my own research. Otherwise, my battle with Lyme would have been a life sentence.
8. Embrace Alternative Methodologies
My wife, Taylore, and I studied Reiki, became Reiki Masters, and ended up creating a more expansive type of Reiki with expanded consciousness. This evolved into what we now practice as Laser Reiki at our Reiki Ranch near Chehalis, Washington, where we teach Usui Reiki and Laser Reiki at our school.
9. Eliminate Disease
I joined with a friend of mine, Wayne Rowland, to develop the Disease Symptom Elimination Program, which is a combination of my Lyme disease protocol and his Parasite Cleanse and Deworming Program. This is an alternative method of wiping out anything physiologically that might stand between you and a long and happy life. Our Disease Symptom Elimination Program can be found in Wayne’s book, “Silver Water Colloidal: Silver for Humans’ Health, Wellness, and Healing.”
10. Biological Raw Materials
This, combined with my simple eating habits of consuming natural foods, mostly uncooked, and avoiding commercially branded foods and eateries, making sure that my body has the nutrients and minerals that it needs to regularly repair and rebuild, keeps my body and mind going enthusiastically into the future, with full health and happiness.
My dietary ideas can be found as a bonus in my book, “If Global Warming Continues.”
My wish for you is that you find the passion and enthusiasm to do what it takes to carve out your own path to meaning, longevity, and happiness.
About Herb Roi Richards, Ph.D.
Herb writes under the names –
- Herb Roi Richards for health & consciousness subjects
- Herb Uhl for motorcycle and mechanical subjects
Herb was born in 1929 and is still looking forward to a long life.