A man sees this small hut on the top of a mountain and begins climbing towards it. After hours of painstaking climbing, he arrives at the top.

A guru is sitting on a small rug in front of the hut. The guru says, “I bet I know what you came to see me about. You want to know the meaning of life.” The man replies, “No, my car broke down at the bottom of the mountain, and I need to call a tow truck.”

All of us seek to find the meaning of life and the older we get, the more we question if we have found it. While working in Sunnyside School at the county fair this past week, a young girl came in to see the school and we talked about what she was doing at the fair and about school and other things.

She reminded me of Anne in "Anne of Green Gables." Like Anne, she was very inquisitive and seemed to have an excellent outlook on life. She was energetic, smiling and asked good questions. I gave her a copy of one of my books and inscribed it, “Hannah, lead a good life.”

What is a good life? Everyone has their own interpretation. Lucy of the Peanuts Gang says, “All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!” If everyone could get what Lucy wants, we would be better off than we are now.

What would you say if you had to pick out the ingredients for a good life? Here are a few recommendations.

Since our dogs recently got sprayed twice by the same skunk, I would have to put a quart of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and Dawn dish soap at the top of the list. Washing your dogs with this solution does work. I hope you don’t have to use it and get on with leading a good life.

To continue with my list, let’s put good memories on it. I saw many people sit at those old brown country school desks in Sunnyside School.

The young kids who enjoyed them had no idea what it was like to attend a country school, and for this reason, Sunnyside School was preserved.

During my first four years in school, I sat in one of those brown desks with cast iron scroll work on the side and about a three-inch hole located at the top right for an ink well.

Because all of the desks were attached to a long wooden board to keep them in a straight line, a student could hide behind the person in front in case he didn’t want to or couldn’t answer the question posed by the teacher. Maybe this is why all the “bad” kids had to sit in the front seats.

Those old desks evoked many memories from the older folks who visited the school; you can be sure that most of the memories were good and meaningful. It’s important to have memories of good things because, at the end of our life, that’s all we have left.

Did you know that if you wake up with a smile on your face and go to bed with a smile on your face, you will live longer? Smiling can also make you more attractive and look more youthful.

The muscles we use to smile lift the skin on your face and make you appear younger. When you smile, your brain releases tiny molecules called neuropeptides to help fight off stress. One of these stress fighters is serotonin, an antidepressant.

Here’s another thing about smiling. When you smile, others are also more likely to smile. When kids smile for you, don’t you also give a smile in return? Acting like a kid again when you get older is good medicine.

Every day you should do something that you like to do. It will give you something to look forward to. This is why hobbies are so important; they give us something to look forward to.

I promised myself I would go fishing yesterday even though the Vikings were playing for the first time this season. The Vikings have brought much enjoyment to my life, but I think it is about time to turn them off and do more meaningful things like reading or fishing, exercising or even cleaning my office and workshop.

We have become a society of volunteers and Beltrami County has thousands of them. We recognize that helping someone rejuvenates our spirit and makes us feel better.

Everyone should do something daily to help someone. It could be as simple as making a phone call or sending a card. Many of you do so much more, and even though you don’t need or want to be recognized for your good deeds, I hope you realize that you are making the world a better place and without you, our world would not be as good.

Leading a good life or finding the secret of life doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out what makes life tick — recalling good memories, smiling, doing something every day for someone, having something to look forward to,and eating some chocolate if you need to.

All of these will help you lead a good life. If Hannah wants to keep some baking soda and hydrogens peroxide around just in case, it’s always good to be prepared.

I want to add one other essential ingredient to our list. Beltrami County is a county of spirituality. I am exaggerating, but there is almost a church on every corner. Many of our volunteer efforts are motivated by our spiritual background.

I don’t believe I ever attended a significant event in Red Lake or White Earth that didn’t begin with prayer, even, yes, at public school events.

So, I am trying to say that if you wish to lead a good life, if you are searching for the good life, say a prayer every day and you are more likely to find it. If you want to say more than one, that’s fine and dandy.

Riddle: Two fathers and two sons went fishing. Each caught two fish and but they only came home with six fish. How do you explain this? (Answer: The fishermen were a man, his son and his grandson.). Doing a brain teaser daily will help you lead a good life by keeping your brain active.

We wish to thank Alan Roy, Bemidji Bus Line, Jason Riggs, Minnesota Citizens Concerned For Life and Northern Minnesota Robotics Conference for being the most recent to join the 100% graduation rate initiative.

John R. Eggers of Bemidji is a former university professor and area principal. He also is a writer and public speaker.