I was having trouble sleeping the other night, so I started flipping through some websites.

I found that Rutgers University in 2022 said there was a large decline in bee populations, particularly at fruit farms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Why, no one knows.

But it triggered something way in the back of my memory...

A queen bee, though larger, is genetically identical to the worker bees in her hive. And even though she just sits around laying eggs, she lives 10 times longer.

So I went to my bookshelf and pulled out a book I had bought at an anonymous airport somewhere in the world many years ago.

It was how to live longer through laziness.

Written by two French doctors, it confirmed other strange facts about longevity:

• Animals live up to 20 times longer in a zoo than in the wild. Part of this is attributed to 'meals on wheels'... they don't have to spend most of their time hunting for food.

• Large animals, the ones that move slower than the others... elephants, tortoises, whales, and bears have a vastly longer lifespan than hummingbirds, mice, and other quick-moving animals.

• Most athletes have a short life. But slow-moving gardeners live long.

It seems that the amount of vigorous exercise we do can play a big part in how long we live.

According to this slim book, a long life boils down to this startling fact... we all have a certain amount of life energy allotted to us for our lifetime.

If we use up this pool of energy with excessive activity, we don’t live as long.

You often find examples of royalty and the rich living well past their expected lifespan.

It may be in their genes, maybe not. I think it is because they do very little tough manual work.

Rightly or wrongly, I really like the lazy theory. It seems to add up.

And here’s where the lotto comes in.

Money can buy services to reduce your workload. And doing so preserves your energy.

Funds make life safer too. I have several friends who have permanently damaged themselves by falling off roofs and trees while doing home maintenance. They were too cheap to call in a maintenance guy.

Wads of cash are fine. They shield you from the arduous work that can damage your health. 

But money provides something else my book also discovered... contentment.

Your mental state is important in this wonder theory. The happier you are, the longer your life.

Hollywood film stars live longer if they get an Oscar or Academy Award. And it's some 4 years longer, according to a recent study.

George Burns lived to be 100 years old. Olivia de Havilland, famous for her role in "Gone with the Wind," reached the age of 104 years.

Kirk Douglas was known for his work in movies like "Spartacus" and lived to be 103 years old.

Probably the amount of public respect for their talent helps on their longevity trip.

And it's well recognized that the rich live longer. Whether it be with better health care, or simply the lack of worry about where their next meal is coming from, it all helps.

These factors have got to be a big incentive for us all to strive for a life of ease. You can do it in several ways.

By living simply. Fewer expectations mean less hassle and worry.

Or have your easy life on a silver plate, handed out to you through the accumulation of large sums of greenbacks:

• You can buy grocery delivery - I have mine delivered by the local supermarket just by clicking on their online website.

• You can buy home services like cleaning, painting, groundwork, and gardening.

• When you buy further up the automobile scale, your local dealer will have your car collected and delivered for servicing.

• You can have a live-in housekeeper and a cook to make your meals.

Today is the day you must decide to live simply or live richly.

Because winning the lottery tomorrow MAY be the day that changes your life ... or extends it!