More Things I'm Grateful For - Cheese

Recently, I posted a list of things I was grateful for now that our country is broke. I’ve received so many emails and messages regarding this post that I thought I would share some of my thoughts about it.

I was surprised to see that, like me, although people are very nervous about their financial certainty, there is a pervading sense of deep relief among those who sent me messages. Many people are finding that they have been living a life that has been dictated by their peers. They shop, primp, eat and socialize not for themselves but to keep from being trampled under the stiletto clad, manicured feet of the millions of other wannabe’s they are racing against. In a society where the brand of your purse and sunglasses has become more important than your intellect or personality, the pressure of keeping up with the Jones’s has left us ready to blow! Now, impending financial doom has made it ok and even stylish to throw aside some of our materials trappings and focus on - dare I say it – living within our means!!!!!

Margie Boulé a columnist for The Oregonia, the daily paper in Portland, Oregon wrote me to say she read my post and was inspired to write this column in which she fondly remembers leaner times in her life.

She writes, “When my Volkswagen bug broke down, it sat parked in front of my tiny apartment for months, because I couldn't afford to have it repaired. I once ate cheese for two days because it was the only thing left in my refrigerator. It was one of the happiest times of my life. My friends and I spent a lot of time together. We had spontaneous, outlandishly creative parties. We shared food. We laughed all the time.”

I think we Americans have been falling down drunk on excess and materialism and we are just now beginning to sober up and see what fools we made of ourselves dancing on the table at the office party.

We are joining together in a collective sigh of relief that the constant pressure to have more, buy more, get more, is finally easing up. Now we can look forward to getting back to life as it should be, guided by a bit of sober reality that will keep us in check and hopefully prevent us from reverting back to our old ways when things pick up.

Thanks Margie...