Last week, I saw an interesting article about how the economy was showing slight signs of life, but employers were reticent to hire and people were cautious in their purchasing.  Somehow, this situation suddenly hit me as an opportunity calling.  Here’s why …

We’re in the early phases of an enormous transition.  Changes go way beyond saving on utility bills.  And people are sensing that “waiting for the economy to recover so we can go back to normal living” is a little like “waiting for the Robert E. Lee.”  Confidence in government or corporations to “save the day” is, according to recent research, plummeting.

Part of the transition is what everyone’s been looking at – living with the Earth … using the sun and wind and rain to take care of our needs.  And our Garden Atrium development demonstrates that you can live with only natural resources … and live well.  No compromise in quality.  Garden Atrium residents even report their allergies vanished within days.

The BP disaster – ruining the Gulf of Mexico and causing enormous damage to human health, to the Gulf economy, to marine and wildlife, and to one major source of food – is not the only oil-related disaster.  You might also recall frightening disasters with nuclear power.  Have you read about the enormous disasters caused by photovoltaic or wind power?

They’re absent.

We can live safer, better and less expensively using natural resources.

Another part of the transition is the shift from quantity to quality.

Our economies have traditionally been built on growth.

• Buy a house or stock for one price, sell at a higher price.

 

• Grow a company or a government agency.

 

• Put money in a bank;  watch it grow.

 

And if every company grows by some amount every year, we’d have more jobs, more income, more money with which to buy the things we all want … more and more.  In a sense, “More is better.”  Thus … the “Rat Race.”

Rather than asking, “How much did I make last year?” perhaps we need to shift our thinking to qualitative terms …

How rich was my life experience last year?

How can this year give me a better quality of

life experience than the one I had last year?

What in my life gives me the greatest personal

joy?  And how can I experience more of that?

“Quality of life” will be different for each of us.  The only person who can measure the joy you experience is … you.

When my two sons were little – such as 5 and 7 – my wife and I took great pains to think of Xmas gifts that were really special.  We wrapped them carefully.  And hid them, so the first time they’d be seen would be under the tree on Christmas morning.  The greatest glee from the kids was the discovery of gifts for them.

Then they tore open a gift, put it aside, tore open the next, and within an hour they were ready to go outside and play … leaving rubble in their wake.

Years later, I learned a great lesson from my oldest son, who was completing his undergraduate degree …

“It’s not what the gift costs or how many gifts you give.

It’s the personal thought that goes into a gift that counts most.

It’s an expression of how you feel about and care about that person.”

 

I was overjoyed to be on the receiving end of really insightful counsel from my kids.  (It saved me a bundle of money, too!)

Last week, I was interviewed on a radio talk show about “Sustainability.”  As we got into a quality of life discussion, the host said that another caller reported they had initiated an “unplugged evening” every week.  All electronics were turned off – TV, computers, cell phones – and the family came up with something they might do together that they’d all enjoy.  Evidently, it worked so well, they expanded the practice.

Quality of life for that family increased …

And expenses went down.

I sense our economy just “sits there” … kind of “leveling.”  We still buy things we really need.  But do I really need so much that I have to rent a mini-warehouse to store things I never use?  And rather than sit in fear of “the economy” – which we can’t personally control, anyway – why not think about things we can do … because of the soft economy.

Can we work fewer hours?  Many employers are more

comfortable hiring part-timers, as it reduces their risk.

And if we have one less work day a week, what might we do with that day that could most boost our feelings about how great our week is now?

I’ve always found that it was easier to grouse about what I didn’t like than to sit back and ask myself …

“What can I do today that would give me the greatest joy?”

I remember someone interviewing Jane Fonda, after her father passed away, asking how much money she made on her exercise videos.  Her answer went something like,

“When I’m on my death bed, thinking back over my life,

           I don’t think my net worth will be what’s on my mind.”

On the last page of my book, “Sustainability,” is a passage contributed by a party I referred to as “D.”  It centers on joy.  And it helped me see the true essence of what this whole “sustainability” movement is really about.

I see this stagnant economy – one aspect of a world in transition – as an opportunity to ask ourselves what truly gives each of us joy … real joy.  Once we get more in touch what – for me at least – may be an elusive answer, I believe we have a magnificent opportunity in disguise!