There have been a few posts lately about the potential for some some huge changes in our country with the election of President Obama and the horrific downturn in the economy. Most people are scared, and I think there is much to be scared of. No one wants to contemplate what 10%, 20% unemployment is going to look like. A lot of people go to bed every night wondering if they will be included in the next round of lay-offs. Many people are beginning to wonder what a post-consumer driven economy is going to look like.

But, I'm wondering if, just possibly, that this downturn, this wake-up call, might just be a good thing, albeit a heavily disguised one at the moment.

I know that the poor and the lower middle class are going to feel the pain disproportionately during the process, and that thought deeply saddens me. But I'm beginning to think that in the long run, it may turn out to be a good thing.

What if we are able to come out the other side with some better values as a country? Like a greater respect for those who don't have a lot of money.  Like a realization that "stuff" doesn't bring happiness. Like doing the "right" thing is far better than doing the convenient thing.

What if housing prices go down enough, and everyone has health insurance, so that only one person in the family needs to work, and now one parent can stay home and raise the kids? Not only would kids be raised by people who love them instead of strangers, BUT, the need for so many jobs would go away.

What if families started living in these big ol' houses together...Mom, Dad, the kids, AND Grandma/Grandpa, instead of one family in a house they can barely afford and the other several states away?

What if we decided that one television per household was enough, that we don't need a land line and cells phones, that everyone in the family doesn't need their own computer, that we don't need to "own" every DVD or CD ever produced?  What if we went back to giving ourselves pedicures, mowing our own lawns, cooking our own dinners, cleaning our own houses? What if we lightened our loads a bit so that all our "extra" stuff didn't need to go into "storage" and we actually had enough room in the garage to park our cars? And that we could reduce our insurance premiums because we didn't have so much to insure? What if we started wearing our clothes until they wore out, instead of until the "fashion police" told us we were behind the times? Would life really suck that bad?

What if kids started playing outside again, reading books instead of playing meaningless and violent video games?  What if mom (or dad) taught them their ABCs and 123s and they started school in kindergarten instead of spending four years in preschool? What if libraries and city parks once again became places of wonder?

What if the reduced stress in our lives made it so we could better manage our marriages and divorce was the exception rather than the rule? What if we hiked and rode our bicycles instead of going to the gym? What if going out to dinner and movie was a real "treat" again?

Would the "less,"  the "lower" standard of living we are all so afraid of, be such a bad thing? I'm just wondering...