Watching CNN, they were showing a woman discussing a change in her lifestyle due to high gas prices. Driving a huge SUV, it took $64.00 to fill it and it needed to be filled several times a week due to commute schedule etc. The income shift which required more to be allocated for gas, forced her to change her shopping to such a degree that she no longer would take her kids grocery shopping with her because she didn't want to hear them ask for all sorts of things that before she'd say yes to but now she had to say No!
I'm sure we'll see more and more stories around this economic challenge and it will go far beyond one person's shopping habits. We are about to discover just how oil dependent we are. Everything has a drop of oil in it somewhere. Think that a carrot doesn't have oil in it? Think again--it was packaged in a plastic (oil) bag, shipped (oil) to a distribution center, shipped to your store etc. It doesn't take long to see the rise in price of a barrel of oil creates a ripple effect in so many different systems.
But this posting isn't about fear--it's about discovering that we don't have to look at this shift as necessarily a bad thing. It might actually be the best thing that could happen to us. After we get over the shock of realizing that shopping habits will have to change, we might be pleased to discover that "you are not what you own". It is time to discover there is quality of life after quantity of stuff! Get excited about this. The time once spent in massive consumption can now be spent doing things like reading books, exercising, sharing with friends, learning guitar, reading to your children. Being still. Life Puzzle-making! :)
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