Our current recession is all over the news. Some argue that we may never recover from this recession. Houses have been foreclosed and people are losing jobs at an alarming rate. Even Microsoft, one of the iconic companies of the Information Age, announced a slew of cuts that will leave highly talented individuals without a job. It’s a bit sobering to think that job security is a thing of the past. With the exception of, maybe, doctors, everyone fears that their jobs are in danger.

One thing that I worry about is actually the people who don’t lose a job or a home – those that don’t have to change their spending habits at all. What will happen to their perception of hardship and recession? It’s possible that their view of a recession will involve no pain at all. While there are groups of people with much bigger concerns right now, such as the unemployed, I can’t help but worry that even the unscathed will lose something in this recession. They will lose the ability to empathize with those that endured real hardship through this difficult time. And in the face of future hardship, we group of us will have learned nothing from past mistakes.

There will be those of us that went through hell, and those of us that thought we went through hell.

When I see big news on television or on the internet, I think to myself “what would I change about myself as a result of this news?” or “what do I need to do differently now that I’ve heard this?”

Often, the answer is “nothing.” When I realize that I can’t really do anything about what’s going on or that I can’t make any changes to respond to problems with the economy, I just go along my merry way. I find I’m a lot happier now.

Now of course, if you realize that there is something that you need to change, then, by all means, go ahead and make those changes.