Why the Economic Crisis Will Save Us

Nobody likes pain. We avoid it. We complain about it We talk about it at the coffee shop. We look for swift relief. And we judge it as bad.

A pain we all seem to be sharing lately is an economic one. The inevitable consequences of our choices over the last 30 years or so - spending beyond our means, believing the ends justify the means, compromising our integrity and values, putting money ahead of service, and believing what each of us does individually doesn't effect others - have come back to bite us.

The good news is that there is a silver lining in every challenge, and in this case, the silver lining is huge.

Consider these perspectives of where we've been:

Over-indulgence with clearing forest land for bigger houses, parking lots, and shopping malls has removed the vegetation that absorbed excess water from rain, melting snow, and storms. This has contributed to producing 1100% more wildfires, 260% more floods, and 921% more in economic catastrophe losses than 3 decades ago.

Choosing convenience and comfort over frugality and clear-headedness, we increased fossil fuel consumption every year since 1965, destroying ozone layers and multiplying CO2 levels in the atmosphere to the point we are in danger of destroying the planet that is our home.

We have, without paying much attention, or perhaps because we thought we could get away with it, overstuffed ourselves to the extent that the average American has gained a pound a year over the last 20 years, doubling our obesity rate in the same time period. One-third of us are now dangerously overweight, contributing to our poorer health and already out-of-control health care costs for which we are now paying the piper.

We had become a nation that was out of control.

The good news of pain is that its a powerful motivator. It gets our attention. And herein lies our salvation.

Our apathy has been replaced with a caring about how business is run in America. We have returned to a deepened concern over our environment. We have renewed our interest in funding education, infrastructure, and alternative energy. We have awakened our sensitivity to treating those different from us as equals.

More are seeing that the needs of the poor do matter as much as the wants of the rich. We're developing a sharpened perception that we're all in this together. More of us are considering that acknowledging our unity and engaging in cooperation could yield better results than manipulating and cheating to beat out our competition. We're noticing that helping our neighbors feels better than ignoring them. We have returned to the sanity that paying our overdue bills has once again become important.

The gift of pain is that it causes us to do something different. We are good people, and we're learning from our past choices.

We have ushered in a new era of hope. We are now confronting the abuses of the past and returning to American values of honesty, openness, integrity, hard work, and caring for those next door. We've been bounced out of denial into an awakening. We are acting like the America our world neighbors have been hoping for. We've begun the road back.

Although the pain is uncomfortable, it has saved our future. We're very lucky. As we channel our anger, angst, new awareness, and attention to doing what's right, the possible becomes inevitable - we will make our world a better place.

(David Larson, M.S., C.P.C.C., is a licensed psychologist, life coach, and leadership trainer. He can be contacted at the Institute For Wellness, 507-373-7913, or at his website www.callthecoach.com