Wish granted and the following dose of reality

Well Lila and Zoe have been begging me for a bunk bed for I don't know how long. Probably four years. Molly never really wanted them to have one because of the danger issue and they already had beds so there was never a good reason to get them one. But when I finished their bedroom in the basement I decided to get them one so that there would be more room in their room. So I found a cheap one at a garage sale and scrubbed it and painted it and put it up. Wow, they were so excited and happy to finally have a bunk bed. All their little dreams had come true. But it turns out that once they had what they wanted, they realized it wasn't really as good as they always thought it would be. Every night I go down to check on them before I go to bed and almost every night this is what I find:

They are almost always asleep together on the bottom bunk. Sweet right? Except for the fact that the time and money I spent on the bed was wasted! I should have just sold one of their beds one EBay and I would have been ahead a little money and they would still have the same sleeping arrangement that they have now. Oh well. I guess that is the way it goes with a lot of stuff we want. We think there is something that would make us so happy that just the thought of having it makes us giggle. And then we get it and our so excited to have it and show everybody how awesome it is. And then, it just turns out that after we have it for a bit that we figure out that our life probably isn't that much better because of it. Sure, we still probably like it, but it doesn't really gratify us the way we hoped it would. I have really tried to start thinking about what things are really worth my fawning over (is fawning a word) and what things are probably not worth it. I read a book not long ago called "collapse" about how much we consume as a society and it really made me conscious of how much we waste the limited resources our planet can provide us with. Well actually it was about the collapse of different societies throughout the history of the planet and how one of the recurring themes in their collapses was excessive use of their available resources. So that got me paying closer attention to what kind of things I buy and trying to not just buy stuff to have something.

And lately I have had some similar thoughts running around in my head about what is really important for me to be doing with myself and my resources. These thoughts have been less about consumerism and more about trying to become a better person and being more prepared for anything that might come. These days with all the crazy financial market swings and the banks failing and the economy going down the toilet have been really interesting to me. I think I worry a lot about what is to come and how hard it will be getting there and getting back. But something that is surprising to me is that even though I seem to be worried, I kind of look at what is going on and am excited. People think I am crazy, but more often than not, I am just like, "bring it on!" I don't know if it is the adventurer in me or what, but I secretly hope that the whole financial system fails and we go back to the wild west days of living off the sweat of our brows. Now of course the people that lived through the last great depression would probably think I am crazy for wanting some giant slump. And I probably am I guess. I just think that people don't realize what damage they are doing to our society by our whole living on credit mindset and that something drastic will have to happen before people will change. If the economy has to tank and everyone has to have a wake up call for us to change our ways, then I think that will probably be what is best.

And I guess I am ranting so I might as well continue on with current politics. Man those guys (and gal) drive me crazy. It is just so hard to have faith in the future of America with the current choice of our future leaders. On the one hand you have Barack who has never taken much of a stand for anything before in the political arena and who has spent time with crazy radicals but who says he is tired of typical politics and is for "change". But based on his past voting record in the senate and his lack of previous credentials I don't really feel like we can judge his prior experience with any certitude. And then there is McCain the "Maverick" who has been in Washington so long that he seems out of touch with reality. And though I do have some respect for Bush and think at the end of the day, no one can say he didnt' try, we are hurting in a lot of ways that we weren't before he came to office and McCain does seem to have a similar mindset to Bush (even though he seems to be realizing that if he doesn't change his mind he won't get many votes). And at first Palin seemed like she would be a nice change to have someone new come in and shake things up a bit. Kind of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But the more I listen to her, the more she scares me. She seems so aggressive. Like if anyone were going to push that nuke button, she would be the one to do it without much hesitation. And regardless of who actually wins the election, it seems that with all of the other career politicians and corruption in Washington that it doesn't really matter. I have been reading the biography of John Adams by David McCullough and I just think, please God, send us someone more like him. We need more people with the kind of vision and integrity that he had. So I tend to despair on the future of our country. But really I should have more hope. The audacity of hope as one might say. I should focus more on serving others where I can and hope that others will do the same. Really we just need to stop being self-centered and start caring for others as they did in the past. I can only hope that as myself and others try to do that, things will slowly start to turn around. Hope. It's all we can do in these crazy times.