reflecting on the holidays

Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like, had we not made some of the major decisions that we have made in the last few years. For example, what would our children be like if we were still trying to "keep up with the Joneses"? What would they be like if we had cable TV and I worked a corporate job? I suspect that they would be like every other kid out there, obsessing over the latest video game or technological fad, while their parents struggle to make ends meet and keep the debt collectors at bay. Especially during the holidays...

My daughter would be whining for a cellphone by now, my son would want a new wii, and they'd no doubt be complaining that we don't yet have a huge flat panel HDTV hanging on our living room wall, with slick low profile home theater chairs and an illegal housekeeper to pick up the misplaced popcorn kernels. My wife would complain that her car is more than a year old, and isn't it time for a new lease? And me...well, I suppose I'd be looking at the iPhone and a new laptop, both equipped with bluetooth technology, and perhaps a crotch-rocket, sportscar or new truck to feed my early midlife crisis.

So while I sometimes believe that my life is worse off because I feel I am more aware of my impending surroundings and we've made some sacrifices and difficult decisions, I doubt that the twenty-first century version of ignorance is bliss.