So the planet has less money. Now what?

I've been reading a lot of "gloom and doom" predictions about the world economy recently. Everyone is under the impression that there will be a "double dip" recession, taxes are going to be sky high and benefits are going to almost completely go away. Banks are not giving out loans to small or new companies, mortgage lending is quite bad (at least when I looked recently and decided to give up) and people are thinking twice now about going to university to improve their chances of getting a higher paying job (find articles about "college bubble").
I don't even really need to link news stories to the sentences above, because there really are that many.

So the planet seems to have less money, now. At the very least, the number of people controlling the wealth of the planet has shrunk considerably (I would actually have to find some articles to make that assumption, but anyway...).

My point is, so what now? Having less money doesn't mean you have to be less happy or fulfilled in your life.

I predict that people will change the way they look at happiness (once they come out of their personal depression) and that they will pursue the following areas more:

1. Experience over possessions (there is already a small trend for this)
2. More family and community (connecting with people makes you happier and live longer)
3. An increase in Spirituality (usually happens after long periods of pain or depression)

Overall, I see this as an exciting time to be human as we are going to discover a lot more about ourselves and others.

To help us start our path to happiness, I have attached a small booklet from neweconomics.org that gives you 5 ways to be happier everyday.

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