Hard times are upon us and woe is us.

No shock here… Advertising sales are down, marketing expenditures are down, home sales are down, auto sales are down… everything is down. This is the new malaise that defines our time. God knows we need something: Iraq is going, George W is gone, and we need something new on which to focus our depression.

Not to be contrarian, but, I think we are in the best of times for a very simple reason.

Big things only happen in bad times, not good. In good times I find that I don’t change much nor does the world at large. When things are good, we all want them to continue, and would rather not shake the “happy boat.” A little complacency, a little fear, a lot of greed.

When things are not going so well, one can start to entertain much more radical, forbidden things. A new life without the things once considered indispensable. Without the comfort of a $5 latte, or high maintenance job or pet or wife.

The good news is that rough times can give a person an insight to larger values and the clarity to see a new path to profoundly new objectives. And a better life.

This is when the best reason is having nothing to lose, cause you lost it all already.

So what the hell, do it.