Window Shopping

The constant barrage of gripes about the spiralling economy zaps our energy like a punch to the liver. The media is so rife with negative comments we come to believe the end is nigh, but actually we've just taken a predictable dive; a glance into the recent past will reveal the commonality of economic rise and fall.

The writing is always on the wall, but we chose to ignore it, as it offends like graffiti, or we just refuse to admit to reality and develop our own ignorant stance to live in a state of constant illusion. Until we're hard hit by the harshness's of reality, and suddenly our conditioned views are obliterated. They can come in many forms, like fire, floods, poverty and most of all the non discriminatory nature of economic falter.

The air we breathe is the same, though, perhaps a little more polluted, the ground we trod stills expands and contracts, our hearts pound a constant rhythm, but there is less money to play with, and, only an economist or financier can explain the reasoning behind it all.

A few years down the road the storm will be over, and, again, lull into a false sense of security until the next shock wave, but that's life, mirroring the governing law of the universe, "rise and fall"

It's not all doom and gloom, life is for living, not merely existing. So we have to adapt and work a little harder and play later. Look at it positively, hard times have a cohesive affect on communities and family groups as they cling to the security of numbers and derive strength, it's easier to carry the heavy load that life imposes.

There's a fine line between pleasure and pain.

A few harmful distractions never go astray. Window shopping is harmless, passive and therapeutic, easy on the pocket and there are also some very functional aspects. like relaxed exercise, finding bargains, always welcome in hard times. Or making rare discoveries, clothing styles first time seen, while walking hand in hand with the one you love, down deserted streets on windy Sunday afternoons.

Time to tighten the belt or you will be hungry like a wolf, unable to curb your appetite and always in search of more food.

Don't confuse denial with constraint. Aside the necessities of food to sustain life and clothing to protect against the elements, the simple pleasures of life are never far from our front door.

When did you last spend extra time to make the perfect full Windsor knot in your favourite href="http://www.patrickmcmurray.com/xcart/home.php?cat=1" target="_blank">designer silk ties, or is it a four in hand, because you don't want to miss the bus, be late for work and get scolded by your boss. Or you just want to get out of the grasp of being nagged. When was the last time you ventured out to buy a new pair of cufflinks?

How long has it been since you walked down the road to pop a letter in the post box, that ever so recognisable symbol still dotted in fire engine red through out villages and towns. And, similarly the classic phone booth etched into the minds of millions through the unforgettable Doctor Who television series. Remember the irony of queuing to make a telephone call, now we are bombarded with more modern symbols like the bar code, mouse cursor and thumb nail. We go online to shop and communicate before we would bother to exercise enough to visit or hand write and post. Familiar simple pleasures of life are different now, all well and good to accept and embrace change, but not at the sacrifice of ones well being.

Now in hard times there is even better reasons to rekindle old flames and break away from the confines of our own creations, the way we are conditioned to live, peer pressure are eroding our perception of life, family and work priorities. More and more pressures, work harder, play harder, higher and higher expectations. Let's go window shopping, no not online, on the street; you can have lifestyle with out the exorbitance.

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