In 1492...

There are a lot of lessons to be learned after the past year and a half. It seems like just yesterday that Mad Money man Jim Cramer went on CNBC and wildly exclaimed “They know NOTHING!” to the masses. Housing prices were collapsing, foreclosures were through the roof, unemployment was rising at what felt like 1 percentage point a week.

Things were ugly, and they only got uglier.

I don’t have to rehash all of the financial difficulties that we (as a nation) face after the Great Recession. We all know things are bad. Maybe they’re going to get worse, maybe they’re going to get better… no one can be 100% certain.

What this time of remarkable instability has taught me is that the little things in life are worth the most. Sure it’s a cliché… but it’s true.

As people we find comfort in the little luxuries in life. A cup of hot cocoa in the morning, a hot oatmeal cookie from the oven, a warm blanket and a movie on the couch. These are the true necessities in life.

What happened earlier this decade is that we lost site of the little things. We got so over our heads in buying the biggest and the best, that suddenly the hot cookie or the glass of red wine wasn’t good enough. Our thirst for consumer satisfaction could no longer be quenched by the simplicities that life offered us. Simplicities that we could afford.

We lost sight of ourselves, we lost sight of each other, and we lost sight of what’s really important in the few short years we are given on this earth. Life is not about owning the biggest and the best. It’s not about iPhones or fancy cars. It’s about family, and it’s about friends.

As you sit down at the Thanksgiving table this year take a moment to look around. Who are the people you’re sitting next to? When was the last time you had a conversation with them? I mean a real conversation. Who are they? What do they love? What makes them tick? What simple pleasures in life do they enjoy?

The average Thanksgiving meal costs $176. The average distance we travel is 56 miles to get there. At $2.85 a gallon at the pump (at 21 MPG) the average car ride costs roughly $7.58. We’ll spend an average of $14 on the bottle of wine we’ll drink at the table, and we’ll spend an average of 39 minutes finishing it all.

The conversation, however, is free.