I'd rather have my health than debt or wealth

Oct 12 2008 Elaine C. Smith

I DON'T know about you but I'm credit crunched oot ma brain.

It's not that I don't care things are bad or that we'll be stumping up to save these bankers' jobs.

It's not that I don't care people will lose their homes and jobs - I do very much.

Very innocent people are already casualties - folk who have paid their rents and rates only to find their landlords haven't paid the bills so they end up on the street.

It's awful. People work too hard to be treated this way and I do sympathise.

I don't want to sound preachy but here is today's sermon from Smith Central.

Wasn't the way we were living doing us more harm than good?

I'm not suggesting we go back to sackcloth and ashes or give up the things we love but the years of cheap credit didn't make our lives easier or happier.

In some ways they made us less content.

In an oil-rich country like Scotland we have proper heating and power that is affordable for all and we should have pensioners and workers able to afford life's basics such as food and clothing.

But do we really another holiday or another telly/iPhone/posh meal?

Well, that's for those lucky enough to get credit. The poor were never part of the equation. They never got a choice.

As a young woman I believed a new coat, boots or bag would make my life perfect. I would save every spare penny and finally get them.

Within hours the novelty would wear off and I would be on to the next thing.

But I learned possessions don't make you happy, it's what you do with your life that makes a difference to your sense of who you are and the way you look at the world. We all look with envy at men and women who are happy and content.

Look at the lollipop woman always ready with a smile who loves the kids and her job or the hospital porter on rubbish wages who does his job with a laugh and good grace and tells you how much he enjoys his work.

A flat-screen telly would be nice but in the great scheme of things it won't make his life better.

Maybe we all need to take a step back and this crisis will make us do just that.

We can't go out and put stuff on the never never and kids will now understand they can't have everything immediately and may have to save for things.

We will think about having folk round to the house for a carry-out instead of a posh meal and we can't have three holidays a year - it might be back to the caravan in Millport.

Maybe we have to rediscover what matters and we all know in our hearts that it isn't money.

What matters is that we have enough, our kids are healthy, we love and are loved in return. That we try to do no harm and live a decent life, having a laugh, a song and a greet along the way.

No amount of money or stuff will give us that. The world is being taught that lesson because we had all lost the plot.