Learning to Live With Less:  Tragic loss, while it makes one lose interest in everything, also helps one appreciate what one has.  I got so caught up in having the latest, greatest "tech toys" etc. that I lost sight of what was really important.  This year, after my brother's death, I cut off my usual spending habits, and, while it's been boring as hell, it's also kind of liberating in the sense that it simplfies my life to the point where it was 20 years ago!