So, I’m sure we’ve all heard that the U.S. economy isn’t doing so well.

But it’s really no wonder how the monetary health got so bad, so quickly.

We have been charged up, loaned out, berated and sold enough ideas, products, ethics and Snuggies to last us another thousand years.

Yes, I know — we’ve heard it all before.

That’s how we keep the economy moving, but the dollars are being spent while the reasons for spending are no longer making sense.

As much as the deficit is fiscal, it is also mental and physical on an individual level.

We value a drive-through value meal before we make our children dinner for a lesser price, sit with them and have conversations about ourselves.

Our time is precious, so we buy the expensive Bluetooth headsets to talk on the phone while driving.

We purchase bigger houses for more room and less interference from the people we claim we love.

And all of these “pleasures” are sending us into the work place where there are jobs at minimum wage more-so than the positions with potential for raises and promotions.

We spend our time mostly at work, and we spend less time enjoying the finer perks of our hard work. We’re killing ourselves to be happy.

We’re buying distractions from life.

The two yearlong recession in the national economy is just an example of how we are living beyond our means and stretching ourselves too thin, with no clear ending in sight.

The rampant attention deficit is cheating us out of what we could have.

Instead of spending our money on things to keep in contact, like smartphones with expensive phone plans, we could be getting genuine contact and spending our money on enriching our lives and not convenience.

We’ve forgotten how to spend, how to save and how to just be.

Progress has been redefined as more expensive and faster, not necessarily more useful or innovative.

Think about it.

What does the iPad do that an iPod Touch or a laptop doesn’t do?

Yet, we’re saying it is progressive technology.

We seek out 3G networks, thinner phones, weightless laptops and electronic books we already have on our shelves.

I find it amusing that we spend so much money to listen to music on iPods or MP3 players and never listen when The Beatles say you just can’t buy love.

I just don’t buy into the idea that we need stuff to be happy.

With the Facebook generation, we’ve begun to take photos of events, from getting ready to leaving, all without socializing at the event past the people we brought along or how we all have those Facebook friends that only seem to recognize us by our page.

We really never see them otherwise.

We’re being taught that text is the same as verbal conversation and context is nothing.

I often have seen people text messaging, ignoring the people that are around and participating in our lives at that moment.

Small actions compared to big actions can be catastrophically more efficient.

So, while the government tries to reform the economy and dig us out of our fiscal deficit and recession, I implore you to spend some time slowing down and re-thinking how far we really want to go with our dollars and cents, compared to people telling us how far we need to go with our buying and spending.

I’d like to see our generation pull ourselves out of this attention deficit, as well, and realize that it’s not always about what you have, but it’s the company you keep.

As my great-grandfather once said, “Watch your pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, and the dollars will take care of themselves.”

Maybe if we all began to pay attention to the smaller details, or the pennies and nickels of life, our dollars will begin to stack up.

Because I think we’re all a little spent.