Life goes in 5 year cycles of ease / difficulty i'm convinced. A good friend of mine pointed this out to me (he's 40 and much more wealthy than I). He also said that hard times =!= lack of $. Its all relative b/c owing 6000 / month when you take home $5,000 is just as hard as 60,000 / 50,000.....and it can happen just as easily.

In the end, you can always make more $, but you can't make more time....so spend as much quality time with those you love that you can!