Have you ever went out and mingled for a few and ran into to someone who was "oh so fine"? Of course you have! And the story goes: You all talked for a few, have a lot of things in common and come to find out, they don't even live in the city where you guys met.

Early this year, after ending a 20-year relationship, I found myself joining the ranks of single mothers. With three children who were 2, 5, and 8 at the time, I was honestly scared.

Poverty pokes holes in a family's life. Non-profit and government programs seek to close those holes. But we tend to so this imperfectly, because we are almost always short on resources.

In my daily routine I often forget about how fortunate I am to have certain luxuries such as running water, electricity and a fast Internet connection. To us, these amenities may seem expected because we live in a developed country. However, during my recent 45-day adventure to Peru, I had an enlightening experience.

While few of us might be willing to scale back our hours of work to 21 per week, any reduction is a beginning. The first step is to admit that working harder to buy more things will not make any of us any happier.