After these messages...

So what's the single greatest obstacle to happiness in our society today?

And what can you do to rid yourself of it?

Well, the solution is quite simple -- and absolutely free!

Eliminate advertising from your life.

That's right -- advertising is the single greatest obstacle to happiness in our society.

Is that crazy?

You may think so at first, but check out my reasoning.

First, consider that most unhappiness comes from unfulfilled desire.

We want something we don't have. Then we work until we get it -- and what happens?

Are we then happy?

Only for a short time, until we are overcome by desire for something else. And the cycle continues....

We chase happiness the way a donkey chases a dangling carrot.

We are, of course, physical beings with real needs. We have basic needs, and we have more complex needs. Real needs. These come from within; the more we understand them, the better we are able to fulfill them -- and finally to transcend them.

But desire for things we don't need distracts us from fulfilling our true needs. We waste our limited physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy pursuing things we don't need, leaving us exhausted -- and with our true needs unfulfilled.

Unnecessary desire is the root of most unhappiness.

Now, consider the purpose of advertising.

Someone has a product. You don't know anything about it. They want you to know about their product and for you to crave it. So they create advertising.

The advertising compels you to desire something you don't want, something you don't need.

By using well-known psychological tricks, they seek to confuse you, to make you believe their product will help you fulfill your real needs. Keep in mind, advertisers don't care about your needs; they care only about making you desire their product.

The purpose of advertising is to create unnecessary desire.

My advice to you is to avoid advertising whenever possible. Avoid commercial television and radio. Change the channel (or at least hit 'mute') when an ad comes on. Use a pop-up blocker or a browser with built-in pop-up blocking.

Turn off. Unsubscribe. Opt out.

See if you don't feel much better as a result.

You might argue that our entire society is based on advertising, that if everyone followed my advice, our economy would crumble. And you might be right. If so, we need a new basis for our society, a new model for our economy.

Artificial desire is a disease. Eradicating it would make us all a lot healthier.

I hope you take my advice, and that it helps you.

But hey -- you know what they say about free advice: it's worth what you pay for it.

Or maybe in this case it's priceless.

You decide.

:-)