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Editor’s note: This post was written by Richard Blackstone of NutsandBoltsSpirituality.com

The law of attraction tells us that you bring into your life that which you put your attention on. The secret to life is to put your attention on what serves you and take your attention away from what does not serve you.

Does your spiritual growth come from the television? Does television spew forth spirituality information? We know it uses religion a lot to send its messages but is that the same as spiritual enlightenment? We often create a habit of watching television no matter what it is that we are watching.

We get into a habit of talking bad about others and ourselves and it just seems normal to us. Our environment seems to encourage us to play a role in life that has nothing to do with who we really are. We get feedback daily from the television that encourages us to make decisions that stifle our thinking and therefore our creativity. Our non-conformity conforms to the marketing plans that bombard us daily.

Hey, here’s a novel idea. Don’t turn on the television. It’s just an idea but think about it. The immutable universal law of attraction tells us that we attract into our life that which we put our attention on.

If you watch three to four or more hours of television a day you are putting a lot of attention on whatever it is that you are watching. If you just did this for one day it wouldn’t affect you much, but if you do this every day and maybe a little more on the weekends, then you can begin to see the cumulative effect that this has on the overall input into what you think.

Let’s just take one aspect of television and examine how it influences our lives. Remember these are just words. These are words that we are receiving through our physical sense of hearing with the addition of a visual context that adds emphasis to the overall message.

We are going to look at the national evening news. It doesn’t matter which network you are tuned to because they all say the same things. Every night we are subjected to the lead story, which is the most sensational story of the day. My dictionary defines sensational as: 1. Arousing intense interests 2. Intended to shock, thrill, etc. (Kind of sounds like a carnival show)

Let’s examine this daily input into our thoughts. The commentator has been carefully selected and programmed to create an image of fairness and trust. We are supposed to trust this fair-minded person who is relaying the news of the world to us in an unbiased way. That is the image that they all project to us.

We are lead to believe that they are doing us a great service by reporting to us the information, that puts into summary form, what has happened that particular day that they feel is important to you. Have they ever asked you what is important to you? Or are they trying to tell you what is important to you?

This is how subtle it is and how easy it is to influence collective thinking. Just the mere fact that you are listening to the news means that you are going to be influenced by the news. You may not have had a thought about being sick but the nightly news report tells you there is a national epidemic of the flu going around and, all of a sudden, you begin to wonder if you are going to get the flu. You feel fine but you now have a thought in your head that you might get the flu.

They take a commercial break and the first advertisement is for flu medicine. You didn’t have a thought in your head about being sick just five minutes ago but now you are thinking to yourself that you should probably get some flu medicine tomorrow. You are susceptible to the flu, the nightly news just told you the flu bug is going around and you were fortunate enough to see an advertisement for flu medicine.

The next morning you wake up with a sniffle. You tell yourself, via your thoughts, that you are getting the flu. You go to work and tell a co-worker that you have the flu and will probably miss work in a few days because that is how the flu works on you. Lo and behold, you develop more flu-like symptoms and you become so sick that you can’t go to work for a couple of days.

That’s how subtle it is and that’s how powerful our thoughts and words are. The flu example is bad enough but we are being fed much more sensational news than the flu bug. We are being fed huge doses of fear daily. Morning, noon, and night we are being told, via words on the news that we must live in fear of just about everything that is happening in the world.

We are told to fear the weather, fear earthquakes, fear the flu, fear the poor, fear our enemies, fear our school systems, fear foreigners, fear our food, fear children who commit crimes, fear the environmentalists, fear just about everything. This is the “news” that we subject ourselves to daily.

Now, I am not saying if this is right or wrong. I am only saying that in my observation this is what is so.

One final observation. I will let you answer this yourself since you are the only one who really matters here. Do you believe that the television news is based mostly in fear or in love? What is your answer?

Here’s the kicker question. “Does that serve you?”

Have you heard this saying that ‘Money can’t buy you love’? Well guess what! Money can’t buy you happiness either.

Research shows that possessions and purchases don’t buy us happiness. In today’s materialistic world we’re always looking to have the coolest gadgets, the latest fashion, and bigger are always better.

Many of us don’t realize that we’re being pushed towards materialism, not for our own happiness but for the monetary gain by corporations. Finding happiness in other ways other than just buy stuff online or finding joy in the mall, it’s hard to escape materialism in our daily lives – but it’s possible.

Here are some tips that can help you find a materialism-free life and discover true happiness.

Escaping Materialism

Everywhere we turn, all over the Internet, we see continuous advertising trying to get us to purchase a product or service. Switch on the radio or open up a newspaper or magazine, and you’re showered with more advertising. Go to a shopping center/mall, and the urge to buy comes from every direction. It’s inescapable… well, almost.

Here are some suggestions:

Limit television. Are the kind of person enjoys watching TV for hours? Think about which show you really really love and only watch during that time. You can even give up cable TV entirely, if you’re strong enough — I have, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Steer clear of the news. Journalists will never tell you this, but the news is all about driving traffic to the advertising. So whenever you’re reading or watching news really and truly you’re being pulled in to advertising. Try stop watching the news for a week. I’ve done it for the past 6 months, and guess what – it hasn’t hurt me not one bit, in fact it has helped me.

Read books instead of Magazines. Try reading an ad-free book instead. It’s a much better use of your time. Unlike magazines which are designed with advertising in mind and rarely give you much value.

Don’t go to the mall or supermarket. If you just want a place to spend your Saturday afternoon, find a place where you don’t need to spend money to have fun or just relax — a park or a beach, are great places to start. Malls and Supermarkets only purpose is for you to spend money. I suggest if you need to buy something, go to a single store, and go in and get what you need…avoid browsing around.

Monitor your urges. Keep track of the number of times you want to buy something. Keep a little notebook or index card, and just put tally marks. Once you become more aware of your urges to buy things, you can start to control them.

Declutter. It’s pretty amazing to see all the crap I buy over a period of years. It’s a gratifying process whenever I’ve to start getting rid of stuff, and at the same time it makes me realize how useless carp I spend money on. Try getting rid of some stuff that you don’t need and are just lying around; you may be less likely to buy more stuff - especially if you enjoy the decluttered look.

True Path to Happiness

How can you find true happiness, if you’re able to escape materialism? Here are some things I suggest trying:

• Thankful list. Give thanks for all things about which you’re grateful in your life.
• Think positive. Try eliminating negative thinking from your life, and thinking positive instead.
• Simple pleasures. Make a list of small things that give you great pleasure. Sprinkle them throughout your day.
• Kindness. Help those in need. Volunteer. Make someone smile.
• Know yourself. Learn about what you love, and about your ability to love. Become in tune to what brings you happiness.

What brings you true happiness? How do you feel about materialism, and is it worth trying to escape it? Let us know in the comments.