From Seth Godin:

A journalist asked me, "Most people have a better standard of living today than Louis XIV did in his day. So why are so many people unhappy?"

What you have doesn't make you unhappy. What you want does.

And want is created by us, the marketers.

Some of us would be a lot happier if we didn't take our cues from the marketers. In this time of economic turmoil, we still have toilets, A/C, microwaves, fresh water, cheap and fast transport, unlimited information at our finger tips, medicines that have doubled life expectancy, food of every imaginable taste, and the list goes on and on.

We live in a time of relative peace and those of us in America live in the most prosperous country of all time, by far. Even with this stupid economic downturn. God has blessed us incredibly, yet we often let the marketers and pundits impact our happiness more than him. We worry about last night's debate and we worry about the elections. We worry about yesterday's 508 point loss on the Dow and what it means for our portfolios and our jobs.

And in so doing we become like the children of Israel. If you're worried about the economy or the election, maybe it's time to reboot.  "Consider the lilies of the field..." Jesus says.  He goes to the heart of the issue. You have to love him when he brings perspective to those of us who are wringing our hands:

"You cannot serve both God and money.

 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matt. 6:24-28)

Here's a devotional video for you today: