As a teenager, did you ever feel like you were tired of the coolest, newest things? Even if you just went on a big shopping trip to the mall, are you ever completely satisfied? You might own the hottest clothing brands, the newest edition of the iPhone, and the newest car, but for some reason you always want more. You would think that having all these great possessions would make us happy, right? So why do we always want more?! The world is twice as rich as it was in the 1950s. Compared to our teenage grandparents, we grew up with much more wealth; however, we are also slightly less happy and have higher rates of suicide, depression and social pathology among adolescents (Myer). As a society, even though our wealth has increased significantly over the past 60 years, happiness levels have remained the same (Easterbrook 1). With this exponential growth in wealth, which has resulted in today's modern conveniences, one could assume that this would be the happiest time on earth. But surprisingly, even with our new TVs and iPads, happiness levels haven't increased at all. As teenagers, we always want to be happy. We are always looking for ways to improve our lives, make ourselves more comfortable and satisfy our desires. One of the main ways to do this is to buy more and more things. We believe that by getting the best or newest things, our desire for happiness will be fulfilled. This can lead to materialism. It's a big word that you've probably heard a lot about lately. But what does that mean and what does it have to do with us teenagers? The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines materialism as "a way of thinking that gives too much importance to material possessions rather than spiritual or intellectual goods... middle of paper ... feeling the satisfaction of finally accomplishing something of valid and useful. .The amount of money or possessions we have does not define who we are. There is so much more to life. In today's world, it's easy for us teenagers to get caught up in the world and think that materialism actually brings us happiness. Therefore, when we focus too much on materialism and consumerism, we tend to become addicted and distract us from our most important and worthwhile goals. We must learn now not to let materialism take over our lives. If we can do this, we will have a much happier life. But we must not waste time and start now while we are still teenagers. Jim Rohn said, “Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you can't get more time. Don't waste your precious time while you are still young. There is more to life than materialism.