A new type of furniture. Advertisements tell us these things will make us happy. If you just eat at the right restaurants, if you just had the right car, if you just had the right decorations for your living room then you would be happy. All of us are old enough and experienced enough to know that is not the case. We get the new car and it is nice for a few months but it soon wears off.
Material goods are really just a shot of novocaine in the game of life.
We have a deep dissatisfaction with life and the new purchase is like a shot of novocaine at the dentist. The novocaine can mask the pain for a while but if we don't get to the root of the problem the pain will still be there when the novocaine wears off. Another mistake we can make is to live in the future. When I finally retire then I will be happy. When my spouse changes then I will be happy.