It seems every day a new food or ingredient is linked to cancer. The moment you hear a food is banned, you assume that it’s basically rat poison. Even if you read the article and find out that the side effects aren’t that bad, or that the foods are only risky if you consume them all day every day, it makes you wonder what other foods in the grocery store are banned in other countries, and why. The grocery store can become an anxiety den full of products that you want scientists to tear apart before you purchase them.
Like the banned foods, these foods are usually something that only affect you negatively when eaten every day, or several times a day. They’re typically foods with calories and fat that, in large servings, outweigh the healthy benefits — like avocado and nuts. These types of articles make you untrusting of any diet tips you read, or any food a nutritionist praises, and you’re stuck feeling that nothing is safe to eat.
A recent article about a nurse tending to patients during their last days of life became wildly popular on the Internet. The nurse interviewed her patients, asking them what they wish they’d done more of in their life. At first, the article is empowering. But soon, it’s only depressing. What the patients wish they could have done more of are things we all wish we could do more of on a daily basis. Most of us don’t do less of the things we love for lack of trying — life just gets in the way. Deathbed confessions make you second guess your priorities.
There must be hundreds of spinoffs of this theme now, from what successful people eat to what successful people do first thing in the morning. The trouble with these articles is that, while there will usually be one or two valuable tips in there, they’ll be padded by habits that probably didn’t contribute that much to the success of those individuals. Or, perhaps they are habits that just wouldn’t work for you, and could even hold you back. If what you’re doing is working and you’re on a track you want to be on, these articles can just have you thinking about changing something that isn’t broken.
There are always articles popping up on the side of your Facebook feed about a mom who works from home and makes $4,000 a week, or a college kid who sold one simple idea and made $3 billion. Good for them! But keep in mind, they are part of the less-than-1-percent who actually made it “big time.” You should absolutely pursue your dreams, and pursue making tons of money if that will make you happy. But these articles about overnight millionaires might just drive you to quit a stable job with benefits under the belief that you too will be an overnight success within the month.
In the tabloids, it seems some poor female celebrity somewhere has discovered her husband has had a second wife their entire relationship, or seven hidden children, or 12 girlfriends. And you might think, “If someone as beautiful and successful and interesting as that celebrity can’t keep the attention of her partner, how am I supposed to?” Keep in mind, there are hundreds if not thousands of celebrity relationships in which there is no infidelity — only the stories about extreme infidelity make the headlines.
You might have noticed that ever since you looked up ski equipment, you’ve been flooded with ads on your social media feed for ski equipment, or received the Groupon and LivingSocial deals focusing on ski retreats. The Internet is tracking and recording everything we do. Well….so what? You were going to get ads in your social media feed and daily emails from the coupon and discount newsletters you subscribe to either way. Why not have the content be something you’re actually interested in?
You’ve seen the articles: the dirtiest places in your gym, the dirtiest places in the mall, the dirtiest parts of public transportation. And after reading these, you step outside and you can just imagine germs crawling all over your body. But what good does that do you? Are you going to lock yourself inside all day? Or better yet, live in a plastic bubble? You’re probably already showering every day, washing your hands often and not rubbing your eyes after touching a handrail. So what more information do you need?
Every day, some psychologist discovers the secret to marriage success. Or some study shows a high correlation between behavior and the likelihood of divorce. These behaviors can be everything from sleeping in separate rooms to exercising every day. But keep in mind that one behavior isn’t going to save a relationship that is at its core unhealthy or unhappy. And one behavior isn’t going to break a relationship built on common values, mutual respect and communication. So if you and your partner enjoy doing activity X, and are extremely happy, it doesn’t matter that one study says activity X could ruin your relationship.
When it’s your city on the list of best cities to live cheap/exercise outdoors/meet singles/be rich — that feels great. But it’s rarely your city. And then you’re stuck wishing you lived in a dozen places you don’t live. And then you forget to appreciate what you love about your city.
