My life. Not yours.
Warning: Rant follows. This is mostly not directed at any of you. But maybe a little, just as a heads-up.
I do not want your unsolicited advice about my habits.
I recently fell into a conversation about eating habits and was told that I would start regretting what I eat as I get older. I was told that I should lay off the fast food and sweets and start eating "healthy". This was a conversation with someone my parent's age, someone I've known since I was a very small child. However, I've had this conversation with people my own age, both people I've known for years and almost-strangers who strike up conversations with me in public.
Apparently, I'm supposed to stop doing everything I enjoy doing, because it's killing me.
I need to stop eating so much sugar. I need to stop sitting in front of the computer so much. I need to get out of my house more often. Etc, etc.
There are so many things wrong with unsolicited advice that I'm not sure which aspect pisses me off the most. But let's start with this: nobody fucking asked you. If I wanted to live my life like you, I'd ask you how you live your life so I could be in constant fear of everything, every day, like you. Because that's obviously healthy.
The action of "instructing" me on my own habits is so incredibly condescending that it makes me want to hurt the people who do it. Telling me that I should modify my behavior in extremely massive ways indicates that you think I have put little to no thought about how I live my own life. Do you really think I don't know that fast food isn't healthy? Do you think I blunder through my entire life giving no thought to my actions?
Because here's the thing. I do. I weigh every decision. I choose every action carefully. I have researched the consequences of nearly everything I put into my body, and I am capable of making my own decisions. I am an adult. I know that nearly everything I do on a given day has an associated risk. So when you assume that your "insightful advice" is something I haven't thought of already, you are actually being a condescending asshole who thinks you're smarter than me. And that makes me want to kick you in the face.
We're all going to die. Assuming we don't die in some sort of accident, we will all die of cancer or some other degenerative disease after years of severely decreased mobility, dementia, and other symptoms of a failing body. Despite years of eating well and staying active, some of us could keel over in our 60's. And there are those who might see 100 years of age despite bad habits and a horrible diet. We get conflicting reports about what's good for us and what's bad for us, and all we can really do is decide what level of risk we're comfortable with. But I don't see the point in being afraid of everything and forgetting to enjoy our lives before we get too old to do so. I don't smoke, and I try to limit my trips to McDonalds. I'm not obese, and my health problems so far have been extremely minimal.
So you know what? You do what you do, and I'll do what I do. And if I end up departing this world sooner than you do, then you can laugh at me all you want. But in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy myself.
I do not want your unsolicited advice about my habits.
I recently fell into a conversation about eating habits and was told that I would start regretting what I eat as I get older. I was told that I should lay off the fast food and sweets and start eating "healthy". This was a conversation with someone my parent's age, someone I've known since I was a very small child. However, I've had this conversation with people my own age, both people I've known for years and almost-strangers who strike up conversations with me in public.
Apparently, I'm supposed to stop doing everything I enjoy doing, because it's killing me.
I need to stop eating so much sugar. I need to stop sitting in front of the computer so much. I need to get out of my house more often. Etc, etc.
There are so many things wrong with unsolicited advice that I'm not sure which aspect pisses me off the most. But let's start with this: nobody fucking asked you. If I wanted to live my life like you, I'd ask you how you live your life so I could be in constant fear of everything, every day, like you. Because that's obviously healthy.
The action of "instructing" me on my own habits is so incredibly condescending that it makes me want to hurt the people who do it. Telling me that I should modify my behavior in extremely massive ways indicates that you think I have put little to no thought about how I live my own life. Do you really think I don't know that fast food isn't healthy? Do you think I blunder through my entire life giving no thought to my actions?
Because here's the thing. I do. I weigh every decision. I choose every action carefully. I have researched the consequences of nearly everything I put into my body, and I am capable of making my own decisions. I am an adult. I know that nearly everything I do on a given day has an associated risk. So when you assume that your "insightful advice" is something I haven't thought of already, you are actually being a condescending asshole who thinks you're smarter than me. And that makes me want to kick you in the face.
We're all going to die. Assuming we don't die in some sort of accident, we will all die of cancer or some other degenerative disease after years of severely decreased mobility, dementia, and other symptoms of a failing body. Despite years of eating well and staying active, some of us could keel over in our 60's. And there are those who might see 100 years of age despite bad habits and a horrible diet. We get conflicting reports about what's good for us and what's bad for us, and all we can really do is decide what level of risk we're comfortable with. But I don't see the point in being afraid of everything and forgetting to enjoy our lives before we get too old to do so. I don't smoke, and I try to limit my trips to McDonalds. I'm not obese, and my health problems so far have been extremely minimal.
So you know what? You do what you do, and I'll do what I do. And if I end up departing this world sooner than you do, then you can laugh at me all you want. But in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy myself.