We tend to choose New Age media to shape our lives over healthy nutrition and a good weekend with a nice novel. From verified twitter users to talking heads on TV we became opinion frenzy. Not to forget that most of us unconsciously believe that if it’s written in a book, it’s of course valid info.
While discussing books with lots of young people, I discovered that ‘Self Help’ happens to be the topic everyone is eating up. From women and men and their different planets, to books about being positive and The Secret of a life you don’t know about blablabla. People have become desperate and depressed; always in need of something to help us out through a tough divorce, a mirage of a dream career, and depression caused by absolutely no reason. The only solution that we can see with a naked eye is a Self Help book, so we grab it and make self-help writers international bestselling millionaires. The fact that we always tend to avoid is the fact that those writers are real people who have had their ups and downs, their bout of happiness and of sorrow, challenges and successes…Just like you!
They came from different backgrounds and have life experiences that built up their characters and these experiences shouldn’t necessarily apply to your own life. What may have worked with them may not necessarily work with you. What they can apply in their country may not necessarily apply to yours. What they have tried with their spouses may not apply to yours. Seriously, why has advice become so popular these days?! Why are we even listening?
Older people, like parents, think that their advice counts and that what they tell you is the final solution to your misery. It should be your handbook on how to live. But just because parents are older and have lived more years than you did, doesn’t mean that they have been through more. This generation is learning faster with technology and globalization and life experience does not always come only with time. We can respect their advice but develop it to match our modern fast paced life. Trial and error is nothing to be ashamed of.
Another thing that triggers the “advice” mode: Celebrities gone philosophers! When some writers and filmmakers out there gain fame and rack up a huge following on social media, they suddenly feel the responsibility to comment and talk about each and every topic concerning the public’s interest- or else they might face the disappointment of their frenzy followers.
It becomes a homework that they have to do overnight. Thus, they get to immediate commentary about a certain situation without the necessary research or expected facts, without considering the fatal responsibility of the 140 characters they choose to share. Media and public opinion become their own permanent face tattoo that lives with them their whole lives, fearing the scars of removing it.
We should truly recognize that celebrities and public speakers are also human beings who happen to have their insecurities, their own strict beliefs and incomplete characters… Just like you.
Your life is your very own perfect flawless script.
Help yourself!
