I often find myself worrying about the most insignificant issues in life. This is not only a waste of my time but also my energy. The time I spend thinking about these random issues, I could spend on making the world a better place. I'm sure others can relate to these things as well.
1. Your follower to following ratio
Guitly!
I have spent hours, if not days, thinking about my Instagram ratio: how many more followers should I have? Is the "following" number more than the "followers"?
This has to be the topmost bizarre thing I found myself worrying about, and see that my friends do too. Unless you're Kylie Jenner, who cares if your follower to following ratio is small.
2. Your friend’s new friends
I can not put into words the magnitude of anger I feel when someone calls my best friend their "best friend."
I do realize that my friends have a life that extends beyond the one that we share. Outside of school, they meet people, go out, and often, have "fun" with others. Even worse, they may find new best friends! But that changes nothing between us. Even I have made new friends!
My friends and I have come too far to go back to strangers. I have stopped worrying about how much time they are spending with their "new friends."
3. The picture on your ID
Somewhere between "smile" and "I'm sorry, what did you say?" my awkward student ID picture came into existence.
I'm going to be honest with you. I hate it. I absolutely hate it. I think about it all the time.
But thinking about it won't change it. I will have to show that to the librarian every time I borrow a book, to the lady at the cash-counter at Walmart, and to the bus driver every time I need to get back home. If there's absolutely nothing I can do about it, why waste time thinking about it?
4. Your past mistakes
Ipsita
To state the very obvious, the past is something you can't change. Yet, we spend hours thinking about it. Coming up with better solutions in the present to problems you had in the past is the most wasteful use of your time. Your past mistakes are teachings. Accept the mistake, recognize the cause, understand the lesson and apply it in the future.
(Hey, Ipsita, it's time to move on)
Instead of wasting your time on these worthless, unalterable issues, maybe we should think more about these:
1. The disappearance of bees
Bees are one of the most underappreciated creatures on our planet. They are responsible for not only producing honey but also for pollination of the crops we grow. About every third mouthful we eat is food that is dependent on bees, which is why it is so important to think about them. Recent years have seen a decline in the bee population at an alarming rate. Colonies are collapsing at rates higher than ever seen before. People in China are now hand-pollinating their crops due to these changes in bee populations.
​2. Female genital mutilation​
WHO defines female genital mutilation as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons." More than three million girls are estimated to be at risk for FGM annually.
FGM is clearly a violation of basic human rights that thousands of girls continue to experience each year. At such tender ages, they are being exposed to the sharp knives of the sexist society they live in. Even before these girls can understand their own bodies, they are exposed to such a brutal treatment, leaving them shocked both mentally and physically.
3. Owner surrenders
Dogs and cats are the most precious souls on this planet. They deserve all the love and care in the world. But not all have a place they can call home. However, what is worse than a homeless animal, is the one that had a home and lost it.
Many people find the responsibility of pets to be too much and are cruel enough to let them go. These innocent animals that were once fed, bathed and loved by humans, are abandoned on the streets and left to survive on their own. They have little to no experience and struggle to survive in non-domestic environments.
4. The rising trash mountains
As the world is developing and towns are urbanizing, waste is growing with it. Cities have become hotspots of garbage producing units, with the waste production rising at rates faster than the human population! The economic impact of the forever-rising trash mountains is severe and the environmental consequences are outright scary.
The byproducts of our fancy lives will be the death of this planet.
I try every harder every day to make sure that I spend my time on things that are worth it, and I hope you can too.
