50 shades of this is porn

Many people are enraged at 50 Shades. This is porn! they say. "This is a terrible injustice to the truth of sex and sexual relationships". "Sex should be pure". "It's degrading". "We have stooped so low". "It's a tragedy to speak of sex in such a cheap manner".

But is it?

Some people like rough sex, some people like to be tied up, and some people don't. I don't however see anyone into BSDM bothered with the classic romantic views of sex. Thing is, if the sexual activity involves consenting adults, it's not harmful.

What is harmful in 50 Shades however is the message that "love conquers all" and guess what, that message is in every fairy tale and animated movie we take our children to.

So whilst it's true that love is a great force which I subscribe to, it does not conquer all and, in fact, that belief has got a lot of people into trouble. Loving a damaged abusive person won't fix him or her; years of therapy might and it's best to stay out of such people's path.

It's respect that conquers all and it would be a great idea if we start teaching our children the difference.

Food, it's no guarantee

With no offence meant to anyone posting stuff like this on Facebook or elsewhere; pictures like this bother me 

I don't know this guy, or what he does but one thing is sure: There is absolutely no guarantee that eating healthy will avoid all forms of disease, or that you will "never need a doctor". Believing in such things can set you up for great disappointment and feelings of guilt which I think is really unfair. "I didn't feed my daughter/son well enough", "I'm too poor to buy organic food", "I wasn't educated enough to know", "I could have prevented this". 

The truth is that most disease like the dreaded cancer is really a case of bad luck. I know of many people who lived healthy lives free from drink, smoke and recreational drugs and still got very sick. Yes it's a good idea to eat healthy and avoid over indulging in toxic substances but the truth could look more like this:

Now of course each and every one of us is going to die eventually, and we do minimise risk of disease by eating well, but we really don't get to choose how we die or if we get sick. 

I'm not professing unhealthy lifestyles, anyone who knows me knows that I like my healthy food. What I'm saying is that eating healthy is no guarantee of an easy exit from this planet and that these memes are misleading.

Judging by the uploads I see on social media we spend too much time worrying, making efforts to avoid disease, detoxifying, doing the right exercise, thinking "the right thoughts" to have a positive outlook, climbing mountains metaphorically or otherwise to get that healing, purifying, enlightening object we believe will make us almost super human. Sadly it's a quest we may fail miserably at.

So it's my humble view that yes, eat healthy, live the lifestyle that makes you happy and hopefully yes, disease will pass you by. But most of all work to be happy, do what you love and love what you do. Because at the end of the day what matters is the depth of your laughter and the days you spend loving your life and those around you.

http://theconversation.com/why-the-causes-of-cancer-are-more-than-just-random-bad-luck-36250