Fear-mongering

It’s a word that you’ll hear a lot of, especially over the last couple of years. Usually, it is related to the media, the government and people who deliberately or even sometimes non intentionally, cause alarm and panic within the public.

You’ll see many people telling you to stay away from the media, common news channels and newspapers, all in the name of fearmongering. Today, however, I want to talk about fearmongering a little closer to home… from people, groups and pages that mean well… pages like mine, even.

It goes without saying that pretty much anything now days can be bad for you. Anything promoted for free, usually harmful. Anything pushed on you, usually bad. Anything we thought was good, very likely isn’t. HOWEVER. It would be no benefit to ANYONE if I was to list absolutely every food item, drink, household chemical, environmental toxin or medication that is or can be harmful to you in one post because it would be very overwhelming. So, what I do, is I spread things out. I will do posts about toiletries, vaccines, medications, foods, drinks, additives, supplements, suncream, household products etc etc so that people are informed with the choices they make, without being overwhelmed.

BUT, I am also fully aware that it is completely unrealistic of anyone to think that they can change a life time of habits and learning in a very short space of time. It’s also unrealistic to put a 100% healthy lifestyle on anyone. I see a lot of comments about people concerned because they’ve ‘only’ managed to change their toothpaste this week to fluoride free, or they’ve ‘only’ been able to buy toxin free suncream - STOP being so hard on yourself. Even ONE change is amazing and can have incredible health benefits…. And do you know what? If you live an otherwise healthy lifestyle, it is OKAY to treat yourself. It is OKAY to not be living a completely toxin free life. Your mental health is equally as important as your physical health. I have never been the kind of person to accept the ‘everything in moderation’ narrative as to me, toxin is toxic, but I am also fully aware that having a cheat day, won’t hurt anyone. Using conventional fabric conditioner for another month, is unlikely to cause anyone any issues. Not having an air purifier until you can afford it, will not shorten your life span.

When we are stressed, anxious or worrying over something, our body releases cortisol. This is what happens every time we watch the news, receive bad news or stress about something and probably even happens when reading many of the ‘truther’ posts, It is unhealthy for us and actually cortisol related heart attacks are more common than heart attacks caused by unhealthy eating! When you read a post of mine or of someone else’s talking about more stuff that’s bad for you, maybe something you actually use yourself; the worry will set in and cause the array of negative chemicals in your body.

So, do you know what? It is absolutely fine if you want to mute these type of accounts (including mine) until you’re able to take things in better. It is okay to live in a happy bubble and be ignorant about things for a while. It is okay to not live the ‘perfect’ lifestyle and it is okay to ignore things to protect your mental health, until you’re able to deal with it or in a position to make changes.

As long as you are happy, you’re making small changes or goals that lead towards that and you are looking after yourself - that is the main thing that counts. You have a life time to figure the rest out. ❤️