A New Year's Revelation

Another year gone. Yipes. I know it's cliche, but it's true: the older you get the more time flies.

When I was little, days and weeks and months stretched out like I had all the time in the world! I wanted time to pass faster. I wanted to be older. So I could do more things. I wanted to be sixteen, because thanks to Sound of Music I believed it would be the most romantic year of my life. (It wasn't. It was just awkward.)

But now? Zoom! Goodbye, 2012! Hello, 2013!

I have the usual New Year's resolutions. I'm planning on doing some in-depth Bible study with the help of commentaries. I want to make better eating choices. Keep up with the gym, especially strength training. Do well in my classwork.

But there is one last resolution that I've got to be HARD-CORE about:

No more self-diagnosing myself online.

I wouldn't necessarily call myself a hypochondriac, but thanks to the help of Dr. Internet, I've experienced those moments of panic.

I need to do myself a favor and stop googling alleged issues. All I get to see is someone with similar symptoms ask a question on Yahoo Answers and receive feedback from any old crazy with a computer. Someone who can't even spell cancer correctly probably isn't qualified to provide any real answers. Just sayin'.

The internet is helpful for many things, but sometimes the overabundance of information can hurt you rather than help you. I'm sure our doctors would rather we skip the online diagnosing and obsessing and instead go straight to them. Of course, if you're just looking for some general information to point you in the right direction, just use common sense and only check out the reputable sites. (This is an excerpt from the pep talk I gave myself last week....)

Oh, and here's another tip. Stay away from Google Images if you're typing any body or medical-related terms.

You can thank me later.