If your gut tells you that you shouldn't do something, it's always best to listen to it. Unfortunately, many people engage in a slew of behaviors despite being conscious of the fact that they can lead to serious, often-damaging consequences. Some of these reckless acts include: Cheating on their partner Sleeping with someone you don't want to be intimate with  Stealing from others  Drinking more than they should  Taking illegal drugs  Becoming physically aggressive with others Let's delve into cheating for a moment.  There is absolutely no excuse in the world that could justify such an abhorrent betrayal of a partner's trust.  And if your partner cheats on you first, it doesn't give you license to go out and do the same. It's better to be the better person and walk away before becoming involved with someone else.  Payback doesn't solve anything. If anything, it heightens feelings of bitterness and animosity. What gets m...

Let's face it: We're all different. Some of us are shy and meek. Some of us are bold and aggressive. Some of us are bookish and cerebral. And still others love being the life of the party. No one personality is better than the other.  Just because I'm an introverted bookworm and you're a garrulous social butterfly doesn't mean either of us should prod the other into changing. We may neither hang out a lot nor have much in common, but we can still get along and communicate with one another tactfully. People can share their interests with others without any expectation of the person liking them. Yes, people are more likely to associate with like-minded individuals who share their passions -- baseball fans with other baseball fans, politics junkies with other politics junkies -- but we should still be accepting of others' personality, interests, and lifestyle, even if they don't align with ours. Yet, there are those who attack others who are diffe...

Contrary to popular belief, venting our frustrations in an overtly aggressive or hostile way -- whether by puncturing a pillow with a knife, punching a wall, or screaming at your neighbor -- doesn't help us feel better. If anything, it has the opposite effect. Studies have found we feel even more upset after doing these things. Engaging in aggressive or destructive behaviors when we're upset not only adversely endangers our well-being, but it potentially puts others at risk. Some people have been known to get wasted and drive erratically after some disappointing event, whether it's a fight with their boss that ultimately led to their being fired or having their partner break up with them unexpectedly. You can only imagine how terrible the consequences of such reckless acts. Once it has all passed, we experience a host of emotions ranging from regret to shame. Instead of reaching for a knife or bottle, there are other things we can do to channel our anger in more constru...

Many people say that men have it made: they're physically stronger than women, don't have to give birth, and enjoy better salaries and promotion opportunities in the business world. The statistics below, however, might cause these people to reassess whether being a man is really all it's cracked up to be: Nine out of 10 prison inmates are men Among the homeless, men outnumber women by at least three to one Men are 10 times more likely to commit murder than women are Men are 10 times more likely to show up at the low end of distributions of IQ scores Men are more likely to be mentally retarded than women Men are more likely to abuse and abandon their kids  Men are less likely than women to take care of aging/ill parents Men outscore women on measures of closed-mindedness, cruelty, narcissism, hostility, and self-indulgence Men pay more than women for car insurance Men die earlier than women (about five years earlier on average) I think the above statistics s...

When I compare what my personality was like growing up to what it is today, not much has changed. And that should come as no surprise. A study I read about recently concluded that our personalities don't change much after the 1st grade. Think about it: Once we hit the 1st grade -- that's around 7 years of age -- our personalities remain mostly fixed the rest of our lives. That means that if you were predisposed to being shy, quiet, angry, or aggressive then, there's a good chance you are the same way now. Even so, as we get older, our experiences help shape us into the person we are today, so I think it's a combination of genetics as well as our environment. Experiences not only make us wiser, but they help guide our future behavior. For example, taking karate in middle school may have made you bolder, being involved in a car accident while in high school may have made you more appreciative of life, and so on. The people we hang out with may also influence what ...