People are actually social beings. This is to our colossal advantage, because it is largely thanks to social relations that we have come this long way from animals to contemporary society. This is also our no less great shortcoming, because over the years and centuries of its history, humanity has accumulated hundreds and thousands of various life traps into which people regularly fall.
Mankind lives according to the principles of the so-called "collective agreement", so that in fact any phenomenon, any thing in our life is the fruit of an agreement between people who consider it as such. For many years, people have known perfectly well that one should learn from the mistakes of others - and yet, we again and again step on the same rakes, knowing full well what they actually are.
A few days ago there came a thread in the AskReddit community whose topic starter asked the question: "What's one of life's biggest traps that people fall into?" As of today, the thread boasts over 21.6K ups and around 10.2K comments listing the various nasties and situations people run into so often, even though they are well aware of them.
Bored Panda has put together a selection of the most popular comments from the original thread for you, so it's possible you'll find this list really helpful. After all, as the old wisdom says, "Forewarned is forearmed." But this is in fact inaccurate, because people have refuted this wisdom so often... In any case, no one would really stop you from scrolling this list to the very end, marking the submissions you like best, and, of course, adding your own opinions in the comments. And who knows - maybe for someone they will become an extremely wholesome and important life lesson...
More info: Reddit
#1
Having an elaborate expensive wedding that does nothing but stress everyone out and bankrupt you.
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#3
Just because you have spare money at the end of the month doesn’t mean you need to spend it
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#4
Waiting too long for "perfect", like the perfect soulmate, house, job, etc., and then letting too many good opportunities pass by.
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#6
Marrying or living with or otherwise committing to someone who is mean to you and doesn’t treat you well.
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#7
Obsession with physical appearance.
This has plagued my life and I’ve never felt satisfied with how I look. Be kind to yourself and others.
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#8
Lifestyle creep
Feeling the need to upgrade cars, houses, jewelry, etc to keep up with your peers.
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#9
Staying in unhealthy relationships because "I've put ten years into this"... I beg of you, know your worth, my loves.
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#10
Having kids bc society said they should.
Nothing against kids, parents, etc but the pressure to have kids is immense from family and/or religion in most areas/cultures. More often couples have to explain WHY they chose not to (or couldn't have)
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#13
Multi-level marketing, someone got me to go to a seminar and the rhetoric was what a lot of people want to hear about themselves for validation.
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#14
You gotta be your own advocate. If you think other people will fix the problems you have, you're gonna have a bad time.
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#15
Thinking that you're running out of time to do something because someone else has done it already.
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#19
Putting things off.
We could do it more as kids because someone was there to pick up the slack, or stay on top of you to get something done.
But as an adult, the consequences of waiting on stuff slaps you hard.
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#20
Imposter Syndrome.
The cure is eventually realizing no one has a clue.
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