But it ? s when life casually throws them our way ( such as when passing each other unexpectedly on the sidewalk ) that we embody another ? weird ? tendency : We pretend to be busy . We ? ll randomly draw our attention to something in the complete opposite direction of them , we ? ll dip into a store we have no interest in visiting , or we ? ll pull out our phones and pretend that there is something for us to check ? anything to get us past the conversation danger zone .
3 . We Exaggerate for Impact
This one requires very little explanation . If the road we were driving on had three really bad potholes , we tell others that there were dozens . If the fish we caught was five inches long , we gesture our hands to suggest it was at least eight . And if Debbie from finance has asked us the same question two or three times this week , she qualifies herself as the most annoying person ever .
Exaggeration is a regular part of so many of our stories , yet if anyone ever asks us if we stretched the truth , we ? re quick to defend our honesty . If you have a natural tendency to exaggerate in either a positive or negative way , I can guarantee you that you are not alone . Why this is the case , I have no idea ? but I ? ve been writing this article for forever now , and I ? m only on number three , so I ? d better move on . ( See what I did there ?)
4 . We Love Being a Bystander
How many times have you been driving on a two-directional highway ( with a divider to separate each direction ) and an accident on one of the sides has created traffic for travellers in both directions ? Is it some sort of mystical wizardry that causes this ? Or is it simply our odd obsession with being a bystander ?
It ? s not that we consciously wish bad things upon others , but rather , if we are given the opportunity to stop and take a look , or better yet , actively observe something out of the ordinary , we ? ll can ? t help but take that opportunity ? anything to gain a perspective or tell the story of something few others will have had the chance to see .
5 . We ? re Suckers for ? Likes ?
No matter how frequently ( or infrequently ) you are on social media , we ? ve all been programmed to appreciate every compliment it throws our way . We ? ll never admit that we carefully tailor parts of our profile to portray the highlight reel moments of our life only , but we ? ll certainly do it .
We ? ll also never admit that we now love that picture of ourselves at the beach last summer more than the one we initially preferred because it picked up 35 more likes than it since being posted .
6 . We Creep One Another Online
Last night you ran into an old friend you hadn ? t seen or thought about in years , and now , a mere 12 hours later , you ? re 20 minutes into a stalking session that has led you to looking at pictures of his girlfriend ? s cousin at her niece ? s 6th birthday . We ? ve all done this . I ? ll move on .
7 . We ? ve Read Some of the ? Stupidest ? List Articles Online
I have no doubt in my mind that this article will join this ever-growing group for some of you , but whether or not it does , we ? ve all read our fair share of ? stupid ? content online simply because it was presented to us in the low-committal form of a list .
Whether it was : How He ? ll Be In Bed Based On His Zodiac Sign , 11 Signs She ? s Into You That You ? re Not Currently Realizing , or 7 ? Weird ? Things We All Do ( But Won ? t Admit ), we ? ve all read them and they keep being created because of that .
Writer & Vlogger on a mission to make personal development more interesting for both of us . -- I ' m also the creator of The Hack Anxiety Toolbox ( www . hackanxietytoolbox . com ) an online course designed to help you become anxiety free for good ! -- To see a new article and video on content like this weekly go to www . mark-denicola . com
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