I am debunking some of these here.
1.
Myth: "Follow your heart" is horrible advice. DONT follow your heart. First of all, thats where your emotions come from. And unfortunately your emotions are not reliable, simply expressive. They are not rational. Jeremiah 17:9 puts it acurately: "The heart is deceitful above all things and without cure."
Fact: Clear discernment and careful thought produces great results. Ask for advice from people you look up to. Think things through, take your time, and I promise you won't regret it. James 1:5 says "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." There you go.
2.
Myth: "College is the best time of your life." College is an awesome, unique, and deeply rich time in your life. But like all seasons of life, it has a beginning and an ending. If you consider the epitomy of life to be late nights, more friends than you can juggle, awkward self-discovery challenges, and stupid first-time-not-under-my-parents-roof decisions, then maybe college will be the best time of your life.
Fact: College is an experience. It is temporary, exciting, challenging, fulfilling, humbling, exhausting and discouraging. Like any experience, it is worth the haul.Your first year may or may not be a nightmare. Take it a day at a time. Don't remove yourself from community. Press in and I promise, "this too shall pass".
3.
Myth: "Divorce is an option." This is false. When you make a vow before God and another person to commit despite the obstacles, you should at least respect yourself enough to make your word mean something. Divorce is evil. There is nothing good about it, any way you look at it. Maybe take some more time learning and trusting the person you are wedding before making a vow. Because divorce isn't an option.
Fact: Marriage is meant to be for "as long as you both shall live." It doesn't matter how awful it gets. It doesn't matter if you "fall out of love." Learn to do disbelieve Myth #1 and maybe Myth #3 won't be an issue.
4.
Myth: "Follow your dreams" is kinda unrealistic. Although I'm learning to dream, I do not think that you should blindly follow your dreams. What if you dream of being a pop singer but you have no vocal talent? Or what if you want to be an NBA player, but you have no athletic ability? Dreaming is good and important, but within reasonable limits. That may seem contradictory, but if you do not dream responsibly, you may find yourself broke, lost and disillusioned.
Fact: Dreams are long, lonely, difficult roads. As my friend Sarah Mathias said in her last blog post, "I am realizing that when you do crazy things, only about 5% of it looks like a movie and the other 95% probably looks like hell that you want to get out of, change takes time and pain can break your heart, and when you think about how long it would take for someone to heal and all the work that would go into it and how much it would cost you. It's not very much like a movie at all, but it's better, if you can make it. If you are called down that road."
5.
Myth: "The grass is always greener on the other side." Mmmm, not so much. Learn to be grateful for what you have. Be content. 1 Tim 6:6-7 "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it."
Fact: You have plenty of things to be grateful for. If you have a hard time imagining this, take out a sheet of paper and write down all the things you are thankful for. You will be surprised.
6.
Myth: "Pain is weakness leaving the body". This only applies to exercise, and even then it is contingent on whether you sustain an injury or are recovering from one. Do not apply this phrase to any other mental, emotional, spiritual or psychological area of your life.
Fact: Pain is not bad. Phil Yancey said that pain is an indicator of life, like when you are in an accident and the Dr. asks while probing you if you can feel anything. And if you can, that is good! Because pain indicates life, and therefore pain manifests life. Unless of course you tear your ACL or something, and in that case pain just sucks. Actually pain always sucks, but the result of pain can be very very good.
7.
Myth: "God helps those who help themselves" I don't really get this one. I feel like its self-explanatory: get off your butt and don't be lazy or act entitled. God doesn't abide by your rules.
Fact: Proverbs 14:23 "All hard work brings a profit."
8.
Myth: "You are what you eat."
Fact: Eat healthy, be healthy.
Myth: "Etiquette is old-fashioned." No, its not. It is the mark of a mature, classy individual. Things like: Guys who hold doors, women who dress modestly, guys who walk on the road-side of the sidewalk, waiting to eat until everyone is seated, bringing a gift to a party, always r.s.v.p.ing, doing what you say you are going to do, keeping your committments, not chewing gum on stage, saying please and thank you.
Fact: "Manners maketh man." ~ William of Wykeham.
"Good manners can open doors that the best education cannot." ~Clarence Thomas
"Politeness and consideration for others is like investing pennies and getting dollars back."~Thomas Sowell
10.
Myth: "Blondes have more fun." False. Redheads do, obviously.
Fact: 75% of men say the first thing they notice about a women is her hair.
Yep. So good hair=fun. Obviously.
There you go. Feel free to disagree.
