Life can be crazy sometimes. Apparently ruled by chance and randomness, it is often chaotic, messy, and utterly unpredictable. That makes it interesting, but it’s also the source of much anxiety and angst as we learn to cope with an uncertain future through imperfect means. That’s what adulthood is all about, right?
But as much control as we strive to have over our own life, there will always be blind spots, twists of fate, and things that are completely beyond our will. We can’t do much about that. Still, the first step towards getting a handle on any situation is knowledge: if we don’t know what we’re dealing with, we won’t be able to do much about it in the first place.
With that in mind, here are 10 alarming facts about humans that will probably give your life an entirely new perspective.
You’ve got 4,000 weeks left (or less)
If you’re a healthy person in your early 20s, you only have around 4,000 weeks left to live. Yep, only 4,000 weekends to go, so spend them wisely. That’s quite a countdown, when you think about it.
The time spent kissing
On average, people spend around two to three weeks of their entire lives kissing. So, out of the 4,000 weeks you’ve got left (at most), you can remove three just for this. It’s a pretty nice way to spend time, sure, but keep in mind it does take a small bite out of your budget.
The time spent shaving
Speaking of things to keep in mind about that budget, you’ll want to hear this if you’re a man (or a woman who shaves daily). The average male spends about 6 whole months of their life cleaning and shaving their face. That’s a big chunk of your overall time. Talk about high-maintenance!
How smoking drains your life
Now that you know just how much time you can, or cannot, expect to have going forward, you’ll want to avoid needlessly detracting from that. If you’re a smoker, you’ll want to keep this in mind: every cigarette you smoke reduces your life by about 11 minutes. That’s 11 fewer minutes per cigarette. It might not be worth it if you do the math.
You are more at risk from cancer than you think
Whether you’re a smoker or not, though, this one might make you think. The American Cancer Society estimates that men in the U.S. have a 43.31% chance of developing one form of cancer during their lifetime, while that figure is about 37.65% for women. That means that, on average, 1 in every 3 Americans will face the disease at one point in their lives. Talk about scary.
We’re one mistake away from a pandemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studies the deadliest diseases known to humanity, and they keep a sample of most of them in their Atlanta headquarters. If, for any reason, their containment is breached, it could spell doom for the human race as a whole. Of course, it’s unlikely that will happen, but it’s still the case that we’re one mistake away from a global catastrophe.
Toilet time
Back to the topic of seemingly wasted time: are you aware of how long you spend doing menial chores or fulfilling basic needs? Since we’re so used to them, we hardly notice—but the time it takes you to get them done adds up. For instance, the average person spends about 3 months sitting on the toilet. Who knew?
Walking ’round the planet
Even in this day and age, where comforts abound and we live our lives sitting down, humans still need to walk. And they walk a lot. The average person takes 183,755,600 steps in their lifetime, or what amounts to about 120,000 kilometers. That’s equivalent to walking nearly three times around the planet. Impressive, huh?
Changing skins
Changing skins is not something only snakes do. Humans do it as well, only slightly less dramatically. An average human completely replaces their skin 900 times during their lifetime. Sounds gross, but it’s necessary.
Jogging saves lives
If someone ever told you jogging wasn’t worth your time, that person was definitely wrong. Not only will you feel better by doing cardio regularly, but you’ll increase your life expectancy as well. In fact, joggers live six years longer on average than non-joggers. That’s quite a few extra weekends.
Other articles you might like:
10 Ways In Which Death Makes Life More Meaningful
Reading And Writing Lead To Longer Lives Free Of Dementia, Studies Find
Happiness Is Overrated: Why Trying To Be Happy Is A Waste Of Time
