During elections, a common miss-perception among voters is that if the “other” party wins, life is bound to become downright miserable. People put a great deal of stock in their emotional beliefs about what is good and what is bad, often without a realistic interpretation of past, impending, or future results. The reality is that once the election is over, the doom and gloom many people expect rarely materializes. This does not apply to elections only, as a life coach and marriage counselor, I see this sort of negativity many other aspects of people’s lives, including marriage, family, and relationships. In the following article by author Steve Johnson we’re asked to assess the state of a number of indices of everyday life. Surprisingly, we tend to see life quite negatively, despite the reality. Before you read on, ask yourself, “Are you living the good life?”
“Over the past two decades, what have the U.S. trends been for the following important measures of social health: high school dropout rates, college enrollment, juvenile crime, drunken driving, traffic deaths, infant mortality, life expectancy, per capita gasoline consumption, workplace injuries, air pollution, divorce, male-female wage equality, charitable giving, voter turnout, per capita GDP and teen pregnancy?
“The answer for all of them is the same: The trend is positive. Almost all those varied metrics of social wellness have improved by more than 20% over the past two decades. And that’s not counting the myriad small wonders of modern medicine that have improved our quality of life as well as our longevity: the anti-depressants and insulin pumps and quadruple bypasses.” Click her for the complete article.