Hypocrisy

One of the biggest themes in my life is hypocrisy and how human it is. I don't consider it bad, even though most people do. Hypocrisy to me is ultimately ironic and doesn't have anything to do with conscious choice. The event that has produced this line of thought lately is the seeming contradiction of my nature regarding germs and sickness.

I am the absolute opposite of a germaphobe. I have absolutely no qualms about getting dirty, being around germs, eating undercooked meat, etc. I was like this before I traveled around Asia, but I will admit that broke down a few barriers I didn't even know I had when it comes to dealing with germs. I find almost nothing disgusting.

The irony of this is that I am a raging hypochondriac. I start reading about some kind of disease, and I automatically start having every single symptom. I even start remembering having some of the symptoms before I read it.

"Holy crap, my left arm hurt slightly last week and I had a headache last month, I think I have Japanese Encephalitis B!" Absolutely ridiculous, but that's the way my brain has been programmed to work.

Ironically, and perhaps hypocritically, it never connects the two. I have never been exposed to germs because of my carelessness about being exposed to them and then had an attack of hypochondria as a direct result of it. Seems weird.