Bacon is as bad as smoking now. Beef might be linked to cancer–maybe in copious amounts? When the World Health Organization announced this, the internet had a tantrum.

Then Country Living Magazine warned me that tea can be laced with trace amounts of lead. Nice. And before that, there were e-coli outbreaks from packaged spinach. Nail polish is filled with toxins. Antiperspirant deodorant has been liked with breast cancer. Even fresh fruits and veggies get some side eye because of insecticides and other chemicals.

There are times that I just want to scream. With all the dangers and heightened risks out there, I sometimes just don’t want to know. I eat lots of green leafy vegetables. I paint my toenails. I use antiperspirant deodorant. (You’re welcome.) I cook with beef from time to time, and I prefer my broccoli without bugs. If I follow all those danger signs, then I’m on death’s door.

But do you know the one that made me want to cry? The one about tea. That was the last straw. (I think everyone else’s last straw was the bacon!)

I think I’m going to simply accept that I’m mortal. And I’m going to drink my tea, and I’m going to write my books, and I’m not going to think about my eventual demise. That’s the human experience: blocking it out. It works for me.