Secrets to a Stress-Free Life

SO this past weekend my five roommates and I travelled to Amsterdam. Although it is only a 2 hour flight from Florence to Amsterdam, the minute you step off the plane in Amsterdam something tells you you are in a whole different world..! Amsterdam is truly something (AKA something I only need to experience once). I am happy for the eye opening experience and even happier to be back to home sweet home in Florence!

On the way home from Amsterdam I bought a US COSMO magazine in the airport for a pricey 8 Euros. I sometimes feel so out of the "All Things American" loop that I decided to splurge in order to have a good read. "Secrets to De-Stress a Stressful life", "The newest weight-loss breakthrough", "Learn how to land the man of your dreams"... Even though I am in Italy, I cant be missing out on all these juicy 'secrets' and 'breakthrough' ideas.

I normally love loosing myself in a good trashy magazine on plane rides, but this time was different. As I read I began to recognize these 'new' and 'breakthrough' secrets from old cosmos, glamors, and any other magazines you can think of. Cosmo rarely reports anything EARTH-SHATTERING and though, I think I was well aware of this fact since the day I first picked up one of these magazines, this time I seemed to have much less tolerance for them. Most of the reading I have been doing lately has been out of travel books (My hero, Rick Steves) and at this point, what I read in those seems a lot more exciting and breakthrough then the Cosmo did.

While reading Cosmo I also realized that many of the 'Tips' in the magazine that I formally loved and tried hard to remember, didnt really seem to apply. For instance, the article that claimed to hold the secrets to a de-stressful life really didnt contain any secrets at all. It's tips: "Slow down", "Take a walk by yourself to collect your thoughts", "Get more sleep", "Eat healthier", "let yourself enjoy life", "Dont overload your plate". These so-called 'Cosmo exclusive secrets' are also known as ITALIAN CULTURE, and I do them daily.

SO, I'm not quite sure who I have to thank, Cosmo or Italy, for a healthier, less stressful and more enjoyable life but whoever it is, I am sure glad to have all these secrets in my possession! CIAO