You're entitled to your own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts. Which is why I'm taking the time to point out some of the reasons that words are not violence -- and that there is truth to the old rhyme, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me."

This post was originally published as Eva Glasrud's answer to, "Can an awkward angry bitter lonely woman learn how to be beautiful on the inside"?

​I was recently asked how someone with several negative traits and emotions can become beautiful on the inside. Making a personal change is always hard -- but it's not as hard as you might think.  

Bloggers, life coaches and motivational speakers love telling people to stop caring what others think. And, to some degree, they're right. People don't watch, think or talk about you nearly as much as you think they do.

But. 

The idea that you can simply "quit caring" what others think goes against our very biology, and everything we were designed to do.

The FDA approved a new (and unusual) weight-loss device this week. AspireAssist is an external pump that empties up to a third of stomach contents into the toilet.

In the years since I attended Phillips Exeter Academy, I have never uttered a bad word about the school. I probably tell at least one person a week (conservative estimate) what a magical place it is. I've written on both Slate and my own blog about how much I love Exeter.

But the time has come to do something I've never done before. I have bad words -- very bad words -- to say about my beloved alma mater.

Brock Turner (above) was caught raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster at Stanford.

The conscience of everyone who has a moral compass was shocked this week when Brock Turner, who was caught in the act of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, received a lenient six-month sentence. After being convicted of three felonies, including assault with intent to rape.

This is not justice, and steps have already been taken to recall the judge responsible for the sentence, Aaron Persky.

​The victim, who has chosen to remain anonymous, released the letter that she read aloud to her attacker at the trial to Buzzfeed on June 3. By June 6, over 6.2 million people had read her 7,000+ word statement. (It's powerful. If you haven't, you should read it.)

Stanford should give students an education - not a mental illness.

Image from the popular Onion article, 6-Day Visit To Rural African Village Completely Changes Woman’s Facebook Profile Picture​

Every few months, I see an article or two on my newsfeed about how voluntourism -- volunteer travel -- is bad, because non-experts who only have a week or two to volunteer aren't actually helpful. And, of course, each of these articles suggests that instead of spending thousands of dollars on volunteer travel opportunities... you should just donate thousands of dollars to a nonprofit.

I sincerely wish people would stop publishing these articles.

A few months ago, I was asked to answer this question on Quora: 

"If you were a 17-year-old out of high school, what would you do with your life?

I tested out of high school two years early, and lately I've just become so stuck and cynical of life. I don't know what I'm missing and why I'm stuck. I don't know where to move on to.

I've been going to talk therapy once a week (which barely helps)."

***

I'm not a licensed clinical psychologist or anything, but I do have a bachelor's and master's in psychology from Stanford. So here's my take on your situation, which is based on many assumptions that may or may not be true.

You are a high-achieving individual. You are talented and gifted, and you worked hard enough to test out of high school two years early. That's really great. Congratulations on your achievements.

BUT. There is a cost associated with your achievements.