Kiran Athar
Guilty pleasures – we all have them yet we hesitate to share them with others.
The truth is, these clandestine pleasures give us a mix of shame, satisfaction, and entertainment, essentially providing a much-needed escape from reality from time to time!
So, if you’re feeling brave, share this list with your friends and see just how many secret indulgences you share!
Here are 7 guilty pleasures everyone secretly enjoys but rarely admits to:
1) Binge-watching crappy reality TV shows
No one likes to admit it, but reality TV shows really come through on the drama!
Sure, they might lack depth, the scripts are obvious and cheesy, and most of us can predict what’s going to happen within the first 10 minutes of watching them, but we can’t deny they provide a solid source of entertainment!
And although we might tell our colleagues that we spend our evenings watching National Geographic, secretly we’re all racing home to find out who’s cheated on who.
If it makes you feel any better – you aren’t alone. In fact, a whopping 79% of adults who watch television in the United States watch reality shows!
2) Social media stalking
Another guilty pleasure everyone secretly enjoys but rarely admits to is social media stalking…
Whether it’s your ex, his new girlfriend, or her best friend’s twice-removed cousin, we’ve all fallen into this trap at some point or another. Why?
Because it’s so damn satisfying!
We no longer have to guess or wonder what people are up to – a quick search will tell us everything we need to know and more. Even if we’ve moved on and harbor no feelings, it’s just fun to do it out of curiosity.
But at the end of the day, it’s still slightly creepy, and no one wants to admit to that!
3) Scrolling through your own social media profiles
But it’s not just stalking others that we’re all secretly guilty of – it’s stalking ourselves too!
If you’ve found yourself looking over your profile often and checking out your own pictures, you’re just as guilty as the rest of us!
So, why do we take pleasure in this?
It could be that we want to see ourselves through the eyes of everyone else. I know that when I look back on my travel pictures on Instagram, I’m imagining what my friends and family are taking from the snaps.
But it can also come from a place of vanity and wanting to reassure ourselves that yes, we do look as good as we think we do!
And talking of vanity…
4) Taking multiple selfies until you get the right one
You know what I’m talking about with this next point, when the selfie you uploaded was #47 out of 60 selfies you took – something about the angle and the lighting was just right.
But you’d never admit that – especially not to your social media followers!
No one admits to it because no one wants to sound vain, but the truth is, smartphones have increased our vanity levels. We all want validation from others, and we all want to fall into the “attractive” category.
So, rather than post selfie #1 where you accidentally flared your nostrils, you keep going until you find *perfection*.
Just make sure to delete the fails before you next allow someone to go through your camera album!
5) Popping pimples
Now, this next guilty pleasure is not one for the faint-hearted…but let’s be real, most of us have done it!
Popping pimples is both satisfying and disgusting at the same time.
I don’t know about you, but I certainly feel a sense of shame straight afterward…and then regret as I see the area turn redder and redder!
You see, we all know that popping pimples isn’t the way to go about dealing with spots.
In fact, it can damage the skin and leave a scar, so the best advice is to leave it alone, use a bit of ice for redness, or use a specialized acne cream.
But even though we know this, we still can’t resist popping away in the secrecy of our bathrooms…
And then denying it to the rest of the world the next day when they ask what on earth happened!
6) Fantasizing
Fantasizing is another guilty pleasure that we all partake in, but rarely admit to.
Whether you fantasize about your dishy new neighbor or the girl who works at your local cafe, it’s human nature to create stories.
But often, we’re fantasizing about people or scenarios that we probably wouldn’t admit to in real life!
It doesn’t matter if you’re in a happy, healthy, and committed relationship.
We’re sexual, curious beings, and even if you don’t plan on ever cheating, you may still find it hard to resist giving in to the odd fantasy scenario running through your mind!
And if it makes you feel better, one study found that 97% of us have sexual fantasies, so you’re certainly not alone on this one, even if no one else admits to it!
7) Getting lost down the YouTube rabbit hole
And finally, we’ve all fallen victim to the dark hole that is YouTube.
You tell your family that you’re headed to bed for an early night. Then you decide to watch just one short video, something to lull you to sleep.
But before you know it, it’s 2 am and you’re neck-deep into videos explaining how hippopotamuses have sex.
Of course, no one wants to admit to watching that.
And the truth is, no one wants to own up to falling down the YouTube rabbit hole full stop! It shows a lack of willpower and a predisposition to procrastinating.
But hey – I’m not one to judge. My late-night YouTube video history is likely to consist of crazy shark attacks and satisfying power-wash cleaning videos!
So, there we have it, guilty pleasures everyone secretly enjoys but rarely admits to. It’s nice to know we’re all slightly weird in our own little ways, and that we all have similar indulgences, even if we struggle to own up to them!
