One way to cut down on the stress in your life: Stop worrying so much. Easier said than done, right? Some things we simply must worry about -- the safety of our kids in this scary world, for example. But here are nine things we can strike from our worry lists, starting today.

Toilets
Yes, it's possible to contract an infection from potty seats -- see this previous post -- but it's not as likely as you might think. In fact, as long as you wash your hands after a trip to the bathroom, you'll likely never get one. You see, bacteria can't pass through intact skin so in order to catch something, you'd have to not wash your hands and then touch your mouth, nose, or eyes. As for STDs -- they are acquired only by having sex.

Doorknobs
Wash your hands in public restrooms, open doors with your elbows or use a paper towel to turn the knob and you'll fare just fine in the germ department.

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I will never forget a TV special I saw several years ago about household germs. They claimed that germs could "jump" from a toilet bowl and surfaces such as doorknobs were just breeding grounds for virtual colonies of little beasties.

Now the new germ-haven is your computer keyboard. Makes sense. Most people may remember to wash their hands before eating, but who thinks to wash their hands before using the computer? And, other than a perfunctory wipe down, my guess is there aren't too many people who really clean their keyboards.

Research from Great Britain indicates that computer keyboards may have more germs than toilet seats. The study was somewhat limited -- swabs were taken from 33 keyboards, one toilet seat, and one bathroom door handle. Several keyboards were dirty enough to be health hazards and one of the keyboards had five times the germs found on the toilet seat.

But even though the findings are a bit gross, there's no reason for alarm. The solution is simple: wash your hands before starting to work and clean your keyboard regularly. You may also want to consider minimizing the amount other co-workers use your keyboard.

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The U.N. reports that a lack of basic sanitation in some countries, or flush toilets, causes as many as 2 million childhood deaths each year. That breaks down to almost 5,000 preventable deaths per day, all for want of clean water.

"No access to sanitation is a polite way of saying that people draw water for drinking, cooking and washing from rivers, lakes, ditches and drains fouled with human and animal excrement," said Kevin Watkins, the main author of the U.N. Development Program's annual report. The report also cites studies in Peru and Egypt that show as much as a 60% increase in a child's chance of living to their 1st birthday just by installing a flush toilet in their home.

This story really makes me realize the little things that we all take for granted everyday, like indoor plumbing. Next time I'm scrubbing my toilet I'll try to more appreciative that I have one to clean!

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