As a high schooler, it is difficult not to hear some news about celebrites. Even as an adult, it is hard to avoid hearing about celebrities, because so many people follow their lives. For some, it is a strange hobby. But for many others, it is an obsession. And all too often the obsession is taken too far, blinding people to important issues and clouding their reasoning.

On Monday, #cutforbieber trended on Twitter. The trend began as a prank after Bieber was allegedly found smoking marijuana. Soon, however, the prank started a trend, and girls began cutting themselves and tweeting photos of their injuries as a morbid symbol of their sorrow. Clearly their obsession has reached unhealthy levels; no one knows how far these girls will go for their precious idol.

Recently, the news of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s baby, or the ‘Kimye’ baby, has flooded the media. Kim Kardashian is pregnant, and Kanye West is the father, except there may be a little scandal because Kim is still divorcing Kris Humphries, which seems to be all Kim Kardashian really does. And people really care about that, as seen by how dominate the issue is.

However, in the past few weeks, America has been going through something called the fiscal cliff, which, to put it in simple terms, is when tax rates will begin increasing to the start of President Obama’s health care taxes and some other factors. People in Congress argued against it, saying that the tax increases and further government spending would ruin the economy and country, and some argued for it, believing that the tax increase would actually increase the debt, and then they all just argued, which seems to be all Congress really does. But there can be no doubt that the repercussions of the fiscal cliff, whether good or bad, will affect everyone in the country.

But, unlike the ‘Kimye’ baby, none of the normal people really care, about the fiscal cliff. The average worker may have known about the fiscal cliff, but they didn’t spend their lunch talking about it with their friends. It is far more likely they discussed Kim Kardashian’s baby drama.

The girls who believed that cutting their arms was a proper reaction to Bieber smoking marijuana are clearly delusional. And the fact that there are young girls who are so attached to an idol that they are willing to cut themselves for him is, ultimately, sad. It’s also disappointing to realize that people care more about a Kimye baby than the fiscal cliff, and that 15-year-olds value an idol over their health.

Nothing is wrong with liking celebrities. And nothing is wrong with caring about them, to a certain extent. And that’s the key phrase. If an obsession with a celebrity–or anything else, for that matter–clouds decisions and priorities, it’s time to stop.

That’s what everyone needs to do. Everyone needs to stop and take some time to step back and actually look at their lives and choices and see if what they value is important and long-lasting. Ten years from now, no one is going to care about Kim Kardashian’s baby.

Ten years from now, Justin Bieber will be old, and the girls who obsess over him right now are going to be adults who have more important things to do than go to his concerts. But the economic repercussions of the fiscal cliff could last for ten, twenty, possibly thirty years–no one really knows. And the scars from the self-inflicted wounds will last for years and be a constant reminder to the girls of a thoughtless decision they made when they were 11.

Some things are permanent. And some things aren’t. And while it’s fine to focus on the unimportant, temporary things, they need to be treated as that–temporary and unimportant. But they’ve treated as permanent and important. It’s time for everyone to step back and make the important things in life important again.