I can’t tell you how many times I have heard my friends and people in stores talking about “so and so” and how perfect their life or day is. I have to admit, I even found myself feeling bummed this week because a few friends were posting exciting and exotic photos. I started thinking about how much fun my one friend is having in Europe, while I looked down at the walking boot on my foot feeling annoyed. Why is it that we compare ourselves to others online and think that our lives are less exciting? It really hit me today when that same friend who I was imagining strolling through adorable European villages, was hating her trip. She texted me incredibly homesick and was feeling awful because her allergies were starting to feel unmanageable. It was when she told me how horrible the trip is that I came back to reality. We have no idea what other people really are going through. We post what we want people to see. We post what will look good. Many of us post thinking about all the likes this photo or that quote will get. When did we start basing our worth on likes and Instagram comments?
Social media (especially Instagram) is a glorified version of reality. We should not sit here and compare ourselves to people because of a photo. We can make anything look good- trust me, I have photoshopped and edited some of the most unexciting photos, which turned out to be pretty awesome in the end. We spend so much of our time second guessing ourselves, putting ourselves down and talking ourselves out of amazing things. Let’s not add another thing on the list of things to feel bad about. There is no such thing as a perfect reality- let’s stop trying to make one.
I have found that there is so much beauty around us. All we have to do is stop and look around.
I have a challenge for you. This week, when you find yourself feeling left out, sad or jealous of someone’s life you’re seeing on social media, stop. Put the phone down. Take some deep breaths and tell yourself that you are enough and your life is just as exciting as theirs. Let’s retrain our minds to focus on more positivity and let’s be kind to ourselves.
Make sure to share your stories, adventures, photos, videos and more on social media!
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