Social media is so powerful. It connects us with people from all over the world. Some who we know personally, and some who we’ll never physically meet. It keeps us in tune with our friends, and in touch with our family and acquaintances.
Every now and then, social media stops being fun and becomes a frustration. If you’ve ever suffered from the social media blues, you know what I mean. Have you ever been home on a weekend scrolling through your timeline and seen photos of your friends at the movies, dancing at parties, buying new clothes and shoes, getting their hair done, and eating delicious food while you were stuck in your bed curled up in a ball with a heating pad because you had cramps? Have you ever logged on early in the morning and seen a friend’s oh-so-flawless good morning picture, meanwhile you’re sitting on the edge of your bed looking like you stuck your finger in an electrical socket, twice?
In most cases, it’s not that you’re unhappy for your friends. You don’t want them to have bad birthdays, break up with their boyfriends, or take bad pictures. You’re glad they’re happy and having fun. It’s your unhappiness with your own life that can bother you sometimes. You see them doing all of these great things and wonder why your life isn’t as good as theirs, or you feel like a loser because you’re not accomplishing as much as they are. If you log on to your social media page feeling good and log off feeling lonely, frustrated, jealous, and sad, you’re not alone.
Social media can be deceptive. For the most part, people don’t share everything about themselves. For the most part. Now, there are those who share every little thing like what they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and what happens in the bathroom (why though?), but generally we choose what we want to broadcast to the world.
Most of us highlight the good times. Birthday parties, vacations, new shoes and hair dos. Some people only highlight the bad days like breakups, betrayals, and disappointments.
No matter what people want you to believe, nobody is absolutely perfect.
Nobody has everything all together. Your friend who looks like Beyonce in her 6am fabulous good morning picture didn’t wake up like that. She had stuff in her eyes, bed hair, and morning breath just like you did. You just didn’t see it, or smell it (thank God). Your friends who looked like they were having so much fun at that party really weren’t because the truth is everyone was on their phones, so no one really interacted with each other, but you couldn’t tell. Everyone experiences highs, and lows too.
Most of the time when we have the social media blues it’s because we’re comparing our lives to other people. That creates pressure for us to show off our lives too. Not in a genuine way, but in a competitive way because we want to prove a point, to ourselves, and others.
Honestly, you don’t have to compare yourself to other people. You don’t have anything to prove to anyone. You’re not in a race or a competition with anyone either, even though people try to make it seem that way sometimes. You’re running your own race, you have your own life, and your social media friends have theirs. All of us have beautiful moments, and ugly moments too.
You don’t have to be frustrated with your book just because a page from someone else’s looks different than yours. You don’t know the whole story.
Truth be told, there is probably someone watching your posts thinking you have it all. It’s all in how you see it. If you’re feeling like your life isn’t as good as you want it to be, start a gratitude journal and highlight the good things in your life. You’ll see that there’s more to be thankful for. If all else fails, take a social media break. We all need one from time to time, especially when we find ourselves online all day long. During your break, take some time to set some goals for yourself and then work hard to achieve them so that you can get to where you want to be in life.
Enjoy your life. When you share things on social media, do it because you want to, not because you’re trying to prove something. Focus on your story. It’s still being written, and you have no idea how good it’s about to get.
1 | What are the things that frustrate you about social media? What do you do when you become frustrated?
2 | Are you happy with your life right now? Why, or why not? What changes can you make that will help?
2 | Have you ever felt pressured to upload a picture or a post just to prove something to yourself or your friends? How did it make you feel and what did you do about it?
3 | How can you tell when it’s time for you to have a break from social media? What does a social media break look like for you? When you’re taking some time off, what are some things you can do instead?
4 | How can you resist the urge to run your own race and not compare your life to others, but still celebrate their accomplishments?
Until next time, have a GREAT day, and remember you are special!
