How’s your Facebook lately? Been checking in on your Instagram? Has it just been my feeds or have you also realized that all those sites are starting to blend together and much of what is on there is nothing more than a place for our friends and family to show off? There are the occasional pet tricks and inspirational quotes but there’s little of actual authenticity. When was the last time you actually had lunch with a friend you follow? I sometimes long for the days before Facebook where I only heard about my friends vacations and lives face to face. Most certainly our conversations were not ridden with countless photos of all the meals and fun they were having either! Talking was more real and about opinions and real topics… all of which are completely forgotten in the social world we live in. Truly it has become a billboard of a daily showing off of other people’s lives. Why do we post all of the food and the places we go to if not to brag about how lucky we are to be able to afford such pleasures? With all this bragging replacing what used to be normal conversations what should we do? Well, I for one after seeing all these before and after weight loss pictures feel now the need to actually go to a gym and loose a little weight. Go figure! I suppose I will feel better about myself when I am not out of breath after climbing three flights of stairs…and despite my friends sitting and sipping their syrupy drinks by the sea…I can convince myself that I am indeed the lucky one that gets to jaunt off to the juice bar and make that post workout count! Why on earth don’t I feel better already? You could scoot off the the spa and grab a massage. You might even enjoy sitting quietly with a great book curled up with your happy cat in your lap purring… it’s the little things I remind myself. Who needs to fly to Mexico anyway?
Creating a private life outside of social media is an important step in truly living authentically. Looking through feeds of what others are doing and what you are not getting to do is unhealthy and can be depressing. So many of my friends are annoyed by all the pics of where everyone is going and many of those they follow they have not even spoken to in years! If you must partake in Facebook and the likes.. I recommend that you find a small sliver of time to do so. Get in and get out as they say… Your life is short and your time iS better spent meeting with friends and sharing quality time face to face. Learn how to be restrained from showing your inner yet censored private life to the world via posts and texts. No-one really cares and it’s not doping anything for you! You’ll discover that having a cup of tea, reading a book, exercising and actually discussing world views and opinions is more important and will have a more lasting positive effect of happiness on your life than any social post can achieve.
~ Alisa
