Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I honestly don’t think that could be any more accurate. I know I get caught up in comparing myself to others, sometimes without ever knowing who they truly are. I noticed one of the main things that caused me to constantly measure myself up to others was largely due to the way I looked at social media sites.
Do you ever scroll down your Instagram feed and see pictures of people who look like they have the absolute coolest lives? For example, I remember always seeing pictures of this one girl and thinking to myself, “wow, she is seriously the happiest person I’ve ever seen.” First of all, I literally know nothing about this girl except that she’s been on some pretty sick vacations and she has a dog. I literally don’t know anything about her personality, hobbies, or beliefs, and I have claimed I have wanted to be her. Can we take a moment to reflect how messed up that is?? (I am still super jealous she’s been to Italy though)
In society today, I believe we set unrealistic standards for happiness based off of inaccurate stories told by social media. When I see things on the web, I interpret them differently than the way they actually are. I’ve realized I need to step back and understand pictures, posts, and everything else that happens online is so unimportant in the big scheme of things and can tell a very different tale than you’d expect. Always keep in mind things that have been posted on the internet are edited versions of ourselves made to look a specific way in order to develop a specific image.
Comparison is dangerous in more than one ways. When comparing yourself to someone, you either put yourself down without reason or build yourself up in ways that are superficial and unhealthy. In order to grow as a person we need to stop examining other people’s lives from the outside and reflect on our own. This way we will stop devaluing our own lives and placing our joy in the hands of lies told by the Internet.
Next time your scrolling down your newsfeed, home page, or timeline on whatever site you may be checking out I hope you can remember that there’s more to the story than the picture and your worth a lot more than that anyways. Try to place your happiness in something unable to be controlled by people and you might find your life to be a lot more joyful too.
XOXO, Em
P.S. hope y'all have a great week!