Okay, I love Instagram. I love getting to see what my friends from high school are up to, what my college friends are doing over their summer, how my family members states away are growing up, and memes. Can’t forget about the memes.

But...I find myself getting stressed when I’m on Insta now.

The pressure to be perfect has always been in our world, but social media is changing it in really subtle ways. I’m talking the cute pictures of friends with Chaco tan lines, the transformation pictures of people changing their diet and exercise habits, the couples going hiking every weekend - nothing that should create bad feelings, but after a while seeing these posts every day leads to feelings of inadequacy and feeling the need to live up to those expectations that our mind creates after seeing these posts.

These subtle pressures really do build up. I don’t want to spend $70 on a pair of sandals that will give me trendy tan lines - or do I? I don’t feel the need to post-transformation pictures as I go through my health journey - but should I? My boyfriend and I go on hikes quite often, should we take more pictures?

See what I mean? Scrolling through Instagram or any app slowly builds in our minds an idea of what our lives should look like, even if our lives are perfectly fine. We develop massive FOMO - but instead of missing out on an event or opportunity, our fear is of missing out on being a part of a trend or of showing how perfect our lives are.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t post these pictures - we should post whatever we want (within reason) on social media and enjoy the amazing technologies that allow us to keep in touch with our friends and loved ones. I’m saying that we need to think about how these pictures make us feel. Reflect on those feelings. If you feel inadequate about the posts you see on social media, ask yourself why. Are strappy tan lines really worth feeling anything over?

If you’re not having adventures like you see on Instagram - don’t worry about it.

Very few people are. The problem with social media is that we only see what others want us to see - we don’t see glamourous posts about morning commutes or paying bills or doing dishes. And the people whose posts do have you stressed? They likely feel the same pressures you do.

My advice for my fellow Insta-stressers: take a break from the app! I know we have all heard it before - but really, take a break. Disable the apps that stress you out - even if it means missing out on a few days of memes. Take time to enjoy the real world - you’ll likely realize that the best things in life aren’t made into posts on social media.