We all do it... Every morning, every hour, every day, almost every minute we get. We text, we connect and we use social media way more than we should.
We have become prisoners of our phones, no wonder they're called cell phones. We are constantly busy comparing and judging others and ourselves. No wonder so many teenagers and young adults struggle with mental illness, depression and body positivity.
As someone who is guilty of having a habit of using social media especially Instagram even before my morning coffee, or the minute wake up I feel like many of us can relate.
I follow so many Instagram "celebrities" with perfect bodies, perfect lives and basically perfect everything. But are they really so "perfect," or are they just using a "filter"?
We have become absorbed and driven by things that don't even matter. I caught myself comparing myself so much more than ever before since I got Instagram, but then I realized Instagram isn't the enemy.
It's what we tell, ask and compare ourselves to, that my friend is the real enemy. We see our friends accomplishing what we wish we could've, we see Instagram celebrities with perfect bodies and we see perfect relationships between people we know, but did you ever stop and ask yourself what happens outside of Instagram?
Instagram is a platform to express ourselves, but it seems we became obsessed. We became obsessed with likes, followers, filters and photos, but we forgot that the best memories are the ones we didn't capture. It's the moments where we are completely happy even for a split second where nothing else matters, but it feels like these moments are lost.
Whenever I experience a special moment my first thought is to take out my cellphone and take a video. In my mind, I'm thinking I want to relive this moment once it's over, yet I never think about the fact that this moment will only be captured behind a lens.
These moments should mean more to us and after thinking about it I don't really want to relive the moment.
Why would I want to relive something if it will never feel the same way after the moment is gone? I'm not saying to never take a picture ever, but what I am saying is that sometimes moments are better remembered with what you experience and see.
We became obsessed with likes. I am so guilty of this, whenever I post a selfie or a picture and it doesn't get more than 100 likes I remove it. I always regret posting a picture that was less "likable" than what I hoped.
I feel like I can't be the only one, we use filters to enhance our pictures, to remove acne, to slim down even to make us taller. We want to be just as skinny as what we see on so many advertisements and products being sold, we want to eat "gummy bears" for hair growth, we want to change who we are to fit in what society wants.
Basically, we are destroying what makes us so unique. We are destroying our identity and we forget that we are so much more than how many people like our photo's, how many followers we have and how "popular" we are on these social media sites.
We should post pictures not for others to praise us, but for ourselves. We should love ourselves without the filters.
Honestly, do you really think those people we compare ourselves to are perfect? We forget that behind these filters, pictures and followers they are all humans with insecurities, fears and mistakes.
They are just way better portraying these "perfect" images than we are. A lot of what we see on social media isn't real with technology developing as fast as it does we can look like a totally different person virtually.
Virtually we can be perfect, but this isn't real. We should stop comparing, stop judging and spend the time we waste on things that matter. We should put our cellphones down and use the time we have with the people next to us.
We should express not obsess.
We should wear confidence like we wear makeup. There's always going to be people who are smarter, prettier or better than you, but only you can be the best you.
What you weigh doesn't matter, what you look like doesn't matter and what your bank account says doesn't matter. In the end, you have to be happy with the person staring back at you when you look in the mirror, in the end, you matter and what makes you happy matters. We are perfect in our own way.
Do things for yourself because eventually, other people won't remember your choices twenty years in the future, but you're the one that has to live with them.
Stop comparing and start loving yourself, because who knows she could be born with it, or maybe it could be an Instagram filter.
Nobody's perfect so don't expect me to be.
