Are you using social media or is social media using you?
Is social media making you Anxious, Angry, Sad, Frustrated or Insecure???
Yep! I’ve been there! Have you ever taken a social media break? If you said yes and you think you took a break BECAUSE of social media, you are 100% WRONG! Stay with me. . .
Let’s be real for a moment. When I say, “Let’s be real” what I am actually saying is that I want you to look within. If you are not ready to open your mind, your heart and ask yourself some tough questions I am not sure if this information is for you.
What you are about to read is GAME CHANGING! It’s putting aside what you thought you knew and opening yourself up to a new way of thinking. A way of thinking that breaks the chains of insecurity, doubt, anxiety and fear.
For this blog, we are going to use the example of what we see on social media and how it has an influence on what we think, feel and act. However, what you will learn today applies to many aspects of our lives. Stay with me!
I can feel some of you going, “Oh myyyyy GOSH!!! We get it already! Social media can make me feel like shit.” To be honest, when I wrote that sentence I said the same thing to myself. Haha! But if you thought this blog was like anything that you have read before when it comes to the impact of social media you will be in for an interesting ride.
LET’S GET STARTED. . .
We all know about some of the most common misconceptions that we see on social media. To make sure that we are on the same page I want share with you several misconceptions that immediately come to mind.
- “I look good from every angle and I got this picture in the first take.” Try 52! But who really wants to show off their worst angles with the worst lighting? Do You?
- “I am mastering life effortlessly.” If anyone is mastering life then they are for sure putting in a HELL of a LOT of work! Nothing that is “mastered” came easy to anyone.
- “I am so in love with my boyfriend/girlfriend and we are so perfect in every way.” BARF! Where to do Start?!? I am totally cool with social media PDA but in most cases if you are over the top you are either new to the relationship or you are making up for something. Not always, but I can’t count how many people I see boasting about their spouse on social media when the day before they were on the brink of breakup with them. WHAT?!?!? Get out of here!
- “I always look hot when I workout.” Omgoodness! This one made me smile. If you are that girl that looks hot every time she workout then girl get yours! I will be over here looking a HOT MESS. :p
Have you ever secretly felt bad about yourself because of something you saw on social media. This could be anything from a friend of yours going on luxury vacations, getting promoted, having six pack abs, having a butt like JLo or having a closet full of name brand clothes.
To the the latest social media icon living life as though everyone loves them and anything they want; they get. Eventually this can starts to take a toll on our self-esteem; sending us into an envy earthquake. We are either going to tear some shit up or you better hand over that Ice Cream. NOW!
This is where the magic begins! Is social media at fault or is there another reason? Hmmmm. . . This is where I ask you to open your mind, your heart and get yourself ready to DIG DEEP.
Whenever we have to confront uncomfortable feelings we quickly search for a person or a reason to blame because looking at ourselves can be painful. It is a natural instinct for us to go directly into protect mode. We want the easiest way to feel better in that moment.
However, if we want true Happiness and Fulfillment, we MUST take charge of the ONLY THING that we can Control; OURSELVES!
It’s much easier to blame someone else for what we lack (or our assumed lack of), for our head space issues or for the life that we have. Trust me!!! I was the Queen of,
- Distracting myself by being super busy all the time (addicted to being busy).
- And Blaming others for many of my uncomfortable feelings.
It was easier for me to stay distracted and/or for me to blame someone or something than it was for me to look within. I could deal with someone hurting me or something being the reason for my frustration.
What I could not do (or I refused) was admit that I blocked out and became numb towards my traumatic life events until they would show up in different areas of my life;
Feeling like I needed someone to fulfill my Insecurity,
Needing someone to do all of the things I expected or they must not love me like I love them,
Feeling like they must not be genuinely sorry because they don’t show it the way I would and so on.
My point here is that what you see out in the world is our perceptions and whatever negative emotion that we associate with it is a huge RED FLAG for us to look at ourselves.
What is really going on and how do we work through it so that I can LET IT GO in order to live my life not feeling negatively influenced by what I see.
I encourage you to ask yourself next time you feel like something or someone has triggered you to feel that rush of adrenaline when your heart begins to race, your face gets hot and you start thinking negative thoughts about yourself, your life, your relationship, your job or you start to judge the someone or something that made you uncomfortable.
What am I pretending not to know? Why do I really feel this way and what can I do to gain clarity, calmness and confidence while working through this negative head space?
I end you with one of my favorite quotes by E.E. Cummings. He wrote, “To be nobody-but-yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody but yourself — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight –never stop fighting.”
Being real with yourself, to ask these hard questions (in any situation) is one of the most courageous things you can do for your own happiness. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read the words from my heart.
Hugs!
