Currently, I am spending summer 2015 in the corporate world (a.k.a cooped up in an office staring mindlessly at the Flatirons through the windows). More than ever, I’m finding myself constantly thumbing over people via social media: favoriting, swiping, liking, following, unfollowing.
With these exceptional media-stalking skills, I now know the birthday of my college roommate’s ex-boyfriend’s cousin. I’m pinning workouts I’ll probably never even open again. I’m unfollowing that guy from senior year spring break that my best friends and I met on the beach one night. I’m counting down the number of followers I need until I reach 1K. I’m watching people’s snapchat stories wondering how they lost the freshman 15 already and we only left school 3 weeks ago (?).
As I continue to scroll through everyone’s lives, I keep wondering why they’re so lucky and how they get to be doing what their doing. Why someone’s off traveling the world and drinking Europe’s finest wines. Why someone else is volunteering in a third world country helping the world become a better place. Why another person is interning for a big-wig company out in LA or NYC and gaining connections that will move them forward in life.
I find that I keep comparing myself to these people who are simply just posting what everyone wants them to see. I’m lusting after these people and all that they do when I haven’t even considered living my own life, as I should. It’s a struggle to completely abandon this idea and walk away as if it never occured. I remind myself that rather than lusting at another life, it’s important to be thankful for what I have, and what can be accomplished. I focus myself on what I hope to achieve in future careers, or what to simply spend my next paycheck on.
I challenge you to think again next time you click on someones page, rather than comparing a perfect reality to your ordinary reality. (Because I promise, it is far from ordinary).