"Comparison is the thief of joy."
It hit me like whoa. Of course I've heard similar things before, but for some reason this particular wording really hit me. Comparison is the thief of joy. Just let that sink in.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
That's crazy. Because it's true! At least in my experience it is.
I'll be the first to admit that I get jealous of people. What they have. What they look like. What they're doing. Where they're working. Their perfect life. Okay, no one's life is perfect. I'm very aware of this, but can we just take a moment and admit that some people's lives are closer to it than others?
Now that that's out of the way.
I'm going to blame a lot of this comparison on social media. I spend quite a bit of time online.
It's crazy when I realize that I've been on my computer for hours with no specific task to complete. I feel better about it when I get online to look at jobs or do a little online shopping or to look something up (yes, I still actually get on my computer to look stuff up occasionally!).
I want to know what people are up to. Where they're working, who they're dating, what they're doing tonight. But on the other hand, I don't want to know anything.
It can be absolutely depressing to see how happy other people are all the time and how awesome their lives appear. That sounds insane, but it's true. I'm perfectly fine with my life until I peek on Facebook and see that everyone else's lives are just a little bit better, a little fuller, a little richer.
I heard somewhere that you can't compare your entire life to everyone else's highlight reel.
SO. FRIGGIN. TRUE.
SO. FRIGGIN. TRUE.
People don't post bad things on Facebook. They don't wake up in the morning and post about how awful their makeup from the night before looks or how horrible their morning breath is.
No. They just don't do it. And when people do post negative things, there is ALWAYS a reason behind it. They want people to show them support or sympathy, or they want them to make them feel like the sun shines out their ass, "Oh you could never do anything wrong!" "It's not your fault!" "You are a beautiful person inside and out."
Puh-lease. I see right through it. Everything is posted with a purpose.
There are SOME people that I do want to see every day. I want to know what they're doing. I've thought about going on a purge, and leaving only about 10 people on my Facebook, but that seems like bad business sense for some endeavors I may want to pursue in the future. So maybe I'll just unfollow...
I just need to remember that not everything actually is the way it appears online. I have no idea what it's really like, but it's just hard to keep it in perspective sometimes.
Until I figure it all out, I'll just keep trying to remember that. So do whatever makes you happy. In the end, that's all you really can (and should) do.
There are SOME people that I do want to see every day. I want to know what they're doing. I've thought about going on a purge, and leaving only about 10 people on my Facebook, but that seems like bad business sense for some endeavors I may want to pursue in the future. So maybe I'll just unfollow...
I just need to remember that not everything actually is the way it appears online. I have no idea what it's really like, but it's just hard to keep it in perspective sometimes.
Until I figure it all out, I'll just keep trying to remember that. So do whatever makes you happy. In the end, that's all you really can (and should) do.
XOXO, Ness
