Learning to envy myself
Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own. – Harold Coffin
In this day and age, there always seems be an opportunity to compare myself to someone else. Browsing Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and blogs is a constant reminder of how I need to lose weight, curl my hair, clean and decorate my house, throw an amazing party, cook up a week’s worth of healthy and delicious meals for my family, and on and on. I am finding that the more time I spend online, the worse I feel about myself. Ridiculous, isn’t it?
Ridiculous as it is, I’m not the only one and there is actually a name for this feeling – Facebook depression. After reading this article, it all made sense to me. The article discusses how most people only share the best things that happen to them on Facebook, which makes it appear as if they are living the perfect, fun-filled, exciting life.
What really gets to me are the pictures and status updates of THOSE Facebook moms. You know the ones I am referring to…the ones who strut around in 4 inch heels, perfectly manicured nails and toes, resemble a swimsuit model and seem to be able to spend a day out and about with their perfectly behaved toddler in tow.
But then I ask myself, why am I allowing the way someone else looks, dresses, or lives to affect how I feel about myself and my life? I really hate this feeling and am determined to get rid of it! Therefore, I am making a promise to myself to stop comparing.
No matter what, there will always be someone who is better at something than me or has more of something than me. Does it matter? No. What matters is that I concentrate on myself and making myself happy.
I have been tempted to get off of Facebook completely, but just can’t seem to do it, so I am going to try only checking it once a day. I am going to put my time and energy into things that matter to ME, like working out and getting healthy and spending time with my family. I am going to stop pressuring myself to get more blog followers and just find the joy in writing. Overall, I am going to just give myself a break and spend time counting my own blessings versus someone else’s.
love this post ashley
Thanks, Sheri!
These are all accurate observations. I used to think the same thing as a good portion of work that I do for different businesses relies on me being on facebook and twitter and random blogs. I used to beat myself up over how successful I was in a domesticated sense. Once I let go of all of it, it was like the Empire State Building was removed from my shoulders and I wore the biggest smile on my face. Keep up the good work, mama! If you and your whole family are smiling, you are doing the best job ever!
Thanks, Chrystal! Learning to learn how to let go of all kinds of things goes along with becoming a mom.
Thanks for sharing this honest post. I can totally relate to your “envy” struggle. I’m actually trying to take on a similar more grateful attitude. You’re definitely not alone. Sometimes I wish we could go back to simpler times when social media didn’t rule our worlds.
Thanks for reading. Yes, I am always trying to remind myself to be grateful. It really does help!
Don’t forget Pinterest envy! All those beautiful pictures of perfect food and homes makes me feel terrible. I pin lots of recipes that almost NEVER turn out like the photos – that website is guaranteed to make you feel bad about yourself at least once a day. But have no fear – none of those perfect moms have blogs and readers like you do!
Aw, thank you so much for the sweet comment.
A good and honest post. Envy and the comparing of yourself to the “Facebook perfection” of others is something I used to do quite a bit. For some reason, once I started blogging and found a great group of fellow bloggers who I can share the ups and downs of my life with (and not feel judged the way I did on FB) I do the whole FB thing less and less. I still have moments where I feel my house is not clean enough, I don’t cook healthy enough meals for my kids, and I need to fit into my high school jeans but I try not to fixate on those things anymore.
I am totally there with you on enjoying blogging. It is nice to read other blogs and hear the honesty that does not exist on Facebook.
Pingback: Turn it Off | Life, Love, and Lydia