Social media came with a lot of benefits.

In my own life for example, the vast world of social media made it possible for me to link up with people I may never have met in decades. Some of them, I still haven’t physically met a decade after we linked up on social media but they have become an integral part of my life, much in the same way they would have been if we were in the same city.

Social media, again, came to the rescue when the whole world was literally on lock down and people couldn’t leave their houses to visit even their neighbors. In came the video sharing, the online conference calls, the chats. We stayed a part of each others’ lives. People attended weddings and birthday parties of loved ones without getting out of bed. I found it blissful. But, that’s not the purpose of this post 🙂

Social media came with a certain twist though. It took our previously private lives and splattered them over the world of the internet. That should be a beautiful thing. It came with challenges.
Many suddenly seek and crave the approval of total strangers, many suddenly want to mirror their lives after total strangers. Success is now measured by the strangest of statistics.
The pressures are now higher than they ever were.
You wake up dealing with all those private thoughts that normally would have gone away quickly, then you get a beep on your phone? Your best friend just returned from the Cayman Islands. You look at yourself in your nightgown stained with burp and spit up from the last feed and you wonder where your life is headed.
Life hasn’t been fair to you, or so you think.

I am not even going to come at this from the usual angle that everyone on social media has a dark life that they keep away from others. Not true. Some are truly happy. Some are truly living purposefully. Some truly have made the extra bucks or had it given to them and have the time and means to take that trip. Yes, it is true.

I am going to come at it from this angle. EVERYONE you see has a story. Not necessarily a grass to grace story, but a story nonetheless.
A story of how they evolved, for the better (or for worse)
Focus on your own story. Make it beautiful. Use what you have and enjoy while using it.
Your goal should be to outdo who you were yesterday, not to yearn to be someone else.
Stop the comparison. It robs you of peace, it robs you of joy. It just generally makes you an unhappy person who feels their goals are out of reach.

Be grateful for where you are. Decide today to be a better version of who you were yesterday. Get off social media for a bit if it’ll help you heal and clear your head. And then ask questions, reach out. Don’t be afraid to. If there’s someone within reach who has achieved what you aim to. Gently inquire. Seek guidance. It doesn’t make you weak or an under achiever, it simply makes you someone willing to grow past their present.
So, may I ask you who you need to call today? Who you need to reach out to today? Make that call. Like I always say, today is the right time. Let His Spirit lead you.

“The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” – Steve Furtick