I posted a picture on Instagram this afternoon:
Yes, I did pause before I hit “share”. Goodness, it’s hard to be vulnerable. But I quickly put my self-doubt aside and thought, “Someone might need to see this today.” And guess what? It seems like a LOT of people needed to see it today.
I got so many comments about how similar their view was, and how refreshing it is to see pictures that aren’t perfectly staged.
Here’s the cold hard truth: we cannot believe everything we see on social media. While I try to be honest about challenges I’m having, I typically don’t post about my (literal) dirty laundry most days. And that’s ok! I don’t think anyone would like to follow someone who posted pictures of their messes every day.
But this becomes a problem when we start to compare our lives to the highlights people are sharing on social media. When we’re sitting in the middle of our super messy kitchen, on day three of no showers, with our kids behaving less than perfectly…and then we take a peek at people’s immaculately styled pictures…it’s SO easy to feel resentment. It’s so easy to compare their perfect pictures with our very real and messy reality.
Please please PLEASE know that what you’re seeing on social media is in no way an accurate representation of everyday life.
Read that again.
And believe it.
Then next time you’re laying on the floor with a teething baby, or wiping up your potty training toddler’s accident, or when you can’t remember when you last wore “real clothes” instead of yoga pants…just try to embrace it. I know it’s hard some days. But I’ve learned that this a season of life, and it won’t always be this way. I am told we will miss the little handprints on our windows and the crumb trails left around the house.
So, embrace your reality, whatever it may be, and take social media with a grain of salt. Let social media be a place of inspiration, not comparison.
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