We all have struggles. We have all experienced times when we wished we were someone else. Whether that was someone prettier, smarter, more outgoing – the list goes on. Society has taught us to compare ourselves. It has taught us to envy the celebrity with the "perfect" hourglass figure and perfect makeup, hair, teeth, and life. And the more we keep giving in to this never-ending comparing, the more we keep digging ourselves into this hole of not being good enough.
Forget about Hollywood. Many of us forget the fact that most, if not all, of Hollywood is fake. And someone that is styled, airbrushed, and edited to perfection is not someone you should be comparing yourself to. We live in a world where we relish the gossip of who gained how many pounds and who wore it better when instead we should be focusing on ourselves rather than tearing others down for a confidence boost.
Stop relying on social media to feel better about yourself. We are all guilty of it. The amount of likes and comments we receive should not be the determining factor of whether or not we feel good about ourselves. While it doesn't hurt when these things make us feel "cool and popular," social media backfires when we rely on it as a source of acceptance. We are so focused on a virtual world that most of the time we forget about all of the beautiful people in our lives who love, accept, and show us off.
It's about time for all of us to take a step back and return to our roots. In a society centered on this idea of "perfection," we often lose what makes us us. We forget about our love for listening to classic rock with our dad or spending a Friday night in having a "Star Wars" marathon with our brother. We forget about old-fashioned pillow fights with best friends and lunch dates to catch up with cousins and taking a "sick" day to go shopping with our mom. We forget about the real people in our lives who are a part of us, who are proud of us and who support us in every choice we make. Instead we have become so absorbed in fitting and blending into the shadows, rather than standing out and taking the spotlight.
Society has taught us to hold back instead of run free. Invest in the hobbies that you love whether or not they put a label on you. Be "nerdy" and "lame" and "silly" and whatever else society says you are for doing what you want to. After all, it's about time we stop living in a world where we are so consumed about who we should be rather than who we are.
