Social media; the world's most blessed curse. Ever since the birth of social media sights in the early 2000s, online sharing has been a must for teenagers and adults alike. Over the past decade, social media has risen to the extreme and nearly every person of nearly ever age is using social media daily.

While social media is a wonderful way to contact old friends, share positive stories, share news, and chat, social media offers alternatives that aren't so sweet and fluffy. Today, people are so obsesssed with social media likes and shares, that they find the attention more important than what they've posted to begin with.

When you really step back and think, would you have gone to that party you didn't feel like going to last night if you couldn't post it on Snapchat or Instagram? Would you still have babysat your friend's baby if you couldn't post photos of him? Would you have gone to the gym if you couldn't post a gym selfie on Snapchat? Would you have taken those filtered selfies with your friend if there was no one to see them?

We spend too much time worrying about what photos will look good for social media and not actually living life. When we do something fun or meaningful, it should be for us, not for social media. When we take photos, they should be for us to cherish, not all 500 of our Facebook friends. Social media is an illusion because people only post when they are doing something fun, not when they are sitting on the couch eating chips. Therefore, people start feeling like their own lives are depressing and boring. It's a vicious cycle.

So, I encourage you, the next time you go to a concert or on a day trip or to the zoo, do not post about it on social media. It's not your Facebook friends that are living your life, it's you. Step back, look around and enjoy the world and your life as it truly is, not how you want it to appear on social media.