Recently, I was going through my timeline on Instagram when one particular girl’s picture caught my eye. She seems to have the perfect life, I thought. Every single one of her pictures reflects her glamorous lifestyle. She’s skinny, pretty, goes to an expensive college, wears expensive clothe, and is always posting pictures at parties, the beach or night clubs and bars. Not to mention her pictures range from 100 to 400 likes each, and about 20 comments, with sayings like, “Can I be you?” “Goals” or “OMG you’re not even real.” I’m sure we all know a handful of people like this, and it’s very frustrating to see someone have such a picture perfect life (literally). But then I broke down each thing I was jealous of about this girl and analyzed it a little further.
She’s skinny. So, maybe she works out and tries really hard to earn the body she has. Maybe she thinks she’s fat and it actually takes a lot of courage for her to post those bikini pictures. Maybe she has an eating disorder and actually really struggles with her body image and health.
She’s pretty. Well, everyone is pretty on Instagram. Obviously, we’re not going to post pictures of our bad hair days or when we feel bloated. We post selfies on the days we’re going out or feeling extra good about ourselves.
She goes to an expensive college. First of all, every college is expensive nowadays. Second, she could have gotten a scholarship. And third, if she didn’t have a scholarship, she’s going to be in a lot of debt.
She wears expensive clothes. Again, she could just be charging all of her money that she doesn’t even have and not paying it off. It’s all about priorities.
She’s always posting pictures at parties, the beach or night clubs and bars. Maybe those pictures are literally the only times she goes out. People forget that when you usually go out, you post a picture to Instagram. I mean, if you didn’t take a pic, did it even happen? So even if she has 10 pictures from the beach this summer, maybe those were the only 10 times she went.
I even thought back to my own Instagram. All of my selfies were from days I was either going out or straightened my hair. Most days I went out with my friends, I put a picture up on Instagram. And if I was wearing a really cute outfit, I probably put up a picture too.
It’s so easy to forget how superficial Instagram is. We see one picture and are automatically flooded with jealousy. But it’s very important to remember that Instagram is meant to make your life look better than it is. No one is going to document the bad parts of their lives. And even if someone’s lifeis as glamorous as it appears on their Instagram, what does it even matter? Chances are that person doesn’t even mean much to you, and that their life does not have much of an effect on yours. Keep doing you and don’t worry about other people’s lives!
