When I get on Instagram, I almost always see smiling faces, happy couples, and laughing friends. Snapchat brings me videos of funny moments and booming concerts. The Facebook news feed shows me images of people holding giant awards, walking down the aisle in their starch-white wedding dresses, or posing for a picture in their graduation gowns.

Social media outlets are great places to keep in touch with your past high school friends and that one girl you met at a career conference. Not only can you stay connected with old buddies, but you can also spark new friendships with handy-dandy features, like Messenger and Direct Messaging. It's full of opportunities and inspiration.

But is what you see really what you get?

People aren’t always in big groups at P.F. Chang’s laughing and friends aren’t always grinning as big as they are in their profile pictures. Dinner isn’t always an interior design opportunity to impress other food-lovers and homework doesn’t usually look like a delicately arranged flat-lay.

Don’t you think for one minute that your aunt Helen didn’t get sand in her panties when the whole family laid out on the beach in hopes of a quality cover photo, either.

It’s hard to distinguish between reality and a premeditated “candid” photo on your arch nemesis’s timeline. It’s easy to see their impeccably acne-free skin in every selfie and start to feel a little mortified of the massive fever blister on your upper lip.

I have honestly spent so much time sitting on Instagram beating myself up about how unorganized my life is in comparison to a pre-arranged portfolio of photo-shopped pics. I barely even know the girl in the images, too.

It’s hard to be content with who I am as a person when I’m setting a standard for myself that doesn’t even exist. Sure, they have a great sounding combination of a philosophical C.S. Lewis quote and “Photographer” or “Artist” in their bio, but –

That doesn’t make them better. None of it does.

They also have a mental breakdown when they accidentally delete an essay that’s due in thirty minutes or when a white Ford Focus cuts them off in traffic. They don’t always wear the same smile that’s in their latest post. After they fight with their boyfriend, they aren’t smooching as passionately as they are on their anniversary pic.

No one can live up to a Vogue cover photo standard on a 24/7 schedule. It’s not possible and that's OK.

If we judge one another based off of a virtual image, we will always be discouraged.

It’s nice to project your best self, but remember that’s what everyone else is doing too. They have to wipe their nose and wash their scalp, just like the rest of the population.

Comparison will steal your joy, so take a deep breath and rest. Leave it behind and be encouraged.