The phrase "Relationship Goals" has recently grown in popularity over the past few months, spurred by photos of couples on social media acting cute together. Although it's all fine and good that people are in relationships and having fun and loving life, that doesn't mean that what we see on social media is necessarily the reality. I know this because getting my boyfriend to take any picture with me, nonetheless one of those Tumblr-approved cutesy shots, is basically impossible. When we do manage to somehow capture a moment on camera that we both deem acceptable and it is posted somewhere on social media, what my followers see on their phones is not my boyfriend yelling at me to put my phone away or complaining about my caption, but a cute couple that looks somewhat presentable.

Alexis Rene and Jay Alvarrez are the perfect example of the "relationship goals" phenomenon. They also are the embodiment of so-called "hair goals" and "body goals" and "life goals" but that's a different issue. This model duo is basically paid to travel around the world and be photographed going on adventures together. Where can I sign up, right? They truly are living a dream. Keyword: dream. This type of relationship and life is not realistically attainable, even for them. So much goes on behind the scenes that isn't force-fed down our throats on social media. While Jay and Alexis are photographing and video-taping their every move, are they actually living? Also, is everything they are posting on Instagram and Tumblr truly an accurate representation of their lives?

Bear with me. I know social media is inevitable and in most cases it's a good thing, but what people of our generation fail to realize (including myself) is that while you are SnapChatting your night out or looking through the lens of your phone at a sunset, you aren't actually experiencing it. What ever happened to living in the moment? And yeah, Jay and Alexis might be sky-diving and surfing and living a bomb-ass lifestyle. Good for them. Couples who are still in school or who are in long distance relationships are just as likely to have awesome relationships as Jay and Alexis are. We compare our seemingly unexciting lives to others' and get upset, when in reality their lives probably aren't as peachy keen as they appear.

I'm not trying to downplay how hard Jay and Alexis had to work to get where they are now. I'm just saying that we shouldn't feel bad about the way we live our own lives in comparison to how others are living theirs, especially because we don't always know the whole story. It's rad that couples can travel the world together and take cool pictures, but that doesn't mean that everything average couples do is NOT cool. Creepily obsessing over other couples' relationships can make you feel negatively about your own. I've heard girls say things like "Why doesn't my boyfriend treat me that way?" or "When will I find a guy like that?" This type of idealization can often lead to the development of an unrealistic expectation of how relationships "should" be. Each relationship is different and special in its own way, and shouldn't be devalued because it isn't like another. The grass is always greener, friends, but usually greenest where you water it.