"Comparison is the Thief of Joy"

Theodore Roosevelt probably wasn't referring to Instagram when he first uttered these famous words, but this message could not be more relevant in our society today. Let me start by saying, it is human nature to compare ourselves to others. We compare our hair, our height, our grades, our work performance, our financial status, and (especially for females) our bodies. Often, we compare ourselves without even realizing that we are doing so.

In recent years, social media has exploded in terms of popularity and usage across our entire world — especially among those of us in the young adult/college student age-range. The effects of this have been overwhelmingly positive, as social media has become an extremely powerful networking tool for both social and professional purposes. Unfortunately however, this social media explosion has brought with it another tool for comparison, and it could not be more toxic to our self-esteems.

The issue with social media is that we tend to compare our "behind the scenes footage" to everyone else's "highlight reel." What we often forget is that people pick and choose which portions of their lives to showcase on social media. So when a young college freshman is sitting in her dorm room all alone on a Friday night and scrolling through Instagram, bombarded by photos of other girls laughing and partying and having the time of their lives, her self-esteem and overall mood is bound to suffer. What she may not remember is that those other girls have those same nights, alone on the couch, eating their feelings, and watching TV. They just wont showcase that part on social media.

This comparison goes beyond friends and acquaintances. There has been a strange yet increasingly popular trend of girls following other girls on Instagram purely for comparison purposes. There are a number of stunning girls on Instagram with hundreds of thousands of followers — solely because of their looks. While many of these followers are men, a shocking number are female. These girls are scrolling through their newsfeed, looking at these gorgeous, barbie-like proportioned, and sometimes airbrushed women, and feeling as though that's how they are "supposed" to look.

The truth of the matter is that no one feels good about themselves after comparing themselves to others. Even following "motivational" fitness accounts tends to have a negative result on self-esteem rather than a positive, motivating one. Our society is hard enough on us without us putting added pressure on ourselves to look or be a certain way. It sounds cliché, but we really do have to learn to love ourselves the way we are and minimize our opportunities to compare ourselves to others. This may mean deleting those models you follow on instagram, or refraining from stalking that girl from your high school with "the perfect life." Because regardless of what you see on social media, no one's life is perfect. We all struggle, even the girl whose life looks perfect from the outside looking in.

Don't let comparison steal your joy.