It's Sunday morning, you're sitting on your couch, drinking a coffee and maybe if you're really bougie, you're also eating a blueberry scone. You earn those Starbucks stars girl. You also happen to be scrolling through a never-ending timeline of people you know/don't know at all who really seem to be living their best fucking life in this new year. You start to think to yourself, why am I not making 2019 my bitch like everyone else?
Truth be told, the odds are that the people you're ogling over are sitting on a similar piece of furniture, with a similar warm caffeinated beverage and are also questioning their self-existence whilst perusing a similar smartphone model. Basically what I'm trying to say is simple: the grass is always greener on the other side. And furthermore, all of us have pretty unkempt lawns when you get really up close and personal.
Okay, so that one girl has really good landscaping but we all know she's paying for those likes!
The cure to this doubtfulness of the new year, new you isn't as simple as closing the door on 2018 and vowing to live your best life. Or in reflecting on everything 2018 taught you about yourself and making a really long post chronicling each lesson in vivid detail. Neither does it lie in attempting to prove your worth and excitement through acquiring a particular number of likes.
How can this really influence your entire year? Well, it's pretty simple; your attitude influences everything! If you start this year off already thinking you aren't meeting some erroneous expectation, you'll never be motivated to live up to your full potential.
The real cure to the new year social media blues is pretty simple. Ignore that shit. Stop counting likes, stop comparing yourself to everyone else and most importantly, stop telling yourself that your worth is measured by the effectiveness of your presence on social media.
These platforms were invented to help us connect, not for us to disconnect from all forms of logic.
I challenge you to treat social media differently this year. Instead of envying someone's perfect life and passive-aggressively liking their photos, leave a comment and tell them how amazing you think they are.
Post a photo on a bad day. Be transparent with your followers and show them that it isn't always about the sunshine in life. I guarantee you, you will be met with support.
Use 2019 as a clean slate to build a new relationship with your smartphone and all of the apps that inhabit it. Don't abandon the connection, but instead approach it from a place where you aren't pushed to think less of yourself.
Throw out the likes everyone is clamoring for and rest easy in knowing needing them doesn't apply to you. This year, use social media to enhance your connections, instead of measuring your worth against them. I think you'll be glad you did.
