Social media is a great way to stay in touch with friends during the long summer break. Scroll through any of your news feeds, and you will see countless familiar, smiling faces in front of the beach, the Eiffel Tower, the White House, or the Empire State Building. You’ll read countless statuses and tweets about cool internships or fun music festivals. With your phone so saturated with all of these posts, it is hard not to compare your summer to everyone else’s.

You can’t help but think, with every social media platform you look at, someone is having more fun than you. You’re stuck at home, working a McJob for $7.25 an hour, while all you see on social media is your roommate chilling at Bonnaroo and your best friend working an internship in Washington, D.C.

Comparing your summer to someone else’s is the best way to ruin your own summer. Instead of enjoying time with your family and friends, wherever you might be, you become jealous of your friends whose social media profiles show them having a great time.

In reality, these posts aren’t the full story. Social media hides all of the mundane or even bad things that happen to people in everyday life. When all you see online is your friends’ achievements and adventures, it puts pressure on you to be perfect. So how do you fight back?

Realize That Social Media is a Highlight Reel – Not a Summary

This is the most important step in having a healthy relationship with social media. Users need to know that they are only seeing part of the story online. People post positive things to their social media accounts, but often leave off the bad experiences.

You see your friend’s tweet about her cool internship, but you don’t see the stress that her boss puts her under. Shortly after she posted that tweet, your friend had to go get coffee for the office, then spent the rest of the day making copies. You don’t see that your friend is secretly afraid that all she learned this summer was how to un-jam a printer.

You see your friend’s profile picture with his girlfriend, but you don’t see the huge fight they had last night. Two hours after that sunny picture of the two was posted, the couple had an argument, which ended in the girlfriend storming out and spending the night at a friend’s place. You don’t see that both of them are unhappy and considering breaking up.

You see the picture of your classmate at the beach looking great, but you don’t see all the hours he spends at the gym. The photo for his Instagram post was taken after three months of hitting the gym every morning at 5 a.m. and eating a carefully planned diet. You don’t see that he still suffers from crippling self-esteem issues.

You see your roommate’s Snapchat story of an exciting city, but you don’t see the struggles of traveling alone. The 100-second-long Snapchat story was taken over a whole day of sightseeing in a foreign country. You don’t see that she spent five frustrating weeks building her language skills for a week-long trip. You don’t see that she is jetlagged and got lost for three hours.

People only post the fun and exciting things on social media. While we know this deep down, it is hard to remind ourselves of what happens before and after all of these social media posts go online.

Don’t Compare Your Personal Experiences

Mark Twain said that comparison is the death of joy. This sentiment is exactly what happens when you look at social media. When you see your friend’s Instagram post of a beautiful Hawaiian beach, you automatically compare your own summer to hers.

No matter how good your own summer is, you are always going to want to compare it to something better. However, this will only make you less thankful for what you have. No matter where you are this summer, you have something to appreciate. You could be backpacking through exotic places or spending the summer at home in rural Kansas with your family, but both situations have their positive sides. Be it new experiences, a resume builder, time with family or friends, or even making a minimal amount of cash, there is something to be grateful for in your summer.

Limit Time Online, and Have Your Own Adventures

I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but spending too much time online is not healthy. Seeing tons of pictures of your smiling friends, 24/7, is not going to help you have a good attitude about your summer. It is important to take a break from social media.

While you’re taking a break from your screens, go have your own adventure. Sure, your best friend is whitewater rafting down Niagara Falls or whatever, but who says you can’t have your own adventure in your backyard? Go to the park or pool. Be a tourist in your hometown. Take a day trip to the beach or a big city. Go see a movie with your family or friends.

I don’t mean to say that everyone should delete all of their social media accounts. Used carefully and thoughtfully, social media is a great way to keep up with your friends and share your experiences during your months apart. The best thing to do is to be happy for your friends’ adventures, while not comparing them to your own story.