What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

I wish that my answer to this question could be saying a prayer and thanking God for another day on this beautiful earth. I wish it could be taking a run. I wish it could be journaling or reading a good book.

But the true answer to this question is checking every social media account I own. I wake up, turn off my alarm (which doubles as my phone), and scroll through various timelines and news feeds. I see everything I missed while I was sleeping: who stayed up late studying at the library and documented it with a timestamp on their SnapChat story, who posted a happy birthday shoutout on Instagram, who updated their location or relationship status on Facebook.

After about 10 minutes of scrolling, I feel satisfied with my news updates (not that this is exactly news) and get out of bed to start my day. And throughout the day, no matter how busy I seem to be, I carve out time to continuously check my phone for any and all updates. Social media permeates through my entire life, never more than a click away.

Social media is great for the intended purpose of connection. I enjoy seeing what all my friends are up to, wherever they may be. And social media would be great if its influence stopped here. But there seems to be another, more invasive aspect of social media: comparison. Social media allows us to skew our lives to look precisely how we desire, regardless of the truth. In a sense, the images we put forward on social media are deceivingly perfect. And thus, when we scroll through these "perfect" images, we begin to compare our real, and wholly imperfect lives, to them. And that's where the breakdown of social media begins.

Allow me to illustrate my point with a story. A few months ago, I discovered a dangerous beast: the Instagram popular/explore page. Now, before I continue, let me state that I love Instagram and its intended purpose. I too obsess over filters and borders and chuckle at the occasional ironic caption. But back to the story. I became completely infatuated with the popular page. It became the perfect complement to my Netflix binges. As I rewatched any episode of The Office for the fifth time, I found myself scrolling endlessly through the popular page. It was perfect for when my own Instagram timeline ran dry. But I soon learned that the popular page was a slippery slope of comparison. I began to measure myself against the people on these Instagram accounts. Why wasn't I that adventurous and fun? Why didn't I have that many friends? Why wasn't I that skinny, pretty, or tan? And even though I recognized the destructive nature of this behavior, I continued to scroll. There was now an endless stream of people to compare myself too and I seemed immune to quitting my bad habit.

But then slowly (very SLOWLY) I began to recognize the foolishness of my behavior. Why was I sitting here and feeling sorry for myself when I am blessed by so much in life? Why was I choosing to think of all that I am not instead of focusing on what I am?

Now I am not going to sit here and tell you that I quit social media cold turkey. Completely the opposite actually, I still check my various accounts (including the Instagram popular page) multiple times a day. But what I chose to quit was the comparison. Every time I find myself comparing my life to a social media account, I stop and think about all the blessings I possess: my heath, my family, my friends, my education, to name a few.

It is not the social media that is the problem, it is the power we give it. So I urge you to join me in avoiding the social media trap. To allow these platforms to serve their intended purpose and to stop the needless comparison. In this way, we can continue to enjoy social media and its place in our lives.