You wake up in the morning, and what is the first thing you do? For many young people, the answer is you check your phone (or, often in my case, hit the "snooze" button on it).

You may lay in your bed and scroll through your favorite social media app: Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, etc. You find yourself doing this at other times of the day, too: when eating, studying (procrastinating) or when you find yourself "bored." You may end up scrolling through a stranger's Instagram feed and think to yourself, "wow, his/her life seems so much more exciting than mine!" or "I wish I had what they have." But maybe his or her life isn't all that it seems.

Social media plays a huge role in our day to day lives. It's a great place to share your favorite moments, best memories and of course, the latest hilarious "memes."

It has given us the ability to connect to people from all over the world and enables us to share our individual ideas and stories. While having all these social media profiles and platforms has its many perks, it is important to remember that there is more to a person's life than what they portray in a picture on Instagram or a header on Twitter.

In the eighth grade, we were required to read the book "To Kill A Mockingbird," as I am sure many others remember (along with a possible sigh or groan.) But something about this book stuck with me: Atticus tells his daughter, Scout: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

This is a concept that I attempt to remind myself daily, and I believe it is something we should all keep in mind, especially in this day and age of social media.

I know that I have found myself comparing my life to others based on his or her social media page, be it Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. Instagram is the most prevalent for me in this topic because we only see snapshots of people's lives, possibly accompanied by a clever caption or some emojis. But we must remind ourselves that life is more than just these snapshots: it's a whole book, filled with both exciting and dull chapters, and we each have our own.

"Don't judge a book by its cover" is a phrase we have all heard more than a few times. Someone's life may seem wonderful and exciting one hundred percent of the time from your perspective, but it important to remember that we all go through ups and downs on this roller coaster of life. Devaluing yourself or your life based on what others portray theirs to be via social media can make one feel depressed, discouraged or like your life isn't "good enough" or worthwhile.

If you, like me, have ever had this feeling, it may be a sign that you need to spend more time discovering yourself and what excites YOU, rather than turning to social media as a distraction and suppressing your self-worth. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through your feed, take your "free time" as an opportunity to explore what's going on around you.

Engage in conversation with the people around you, call up a friend or family member you haven't spoken to in a while, go on a spontaneous adventure, read a book on a topic you're interested in –– find your passion and what sparks your creativity. You may surprise yourself and come to find out that your life is what you make it.

All it may take is a change in perspective –– that a person's life may not be what it seems, and there is no reason to compare yourself to others. Continue to use social media in positive ways and to share your story, but remember that there is life beyond your screen.