The perfectly edited photos. The genuine, happy smiles from my relationship. The non-apparent struggles of my daily life. Those are just a few examples of what you will see on my Instagram. However, at first glance you won’t see what I struggle with on a daily basis.

Personally, Instagram is my favorite social media platform. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy sharing photos of their life with their followers? The filters that hide imperfections, the infectious smiles, the cool places people have traveled. It’s great. But ultimately, I think that a lot of users don’t show the true reality of their lives.

My Instagram page doesn’t show what I personally struggle with on a daily basis. I want control over everything, but it doesn’t show that. Instead, it shows that I have complete trust in the Lord. That sounds really hypocritical, but honestly it’s true, ask any one of my close friends. I also struggle with knowing if I’m right where God wants me to be in life. I seem to mask my Instagram page so that my followers can see that I’m this great person, who has everything together. When I in fact, do not have it all together. But honestly, who does?

Speaking of not having it all together, my Instagram shows that I have my whole life figured out. That’s a complete joke in and of itself. I changed my college major halfway through first semester and already decided I’m transferring. Physically I may seem like I have it all together, but there are still little things in life that can trigger any type of emotion.

Additionally, my account is mostly filled with pictures of my boyfriend and I with the brightest smiles on our faces. Don't get me wrong, he makes me the happiest girl in the world, however, it doesn’t show the arguments we’ve faced. We may come across as the “couple goals" to some. Honestly though, I think that the whole “couple goals” thing is so silly. It's super flattering though when people say that my boyfriend and I are “goals.” It makes it seem like we are doing something right and that we are modeling how a great relationship should be. But to be honest, my Instagram followers or anyone else for that matter don't see that we argue, like every other couple. There isn't a perfect relationship out there. Once you get past the "honeymoon phase", like in marriage, you start to really get to know each other and realize what can make each other go off the edge. It's how you overcome those arguments and other challenges together, that brings the two of you closer together.

Instagram is one of the greatest social media platforms, but it's masking who I truly am and what is going on in my life. Granted, users don’t need to tell the whole world what they are up to. There just comes a point where you have to ask yourself if the selfies with caked on makeup, perfect filters and captions are really showing who you truly are. Why hide imperfections when there are people out there who love you for who you truly are?