You scroll through the recent updates on snapchats only to find all your friends at that party, or screaming their heads off on that new roller coaster at Six Flags. That feeling suddenly overwhelms your body. The longing to be there. The fear that you'll reunite with your friends and hear about what a fun time you missed. You would have been there if you could, but work, or family commitments or whatever else pulled you away and prevented you from being a part of the story you're friends will share and laugh about for years.
Social media posts have condemned this feeling over and over again, making us believe that we should avoid this fear of missing out -- or FOMO -- as best we can. But, the only way to avoid this is to try and be a part of everything. The problem with that is that we may spread ourselves too thin and prioritize quantity over quality.
I had a friend who seemed to let this feeling control her. To me -- someone who craves me time -- it seemed crazy that she could hang out with three different groups of friends in one day, and go a week without sleeping in her own bed. Not a moment for just her. Not a moment to just do what she wanted to do. I realized it was probably because she didn't want to miss anything any of her friends were doing.
Most of us are like this because of social media and the ease it provides to glimpse into others' lives and activities. But we need to let go of this feeling because we simply cannot do it all. If we're constantly focused on the moments we're missing out on, we'll never pay attention to the moment we're in. Eventually, years and years will go by and we'll never be happy because all we think we've done is "miss out" when in reality, we've just been living our lives.
We all have commitments that we wish we didn't, but just remember when you see that picture on Instagram of all your friends enjoying a beach day while you're stuck working a double shift, everything you're doing has a purpose. Just don't forget the reasons you're doing everything and let go of that fear of not being involved in everything. One day, you'll be the one in that picture or in that snap story, and it'll all be due to those moments when you wish you were somewhere else.
