Anxiety Aside – Stop Living For Other People’s Approval

In this day and age it is so easy to care about what other people think of us. Technology has come such a long way and in some ways that’s great but in others, not so much. Between our phones and social media, our lives have essentially been put on a pedestal for the world to see. The way we portray ourselves on the apps in our phone, dictates how the outside world views us. Don’t get me wrong, I love social media and use it on a daily basis, but there is something bizarre to me that someone I haven’t even met or seen in decades, can have a front row seat into my day to day life. I love the friendships I have made over the internet and definitely see the way it has brought so many people together so let me just say that before I continue! It’s definitely not all bad, but I personally can go on my phone and scroll for literally hours, comparing myself to about 1000 other people without realizing the toxicity of it all. I am my own worst critic and will convince myself that I am not good enough in a matter of seconds. Your personal profiles go only as far as you will let them, but I have noticed that the way I portray myself on my Insta, carries over into my real life. I have found that I care so much about what everyone thinks of me and the comparing I do on my phone, doesn’t stop at the screen. I find myself looking at the people around me and comparing every aspect of who I am to them. I pick myself apart and let insecurity wash over me like rain. Society paints a picture of how we should look/feel and if you don’t fit into that mold, you’re just not good enough. It can be consuming and overwhelming to think that we have access to a pit of insecurity with just the push of a button. We base our worth on the likes we get online, but when it comes down to it, a number is just a number and that will never dictate how good of a person you are. We have given up on face to face conversations with people for a 10 second Snapchat video that was sent to multiple people. We hold onto this false facade that we have a bunch of close “friends” but in reality, liking someones photo isn’t the backbone of a friendship. I will live each day for real conversations with the people in my life because there is something priceless with face to face interactions. If we choose to put our phones away for just a moment and intentionally be present with the people who are right in front of us, I truly believe amazing things will happen. I’ve learned the hard way that I need to take everything on social media with a grain of salt and not let it get into my head. I have caught myself letting the fear of what people think, stop me from being my true authentic self and I don’t want that to be the case. As I move forward, I am going to make a conscious effort to stop the negative thoughts from entering my mind. I’m very aware that I filter my social media to show only the good parts of my life and chances are, most of the people I follow do that as well. I should never compare my life to anyone else’s and when it comes down to it, nobody is perfect, even if their profiles show otherwise. It’s very sad that we can go online and watch video after video about pointless drama and the reasons why we should hate someone we don’t even know. Our “cancel culture” society is so toxic for so many reasons and I strongly believe that if we take a step back and recognize that, great things will happen. Spreading kindness is so important and we have the power to brighten someone’s day with the words we speak. We also have the power to brighten our own day and it could have such a positive impact if we choose to filter what we’re consuming on our phones, letting the pressure of perfection go as we choose to live a life free of comparison. When it comes down to it, we’re all flawed humans just trying to feel accepted in this world.