It’s hard to feel good enough these days with social media constantly breathing down your neck, or lighting up your screens, reminding you that Mr. Work-Travel-Play is doing this, and Mrs. Happy-Mother-and-Wife is buying that. You get bombarded with pictures of happy people, perfect couples, exotic places, and exciting events, and you forget that social media is usually full of facades and deception.

We are attracted to social media because it’s easy to hide what’s really going on. That smiling couple celebrating their little boy’s birthday party full of elaborate decorations, gifts, food, and a swimming pool? In reality they live in a small condo and have debt up to their eye balls. The woman with the chiseled abs? Starved herself for weeks only to lose her abs as soon as she ate food again. You don’t see the real lives of people you follow because just like you and me, they are not perfect. They have confidence issues; they lack motivation; they might even be worse off than you.  

You can’t judge a book by its cover, and you can’t judge a person by his or her posts. You need to be true to yourself and stop worrying about trying to fit a certain role. You are important in this world. You have to find out how. Help others who are less fortunate than you. Be kind. Be patient. Give yourself words of affirmation everyday: you are unique, loved, needed. Be conscious of the fact that what you see on social media does not reflect reality.  Remember that things are exaggerated, understated, and misconstrued.

It won’t be easy, trust me. You’ll be self-conscious, you’ll feel judged, you’ll feel like you should be someone else. Don’t do it if it doesn’t make you happy. You are not alone in your pursuit of happiness. But you do need to make the journey on your own. Inevitably, it will lead you to the destination you are looking for.