While one moment you feel proud of yourself for accomplishing your goal of getting some physical activity done for the whole week, all it takes is one glance at your favorite social media site and you begin to reflect on your moment of well-earned triumph as unimportant.
You go on Instagram and run into posts of celebrities and their phenomenally defined bodies enjoying the blissfulness of a sunny afternoon on some beach in Bora Bora. These images can either work as inspiration to continue working towards your fitness goals or they can completely tarnish your motivation.
Now, I am no social media expert but I do know that social media is flooded with images that can make us question our bodies, our aspirations, and even our own self-worth. The many platforms of social media have become places where people like to share their success with their friends and families, but whether some people like to believe it or not, social media has also become a place where people like to brag and put people down.
I like social media because it’s a way to communicate and stay in contact with people that you have met or have made an impact in your life. Not to say that it also kills time when you’re stuck somewhere waiting for the bus or for your name to get called while waiting at a dentist appointment.
But let’s get one thing straight – you should not believe everything that you see on social media, especially if you have been struggling about being at peace with your own body. Stop questioning yourself or putting unnecessary pressure on yourself in trying to live out a fantasy that was created by people on social media.
Sometimes you will just have to shut yourself away from social media for a while in order to find yourself again and in order to stop believing that you have to live up to the expectations set by others. Nobody can tell you how you’re supposed to look, much less how you want to live your life.
Photo source: StockSnap
Cover image source: StockSnap