Comparison is funny thing to me. As a society, we all do it whether we like it or not and at times we don’t consciously realize it! No matter how confident a person may be in themselves, at some point even them find themselves comparing. Whether that be how they look or their achievements it happens! We are so used to the thought process that it comes second nature.
Before I go on any further, please remember that:
You are beautiful EXACTLY as you are without having to change anything about your appearance.
Everyone’s timeline in life is SO different. There’s no need to feel as if you have to “rush” or that you are “behind.” Call me crazy, but I believe everything happens for a reason!
Nowadays our generation has the pressures of social media to add on top of all of this. I can’t even begin to imagine how young kids growing up feel. Thankfully, Instagram and other social media platforms didn’t get to be very popular till my middle school days. But even then, that’s too young to be worrying about how you look, your friends, sports etc.
Whenever you open Instagram, you see people having the time of their lives. The true question is: what’s the story behind the photo? Are they actually happy? As a 20-year-old full time college student I can attest to this. Especially going through my freshman year of college, I noticed how happy everyone looked on social media. Fast forward to winter break, some my friends described how hard and sad they were. I was so confused because everyone seemed so happy. That’s the scary part of social media. It’s simply the highlights.
This past weekend I had a conversation with my best friend regarding this pressure individuals our age feels to post about how great your life is. She explained how in a way social media is ultimately one big competition to show how great your life is. And I agree with her! Rather than accepting and working through struggles college students face, they hide behind their screen and show that everything is alright. In the wise words of one of my favorite musicians, Saint Raymond, “it’s alright to not be alright.”
So the next time you find yourself struggling with any sort of comparison think of this quote!