Photo By Josh Rose
Okay ladies, show of hands. Who here has made the New Year’s Resolution of “New Year, New Me”? Believe me, I am right there with you as I eat my Reduced Fat crackers with avocado on top while looking at gym schedules and searching Pinterest for outfit, beauty and life inspiration.
Now, do I believe there is anything wrong with self-improvement to live a healthier, happier life? Absolutely not! You do whatever makes you feel like you are happy and thriving as an individual. However, my question before I do anything now will always be: why am I doing this? For myself and many others, it could be less to do with health and happiness, and more related to how Instagram-worthy our lives are, and the likes on and offline we hope to receive. Do not get me wrong, Instagram is a lovely tool to share with friends life milestones (and adorable pictures of your cat), but I feel that many of us plan and change things within ourselves for the sole purpose of a beautiful social media image.
We love to play the comparison game on social media. We see that gorgeous girl from our lab going out with her friends on Friday night looking enviously beautiful with her enviously fabulous life. We think, with a little self-improvement, our lives could look like hers through the lense of social media. We want the click of the like button too saying we are seen and we have gained approval and envy.
Ladies, your lives are meant to be lived however you want them to be lived, filtered or unfiltered. If it makes you genuinely happy, it is Instagram-worthy. Your authentic selves are enough to deserve a like, and even if they do not, who cares? Life was meant to be lived unbroadcasted. The approval of others is something so many of us struggle with, myself included. However, the key to finding approval, is to find it within ourselves. We are the ones we have to live with for the rest of our lives. Instead of living with ourselves, why don’t we love ourselves and everything that makes us who we are, instead of feeling the need to change our individuality for cyber attention? Your dry-shampoo, late for class, in a hurry, eating too much fast food days have just as much value as the days you try to think up clever captions for that adorable picture you took.
So go ahead, find a gym class that makes you feel good, and eat good foods to make your body feel better. Try out that new beauty look because it makes you feel flawless. Travel more this semester. Work for that 4.0 just to see your name on the Dean’s List. Or work less this semester and prioritize more time on your emotional health and well-being. Make new friends, try new styles and eat new foods. Be the best version of yourself you can be. But do it for you, not for the like button. Because at the end of the day, some of the best moments never make it to social media.
Thumbnail Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com