By Jamie Kirk
With all of the focus on social media and the attention given to how many “likes” a picture has or has not received, it can be very easy to be envious of others. When you scroll through Instagram or Facebook (I can’t be the only one), you literally can feel that your life is passing you by.
Unfortunately, when we do this, we are not honoring all of our hard work and could be viewed as being ungrateful. It is very easy to compare what we don’t have, against what others appear to have and get down in the dumps. We don’t stop to think that our ordinary life is being compared to filters, lighting, Photoshop and about 1,000 re-takes to get the best pic to post.
Normal lives seldom get do-overs. We get one shot. We don’t get a chance to fake giggle or pretend to be in a conversation with someone; or my favorite: the-perfect-hair-selfie-laying-in-bed saying “Good Night All.” That just doesn’t happen.
Everyone has heard the cliché ‘the grass is not always greener on the other side.’ But sometimes it is. Some folks take a vacation monthly, qualify for low-interest rates, have well-behaved pets, and their car interior does not have ONE stain.
But for every scenario above, they could be using companion passes; their new home could have passed down from a family member, training for pets that cost over $2,000, and car payments that often fall behind.
It is important to water our own grass, but keep our eye on our neighbors. I say that because sometimes we do need the motivation of others successes to push us out of our comfort zones. When we are looking at our own situation by comparing parts of our lives to others, we just have to keep it in perspective. Things are seldom as good or as bad as we think. And they are almost never as good or as bad as others observing think they are.
It is important that we stay the course of our own life and shoot for VSOP (virtual signs of progress) at all times. Stepping up our own game will help us avoid comparison, prevent anxiety, curb over-spending and allow us to trust the process of our own life – whatever that may be.
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Jamie Kirk works for a software company and is a certified spinning instructor. He also enjoys yoga, swimming, bicycling and running. He aspires to start a blog about what we put in our bodies not only fuels our body but our mind and spirit as well. Follow Jamie on IG @tysonsdad.