Janna's Journey

I Love social Media as much as anyone, but lately I have noticed how much it can mess with people. I actually have friends who can’t even be on Instagram or Facebook anymore because it is ruling their lives. Some even feel like it’s ruining their lives. That seemed like such a strange thing to me. They say that seeing everyone so happy all the time makes them feel depressed, or feel like everyone has a better life then they do, Or they just  can’t stop  comparing themselves to others.

I guess I am guilty of posting positive and good things that are going on in my life, but I have had to post some pretty hard and not so positive things too, (because it was easier to do that than tell a bunch of people separately), but those posts are usually very few and far between. My life is pretty much an open book. If you follow me on social media you pretty much know me and what I am up to… OR so I thought, See recently I have had numerous people say to me,” You are always on vacation” I am always taken back because yes I have been on a few trips,  but I think the amount of vacation days added up over the year are around maybe 14-20 days to the 365 days in the year. So ALWAYS is quite the stretch!

In my defense I post pictures of my vacations and things like that for lots of reasons, so my extended family can see, so I can have a digital copy out there just in case I lose all my photos,(Yes it’s happened to me before)  but mostly to make my Chatbooks and document my memories. The reason I love social media is so that I can feel closer to my friends and family especially the ones who I don’t see often. It is so nice to run into someone you haven’t seen for years and you know exactly what is going on in their lives. I have never in my life intentionally posted anything to make someone feel bad or make them feel less than.

I wish everyone would quit comparing themselves to others, First off, of course we all post the most flattering pics of ourselves because ,well… why would we post bad pictures of ourselves? (Unless you are me who is in denial about wearing reading glasses and have accidentally posted pictures of me with my eyes shut or some other strange things because I couldn’t see very well)   … yes this is an actual picture I posted on FB a few years ago and yes It’s still up there,  No, I didnt delete it, the rest of the family looked good and seriously who cares, my eyes are shut, I am human, it happens!

Also yes people are going to post pictures of the fun things they do, because posts of people going to work or folding laundry and doing dishes and making beds or using the bathroom would make for some really crappy posts (pun intended) LOL

I’m not saying I havent ever had a twinge of jealousy over something I’ve seen on the internet, I just wish we could all just be happy for each other instead. Jealousy and comparing do nothing good for us.I wish we could all be motivated by those who post pictures of their six-pack abs and their workout routines. I wish that seeing someone’s food posts will help us decided what to have for dinner. I wish someone else’s vacation trip will inspire us to finally save up enough money to go on our own trip someday. I wish everyone would just look for the good in everyone instead of the bad.  That is what social media is meant for, not some judging, comparing, time sucking thing that makes us feel bad about ourselves. I am sick of seeing negative comments on what should be just a simple innocent picture, I swear you can post a picture of a flower and someone will find fault with it somehow. Seems like everyone is just tearing everyone else down just to bring themselves up a little. Let’s Stop comparing, belittling, hating, and bashing others and work on being positive.  Ok Rant over, sorry so long, it obviously gets to me a bit:)