Stop Comparing, Do Your Thing!

 

📸 Jakob Owens

“How come you are no longer active on Instagram?” I asked.

“I deactivated my Instagram account,” She said.

“Why?” I probed

“Looking at other people’s perfect lives and perfect bodies was making me depressed.” She said.

I went on to tell her that she should not have to compare herself with other people online. No one’s life is as perfect as it seems. As individuals, we need to be able to decipher between reality and a façade. There are applications where people edit pictures to get that perfect body, perfect face and glowing skin (not forgetting the use of filters). So why would you compare yourself to the thousands of people using applications to perfect their lives?

When you look around at the reality, you see that almost everyone has a body part that they are insecure about. When we sit most of our stomachs fold, we have back fat, and not every woman is blessed with a big behind. I am not in denial that there are people with perfect bodies. But, the surgery trend has also taken over,… almost every woman wants to get the Brazilian butt lift so they can have that body that is deemed attractive by society.

Deactivating her Instagram account may have not been the right move but you have to do what is right for your mental health. And the fact is most of us cannot take the heat that comes with being on social media. It is human nature to compare yourself with others, but you have to love yourself too.

Sometimes you have to take the hard look in the mirror and accept yourself for who God made you to be. Look at every inch of your body and learn to love it. Exercise to get your body to its best shape, eat healthy food, drink water, and do your self-care routines to learn to embrace your body.

I remember hating my body. Gosh! I was so tiny! I hated it. I hated it because I was constantly comparing it to other people’s bodies,… I was constantly wishing I were not that small. Then I started seeing the positive attributes of being small. I looked good in most clothes I wore, I could fit in small spaces, people could easily carry me and I loved being light on my feet.

I started to love my body and that led me to start taking care of it. I started exercising, meditating, looking at other girls that looked like me and emulating them. I was proud of my body.

Your outlook on life is very important and how you deal with a situation will project the outcome. You can choose to take Instagram as a depression pill or as a motivation pill. Follow pages that align with you not pages that make you feel worse about yourself. The choice is ultimately yours.

Article written by Jordana, read more on Evolution_blog.