Photo credit: welldoing.org
Were you on social media today?
It’s okay, you’re among friends.
How’d you feel when you closed the tab?
Joyful, motivated and inspired?
Or, did you leave the app with a vague sense of self-doubt?
The distorted lens of social media
Social media is overflowing with the myth of the perfectly-curated life.
Perfect-looking bodies, with perfectly-behaved children, in perfect-looking homes.
Other women’s lives, when viewed through the filter of social media, can look very shiny indeed.
Even when they’re not.
For example, I have a dear friend is currently grapling with a family struggle.
She’s heavily-medicated. It’s fair to say she’s stressed out.
But if you were to glimpse any of her social media profiles, you’d assume that her life was peachy. A real box of fluffies!
You see, we never have any real idea the burdens other women carry or what challenges they’re going through.
Comparison is a no-win game
If you’re spending a lot of time on social media, chances are you’re unconsciously comparing yourself to other women and their seemingly perfect life—and not measuring up.
And you’re not even aware of it.
Comparison-i-tis is insidious
For busy, overwhelmed and overweight women, social media has become yet another way in which we beat ourselves up.
When we compare ourselves to others, it elevates our stress hormones.
And when we have coristol and adrenaline in our bodies, we’re more tempted to seek solace, distraction and comfort in food.
You’re you
If you’re like most women, you want to be the best version of you that you can be.
But that’s likely very different from the verson of what’s ‘trending’ on social media.
So stop, stop, stop comparing yourself to other women.
Because: they’re them. You’re you.
Your only goal is to be the best version of you that YOU can be.
Every week, I receive emails from women who feel better—and reduce their comfort eating—when they start being more mindful of their social media usage.
Your only comparison is YOU to YOU.
