Every morning, the first thing i’d do is rolling over to the side of my bed, simultaneously, reaching out for my phone to check emails, Twitter and Instagram. Sure, partly, it is because i would like to keep myself abreast of current affairs.. And i could give an excuse like being in a fashion business, i needed to keep myself informed with the current trend but hey, who am i kidding really? But before i know it, 8 am turns to 10 am and everything that i had planned for, like working out in the morning or going for a walk or making breakfast seem like an utter nuisance. I could hear satan laughing in my ears. It has becoming a ritual for me and every time i think about it, writing this even, it irks me so much to finally come to some sort of realisation that i am a slave to social networking. Aren’t you?
How many hours could you go about in a day without touching your phone? There was a time where i had this profound need to glance at my phone every minute for notifications . For a moment, life felt better every time my phone lights up – someone “likes” your photo, someone left a comment on your photo, texts coming in etc. Thank god for mom who managed to brutally knock some senses into me with words that could leave a scar and soon after, i deactivated my notifications and i could not be any happier. That was a first step and truthfully, an achievement for my soul. I feel at ease.
It’s not to say that being on social media is entirely a bad thing. It’s great for business and you get to meet wonderful people; you get to see cat videos and videos that remind you that kind people are yet going extinct. Unfortunately, like everything else, it’s not entirely a good thing and it can be a little unwholesome. Being on social media, jealousy can sometimes be an issue. While some could shrug it off and not be intimidated by how other people live their lives, some would find themselves in a place where they would feel insufficient and insecure to the point where the feeling would seem insurmountable. Who is to blame? The social media is where all of us would like to share our thoughts and opinions and achievements and vacation photos. There is no wrong in that, i believe.
And yet, without you realising, you were given some sort of expectation of what a ‘good life’ truly means and it is indeed frustrating that you are not where you want to be in life. You feel like your life is moving so slow compared to others. With that, you’ll find yourself feeling so demotivated to do anything because really, what’s the point? You’ll feel insecure because there are girls out there who look like they were made out of sunshine and you look like a meteorite. You see people your age securing a good job, buying a house while you are still trying to make ends meet or still doing your degree. You get to see people driving fancy cars, or people travelling the world while you are sitting at your cubicle. Surely, i understand the frustration as i had once felt that way. Sometimes i may have fallen into such trap again and again but often, i need to remind myself of the things that i am grateful for. It doesn’t have to be about the material things that you possess but such things like, being able to wake up today and having to see my parents’ faces for one more day in good health and a roof over my head; good hair days, my cat’s purr, good food, sunsets, meeting kind people. The list goes on…
It is a habit that i have yet to overcome entirely but i could sense how being away from my phone, even for an hour or two, i get to focus on things that truly matter. I get to create things and i get to think again and come up with new ideas. It’s a great feeling. It’s not to say that i would stop using social media in its entirety but reducing it is indeed a goal i would so much like to achieve. Imagine the amount of things you could do or achieve when you get to eliminate distractions. You need to figure out some ways to escape this quagmire so that you can be you again. Not the person whom everyone expects you to be, but simply, your true self.
Also, stop comparing yourself to others. Life works out differently for every and each one of us. After all, Vera Wang had only entered the fashion industry when she was 40; Stan Lee was 39 when he became a millionaire and of course, dad would so much like to remind me about Colonel Sanders (Founder of KFC) who only became successful when he was 66.
Live life at your own pace.
And i hope you’ll get to achieve many many great things.
xx
By saralisa 
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