I'm Happy For You... (Part 2)

I haven't been able to read much lately, but there is so much packed into the couple chapters I did manage to read. My book is a hot mess full of sticky notes, highlighter, doodles, and messy underlining. Every time I pick up this book I am shocked at how spot on it is to how we compare ourselves and try to make important moments or even just everyday events in our life a competition. In chapter four Kay Wills Wyma starts to discuss social media and how we judge, compare, and try to compete. This chapter really made my brain turn and think about how I view mine and other people's posts. One of the main reasons I don't post often on my accounts is because I fear what other's will think of me. Is what I said dumb? Do I look bad in this picture? 

These are what stuck out to me in the end of chapter three and part of chapter four: 

• "This is one of the main reasons we struggle with insecurity: we're comparing our behind-the-scenes with everybody else's highlight reel."-Steven Furtick

• "No one signs up for Facebook because they think, "I want to be jealous of my friends more often" or "I want to prove to everyone else that my life is better than theirs." Those thoughts don't consciously cross our minds. But subconsciously we're engaging in a battle of one-upmanship like we're playing Words with Friends instead of sharing our lives with people."

• "Approval seeking is intensified by the sheer amount of online exposure: 1.8 billion people photos are uploaded and shared everyday on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Snapchat, and WhatsApp alone." -Shaun Dreisbach

• "...young people join the photo barrage and get to compare their lives against friends' cool jobs, boyfriends, girlfriends, numbers of friends, social lives, adventures, relationships, engagements, babies. People get to "have fun" outdoing each other by creatively announcing things..."

• "But we most definitely judge ourselves and compare all the ways we struggle to measure up."

• "True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare." - G. K. Chesterton

• "Every day we bump up against situations that present a clear choice: we can focus ourselves and our successes or disappointments, or we can recognize that one slice of life does not define us or the people we encounter." 

What are your thoughts on these quotes and do you think social media is a competition of who can make the best posts and portray they have the best experiences? I hope these made you rethink how you view social media like they did for me!