Facebook Inferior
Never before has it been easier to compare our inadequacies with the accomplishments of others.
With the click of a mouse suddenly we are inundated with glowing snipets of achievements, family vacations, daily outings, darling sayings or pictures of a "friend's" child.
So and so is a model, whomever just got the job offer of a lifetime, that person just had their seventh child and somehow their other six children are perfect angels.
Over and over in the last few weeks I've heard from friends and family how hard it is to feel content when they constantly feel they aren't measuring up...at least compared with the "lives" of their friends on Facebook (FB).
Before I go further, I am NOT saying FB is bad, wrong, or any other thing.
It simply allows us to be privy to information we used to only get at class reunions or at an annual outing, or never!
Many of us are friends with people on FB who are more aquaintances than anything (or sometimes perfect strangers) and we normally wouldn't have known or cared what they are up to.
But now that we know, it's hard to wonder how they do it all.
How can you bake, cook, clean, scrapbook, model, work full-time, be a stay-at-home mom, go to college, never yell at your kids, go on family vacations, go on couple vacations, camp, hunt, fish, get together with friends, never leave your kids overnight, cloth diaper, home-school the children, volunteer at school, plan and throw uh-maz-ing parties, decorate birthday cakes, stay up all night, never take a nap, always be sick, never have help, have grandparents who helps take care of the kids, have grandparents who never take care of the kids, have a husband who makes loads of money, have a man who loves you dearly, have a man who takes the kids for weekends away, eat organic, garden and can, coupon clip, be a master chef, do amateur photography, have a beautiful family, have the perfect job, the perfect yard, the perfect house, kids who never talk back, and on and on and on.
It sounds absurd, doesn't it?
But that's what we're up against!
If we keep looking to sources like FB to see if we are doing enough, have enough and are lucky enough, we will always be discontent.
Because what we don't know is what happens in all our friends' homes the other 23 1/2 hours a day.
We don't get to see the battle of the wills between spouses, kids, extended families.
We don't see all the years of hard work that went into getting that awesome job.
Most of us, myself included, don't post too many of our shortcomings.
Who wants to hear about that stuff anyways, it just sound like we're whining!
But it also gives a false impression of perfection.
Someone who has it all together.
When you look at my FB page do you think, wow, she's really got it all together?
I hope not, because then I'm doing a poor job at accurate portrayal.
And it's silly for me to think that anyone would think that about me anyways, I mean, have you heard how much I yell at my kids, how easily frustrated I get AND how little I have done in the kids' baby books (I haven't even started 2 of the 3!!).
But who of our friends out there really do think they have it all together.
Probably very few.
From the outside looking in I feel like 90% of my friends have it more together than I.
Of those 90% I'd bet only 5% would agree with me.
We need a new measuring stick.
In this life we are to live to impress just One...He is our Audience.
It's time we start acting like it.
No more comparing unless it's to the Word of God and life of His Son, Jesus.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Ps. 139:14
He made you with specific talents and desires.
If we all had the same we would be rudundant and boring.
We wouldn't need each other.
It was not the plan for all of us to be good at everything, and while every one of us have a few things we could improve on, God created us wonderfully.
If this is something that has truly caused you unrest and discontent, I challenge you to take some time off from whatever it is that makes you feel inadequate.
Whether it be FB, Pinterest, Twitter or whatever, take a break.
When you feel the desire to look and see what other's are doing, open the Word instead and see what it is that God wants to tell you.
I promise you won't be disappointed.
With the click of a mouse suddenly we are inundated with glowing snipets of achievements, family vacations, daily outings, darling sayings or pictures of a "friend's" child.
So and so is a model, whomever just got the job offer of a lifetime, that person just had their seventh child and somehow their other six children are perfect angels.
Over and over in the last few weeks I've heard from friends and family how hard it is to feel content when they constantly feel they aren't measuring up...at least compared with the "lives" of their friends on Facebook (FB).
Before I go further, I am NOT saying FB is bad, wrong, or any other thing.
It simply allows us to be privy to information we used to only get at class reunions or at an annual outing, or never!
Many of us are friends with people on FB who are more aquaintances than anything (or sometimes perfect strangers) and we normally wouldn't have known or cared what they are up to.
But now that we know, it's hard to wonder how they do it all.
How can you bake, cook, clean, scrapbook, model, work full-time, be a stay-at-home mom, go to college, never yell at your kids, go on family vacations, go on couple vacations, camp, hunt, fish, get together with friends, never leave your kids overnight, cloth diaper, home-school the children, volunteer at school, plan and throw uh-maz-ing parties, decorate birthday cakes, stay up all night, never take a nap, always be sick, never have help, have grandparents who helps take care of the kids, have grandparents who never take care of the kids, have a husband who makes loads of money, have a man who loves you dearly, have a man who takes the kids for weekends away, eat organic, garden and can, coupon clip, be a master chef, do amateur photography, have a beautiful family, have the perfect job, the perfect yard, the perfect house, kids who never talk back, and on and on and on.
It sounds absurd, doesn't it?
But that's what we're up against!
If we keep looking to sources like FB to see if we are doing enough, have enough and are lucky enough, we will always be discontent.
Because what we don't know is what happens in all our friends' homes the other 23 1/2 hours a day.
We don't get to see the battle of the wills between spouses, kids, extended families.
We don't see all the years of hard work that went into getting that awesome job.
Most of us, myself included, don't post too many of our shortcomings.
Who wants to hear about that stuff anyways, it just sound like we're whining!
But it also gives a false impression of perfection.
Someone who has it all together.
When you look at my FB page do you think, wow, she's really got it all together?
I hope not, because then I'm doing a poor job at accurate portrayal.
And it's silly for me to think that anyone would think that about me anyways, I mean, have you heard how much I yell at my kids, how easily frustrated I get AND how little I have done in the kids' baby books (I haven't even started 2 of the 3!!).
But who of our friends out there really do think they have it all together.
Probably very few.
From the outside looking in I feel like 90% of my friends have it more together than I.
Of those 90% I'd bet only 5% would agree with me.
We need a new measuring stick.
In this life we are to live to impress just One...He is our Audience.
It's time we start acting like it.
No more comparing unless it's to the Word of God and life of His Son, Jesus.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Ps. 139:14
He made you with specific talents and desires.
If we all had the same we would be rudundant and boring.
We wouldn't need each other.
It was not the plan for all of us to be good at everything, and while every one of us have a few things we could improve on, God created us wonderfully.
If this is something that has truly caused you unrest and discontent, I challenge you to take some time off from whatever it is that makes you feel inadequate.
Whether it be FB, Pinterest, Twitter or whatever, take a break.
When you feel the desire to look and see what other's are doing, open the Word instead and see what it is that God wants to tell you.
I promise you won't be disappointed.
I love this, and so agree!!!
ReplyDeletea very good article! fb, twitter, etc. is on par to reality shows in many ways. it allows us to edit our lives + make visible to what we want everyone to see. taking breaks + realizing that everyone has challenges, + just being in the moment (you're right, turning it all off!) helps to put things into perspective.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! Nobody is perfect and if they act like they are, they're lying! :)
ReplyDelete