Smiles, happy faces, happy experiences.
That’s what you often see when scrolling through any social media feed.
Yes, people do post about serious events or opinions, but more than 50% of the time you’ll probably witness some uplifting posts.
Because of the compare and despair phenomenon, you will quickly think that your life is just plain dull.
It seems you are missing out on life, and that others are somehow blessed with more beauty, happiness, and luck in their lives.
What I have noticed after I got more detached from social media, is that some people post daily about their “exciting lives”.
What I came to realize, is that the more someone posts happy events on a daily basis, the higher the chance those emotions are false.
You see, when people are truly happy with themselves and their own lives, they won’t feel the need to show off.
Insecure people feel this need to show off. They feel they have to keep proving themselves to others.
They think they will be blessed by the opinions of others and care a lot about how they are perceived by others.
True, some people and couples post many times about their happy lives, but it is not because they need that validation from others.
The reason why they may be active on social media often is because it is part of their marketing strategy.
These people post intentionally about themselves to promote their mission, brand, or business.
The exposure they gain from social media has a specific purpose.
Influencers for example are highly active online because they make a living on social media.
They post intentionally to increase engagement, their following, and sales of course.
When they use social media, they probably assign a time block in advance.
The activity is scheduled in advance in their daily or weekly schedule.
The posts you see published were not even literally posted by the person just now, these posts were scheduled earlier in time.
So yes, there are definitely reasons why true happy and fulfilled people are highly active on social media.
But when there is no mission or business involved as mentioned above, and someone posts constantly about their amazing relationship well….something is up probably.
The moment you stop proving yourself to others is the moment you prioritize your own relationship with yourself and with others.
True happy and fulfilled people don’t really care about what you have to say.
Happy and fulfilled people don’t get envious when you say you are in sunny Argentina when they are in freezing Iceland.
They are not competing with anyone.
They don’t need your validation.
They don’t need your comments to feel good about themselves, their partner, or their activities.
Such people mind their own business, they don’t need all the gossiping or this magnifier glass to spy on others.
They know how to disconnect from social media because they know exactly what their values are.
Happy and fulfilled people know how to value their life, relationships, and time.
They know how to spend time effectively and intentionally.
They are mindful of their activities, wellbeing, and relationships.
So when you see people constantly pushing this idea of how amazing and happy they are without any clear purpose, you may want to take their posts with a grain of salt.
Fulfilled people understand their best moments don’t make it on social media.
They just see social media as a (highly effective) tool.
They are not defined by it, and they will certainly not waste most of their precious time in the virtual world while they can enjoy the offline world to its very fullest.
So don’t question your life and existence because of such positive posts, that’s why it is pointless to compare your lows with all the highs online.
Don’t think you know the lives of your “friends” well just because you see a lot of their posts on social media, because you really don’t.