Strive To Be A Better You, Not Someone Else

Long Legs. Tanned skin. Perfect wardrobe. Flawless make up. Packed social life. Busy work life. Gorgeous best friends. Not a worry in the world.

A picture painted by so many celebrities in our society.

Is it achievable? I don’t know, maybe for some, but unfortunately, definitely not for me.

I spend hours scrolling through instagram, green with envy over the beautiful girls still looking immaculate after their HIIT session, whilst sipping on their iced almond milk latte, which of course hasn’t smudged those perfectly painted lips. The photo littered with tags of the brands they’re wearing, brands I could only dream of being able to afford.

Social media hosts these images in abundance and we absorb it, analyse it, crave it.

I can’t count the number of times I have attempted to recreate these images myself, each time having to accept the inevitable failure. But why am I failing? Is it because I really am not good enough? Or is it something to do with the fact that literally nobody leads these lives in reality?

I find it difficult to believe that some people can juggle a full time job, going to the gym six days a week, studying, eating healthily, looking after a family whilst having a satisfying social life AND some sort of mental stability. I’m not saying it’s impossible but it is rare.

The images we’re presented with are merely a one second snapshot of a person’s day. They might have spent the morning stressed and rushed, the afternoon crying, and the evening eating chocolate and attempting not to fall asleep before 8pm. I’m by no means saying that these people are doing it to make us feel bad, or that they’re liars – we ALL do it.

How many times have you added a picture or video to your snapchat story, knowing that you look like you’re having fun, being healthy, or have 45934 friends? I know for certain that I’m guilty of portraying a life I wish I had. Never advertising the days when I look like a toe, wearing my trackies, drinking more coffee than is probably healthy, eating out of tupperware….. But those days are probably my most frequent!

Thankfully, more and more bloggers are trying to speak up about this, highlighting the fact that their own photos and videos do not reflect their whole lives. Whether that be with photos of their ‘rolls’ or just a caption explaining that they’re feeling low, they’re attempting to be more relatable to us mere mortals. It’s not much, but it’s a start, and for that I am grateful.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, don’t compare yourself to the figures you see plastered onto your phone screen, what you see is not always what you get. Be happy with what you’ve got and strive to be a better you, rather than better than someone else.