Your Highlight Reel

I've heard this before, and you probably have too.  But I think it is an awesome reminder.

I was reading a devotional during my morning quiet time last week and it talked about this very subject.  It was specifically focused on parenting, but it applies to all kinds of other areas in my life.

While I LOVE social media and it has MANY wonderful purposes (keeping in touch with family and friends who live so far away, finding inspiration for new crafts, meals, decorating tips etc.), it can be a HUGE distracter and discourager as well.

I'll even go so far to admit that social media can almost (not quite, but almost) give me anxiety!  Phil calls it...

FOMO

(Fear Of Missing Out)

I can't take credit for that acrynim.  It was actually stolen from an article in GQ.

While comparison and FOMO or sort of two different issues, I do believe they go hand in hand.

You know you have all experienced this at one time or another.  You open Facebook to see that your high school best friend went sky diving in Venezuela and you are sitting in a cubical at work.  Or your neighbor who homeschools all 6 of her kids also managed to sew them matching Easter outfits while serving as president of the homeowner's association and moonlighting as a ballet instructor, and you are sitting there staring at runny cupcakes and you can't figure out why they won't get fluffy.  Or you check Instagram only to see the amazing Friday night adventure that your college girlfriend is having with her newest millionaire boyfriend, and I am sitting in my PJ's covered in crumbs from my Hungry Man TV dinner, praying that my kids go to bed soon.

Okay, while that is a slight stretch (only slightly), it's true!  It happens to all of us.  We start comparing our lives to other people's, and we feel inadequate.  But we are comparing our everyday to their highlights!

This isn't anything profound that I have discovered, it's just a good reminder.

Don't get me wrong, it doesn't offend me or disgruntle me that you only show pictures of awesome times.  In fact, it usually brings me joy to see you and your family happy and successful.  It would be weird if you posted pictures every time your kid threw a fit in the grocery store or you shared your commute every day to work (believe me, I understand. If you lived through those things once, they don't need to be relived).

I love seeing your brand new baby and hearing all their birth stats. I enjoy your beautiful pictures of your vacation in the Bahamas.  It's incredible to see that your hard work earned you a PHd and you graduated with honors.

I DO IT TOO!!!!

I post pictures of my kids getting along, and I spare you the picture of the third pair of poopy underwear that I had to clean up after that day! I post pictures of the serene snow, and I neglect to post the picture of the horrific amount of sludge that has been drug into my house and cakes my floors due to the snow.

The point is that we all have moments that make the highlight reel and we all have scraps that we leave on the cutting room floor and it isn't good for our JOY to compare our floor to their reel.

Take a look at your own highlight  reel, I bet it's got some of the greatest clips in it anyway.