Break the habit of comparing your life with others, and recover contentment with your life.
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<Lessons I’ve learned from #struggles by Craig Groeschel>
How much time do we spent on looking unto others life through social media?
I for one, have wasted enough time everyday doing just scrolling and scrolling and checking on updates.
Before social media take over the world, I remember older people saying, “look after your own life, mind your own.” But nowadays, it seems to be harder with social media. It looks like everyone’s life is open to all. Nothing is private. Even though you wanted to mind your own life matters, other peoples personal lives becomes a matter to you. Just because everyone’s life is shown on social media.
Even the bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:11 to “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.”
Social Media is not bad, its how the way we use it that gives negative effect on us.
Studies are linking social media use with depression. Other research have linked it to envy, lower self-esteem, and social anxiety.
On social media, everyone’s life looks perfect. People show their best and edited life. Filtering their life before showing it to the whole world. Which in reality becomes cause of envy and jealousy and discontentment on other people.
People tend to live for the likes, hearts, thumbs up and comment of other person. Sometimes we get so busy viewing others life and we forgot to live our own life.
Comparison is the thief of joy.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
Lets look at three ways on how we can respond to when we are tempted to compare and be envious:
- Stop comparing your life with others. One way is to limit yourself on social media. Avoid scrolling, scrolling and scrolling to view others post that makes you compare. You might have to unfollow some people or turn off notifications, delete apps or maybe even take a break on social media. Try not bring your phone on your bedroom, it will disrupt your sleep. Identify what triggers you to compare and stop doing it.
- Be happy with other people’s blessings. Celebrate with other peoples blessings and rejoice with their accomplishments. Be happy with what good things are happening to other people. I know , maybe there will be time that its hard to do, but we can do it if we try. Most people deserve what they have and gain in life, and we can be happy for them.
- Cultivate Gratitude. Be grateful on what you have. Sometimes we resent God’s goodness in our neighbor’s lives and then we ignore God’s goodness in our own life. Continually look for God’s goodness everyday and you will be contented and thankfulness will flow in your heart. Do not focus on what you don’t have instead enjoy what you do have and be grateful with it.
We are living in a selfie-centered world, a world that makes everything about us, about you. But we have to live our life giving honor to God – not to ourselves. WE have to break the habit of comparing our life with others and be contented with what God has given us.
WE have to resist the distraction and habits on social media that pulls us away from loving God and loving others.
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BOOK RECOMMENDATION: #struggles by Craig Groeschel
