Facebook – The Satisfaction Destroyer

Adam Personal Improvement

I have good life. I have a great significant other, 2 awesome dogs, and a whole bunch of friends I care about. I have a high paying job, no debt (beyond my minimal mortgage), and am a great position financially. We have nice things. We do fun stuff all the time. Concerts, events, vacations and road trips. Now I know all this intellectually. I am aware of how lucky I am.

Yet I frequently manage to find myself feeling inadequate.

I jump onto everybody’s favorite social network and see a vague acquaintances new dream home and I’m reminded of how badly my 1960’s house could use some remodeling. Next is a vacation across Europe that I’m jealous of (even though we take great trips) and somebody else’s brand new BMW.  Nothing more easily can kill your satisfaction, make you feel worse about your appearance, significant other, home car, and career than wasting 10 minutes on facebook.

There are 2 things to remember.

The first is that Facebook isn’t real. Nobody is actually showing you there “real” life. They’re showing you only what they want you to see. The kids are happy, not screaming. The house is clean, not a mess. You don’t know what their bank account looks like or if they’re drowning in debt for that new house. Don’t let yourself be jealous of a something that isn’t REAL! You don’t even know what you are jealous of.

The second is that it isn’t a competition. You aren’t in a race. Everybody is on a different journey, with different experiences and different goals. Where I am in my life doesn’t make yours less valuable. We are all trying to just figure out our path.

Don’t get me wrong. Facebook can be great. I love keeping up and catching up with my friends. Seeing their achievements. Looking at how everybody is doing. But there if you aren’t careful, it can go down hill rapidly. Don’t let your perception of other people’s lives ruin your perfectly great one.