We all have a shared desire to be loved and seen, it is just how we were created.  That doesn’t necessarily mean we wish to be in the spotlight, it just means that want to be acknowledged by another and we crave love.  In our search for love and attention we can be left discouraged or wanting more because no one is perfect in giving.  Good news, there is a never-ending source of Love that we all have access to but unfortunately forget to tap into.  As a result, we go into the world endlessly searching and constantly let down.

Social media is the a popular mirage for self-fulfillment.  It has manipulated us into thinking that our worth is dependent on the amount of “followers” and “likes” we obtain.  I heard a great story about this.  It starts off with a woman describing her experience as she gets on a plane.  She explains the awkwardness of walking down the aisle searching for an open seat.  She notices the looks on the other passengers’ faces as they see her contemplating which seat to choose.  She describes the look as a bit panicked, a pleading look, possibly whispering to themselves, “please no, please no!”.  At this point of the story I laugh out loud because she mentions that she is a nun in her mid-thirties.  On this particular flight she found herself sitting next to a 19-year-old that is zoned into her iPhone.  She tries to be courteous by keeping her eyes facing forward but then feels compelled to ask what she is doing.  The girl answers, “oh, just checking my Instagram.”  The sister is excited.  She sees this as a golden opportunity to educate herself on Instagram because she had been dying to know what it was and how it works.
The 19-year-old begins to describe the popular social media platform and her description was insanely accurate.  The first part of the description went as such.  “You follow anywhere between 200-500 people, but it is impossible to keep up with everyone but at least you are in the loop.”  The sister then asks what Instagram does for her.  “It is the place of affirmation!  You post something you like, or something you did, or a picture that you know you look good in and you wait for people to affirm it.”  The girl then details the other side of Instagram.  “It is also the place of insecurity.  You can post something hoping that the guy you like sees it and comments, and if he doesn’t you don’t know if he doesn’t like it, or he just didn’t see it.”  The sister asks why the girl doesn’t contact the guy directly and the Instagram review ends shortly after that.
I share this story because I couldn’t stop thinking about how we all can relate to both the 19-year-old and the nun;  looking for affirmation and shaking our heads baffled by this paradox of obtaining self-worth from a social media site.  Very rarely do we post the parts of ourselves that expose our imperfections.  It is not commonplace to display our weaknesses either.  We probably don’t share these unpopular parts of ourselves because we are afraid that we won’t be accepted, that no one will care, or even worse, we are seen as unattractive or weak.  Social media is a slippery slope into giving energy and power to something that inflates a false sense of self; rooting ourselves in something unreliable and trivial.  Don’t get me wrong, social media can also an awesome platform for sharing good, growing your business, or just keeping up with friends from a distance, but this isn’t what my post is about.
There are times when I get discouraged if my friends and family do not “like” or encourage something I put out there on social media.  But I have realized that giving power to that discouragement is silly.  It doesn’t mean anything.  What would happen if you lost all of your followers or you stopped receiving “likes” on your posts?  Would you survive, escaping without a tinge of discouragement?  If the answer is no, then maybe check yo’self before you wreck yo’self! Remove the filter and quit the tireless photo review because the real you is perfect as is!

You are beautiful and loved and seen all because you are YOU.  There is no one like YOU.  YOU are special.  From the moment you were created, you were loved.  Put all of your eggs in THAT basket.  You have an audience of One that loves you with an unrelenting, unconditional, and all-powerful love.  Look to that audience for your self-worth, because you will never be disappointed or left wanting more.

Oh, and if you like this post, please “like” or share it…LOL.  Just kidding!  I just wanted you to know how special you are.