We have all, at some point, been guilty of just looking at someone and judging them. There is an adage that doesn't seem to apply much nowadays, about not judging a book by its cover. That simply means things aren't always the way they look. The fact that this no longer applies is a dangerous thing. Especially for women.
We scroll all of our social media platforms with the purpose of judging. Now let me say that a judgement doesn't only mean negativity put can also be positive. As we scroll we are making up on our heads that this person is beautiful, that person is a mess, you covet a lifestyle or are jealous of what you are judging on a picture. Once we have made the judgement we mostly either feel proud of ourselves or badly for ourselves. Herein lies the danger.
If we have scrolled and scrolled and then tell ourselves how much better we are than a majority of those people we judged then we have set ourselves up. We set ourselves up to feel victorious in a fight that the other person wasn't even invited to attend. On our minds we are thinking, we are great because we have surpassed what we have judged as another person's life. Don't be foolish in this regard. One picture will never be able to fully depict the life and complete being of a person. That person may have a modest house and a fuel efficient vehicle. They may be well aquainted with 2nd hand stores and that's what you have scrolled by to judge. What that picture doesn't tell you is that that person has a faithful and loving spouse, well mannered children, a wonderful extended family and they will be graduating from college with their Phd in 2 years. Now you scrolled by and took a peek into a person's life but didn't realize, you only see 10%. In your mind though you have decided that person isn't doing as well as you. A person that may long for a fulfilling relationship, children, love and the ability to further your education. Danger!!!!
Now, on the flip side of that. We scroll and scroll and see the luxurious lifestyle of another. Maybe we feel they are so gorgeous we're good never compete. The danger in this situation of judging is that we have then allowed someone else's perceived life to make us feel badly about ours. The spirit of jealousy will certainly cause a depression. It's there in the word you begin to feel lousy. I don't know about anyone else but when I feel lousy it doesn't push me to keep working on my goals. I don't care if things are dirty. I may not put on clothes or open the blinds. There's the danger.
We have become a society that live our lives on social media and the pitfalls of doing so are enormous. Don't get me wrong, I like to get on my social media and scroll but not more than I want to be present in my life. I see people who perceivably have less than me and i see people who perceivably have much more than me. I'm good on either side because I wake everyday knowing that I have work to do regardless of what my "friends" or "followers" have going on. I am my competition so only I know when I can consider myself a success.
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