Day 6: Comparison Kills

41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

Mark 12:41-42

Yesterday I was speaking to a senior colleague about my career goals. It’s been a depressing year in terms of work; I applied for five higher-level jobs: was put on the waiting list for one due to a positive interview, failed two interviews even though I think they went well, and was rejected without an interview for 2 others. I haven’t moved forward as I would have liked, and whilst friends are quickly climbing up the career ladder, my own progress has been stagnant. After agreeing to mentor me for any upcoming jobs in his department, he said to me: “are you on Instagram? You are? Well, come off it.” I laughed a little, but acceded to advice.  Instagram kills.

Social media has a lot of good uses, but it has contributed to dishonest living, and low self-esteem in a lot of people. Conflictingly, Instagram encourages us to show every detail of our lives, but only if it has been carefully curated and repackaged as the Best Experience Ever, an image that makes other people wish that they had our lives too. When you’re trying to turn our life around and do something new, social media can be detrimental, as it looks like everyone else is doing well, getting on, and achieving greater things than you. But you never know what happens when the person puts the phone away; is their life really all they’re telling you it is? And, if they have only chosen to show you the “end results” it’s impossible for you to know just how arduous their journey was. The sleepless nights, bouts of depression, aching loneliness and major setbacks have been glossed away from their stories. The iceberg runs deep.

So, one of the first things you need to do, if you really want to flourish and remain consistent to your goals, is to come off of social media a bit, and stop comparing yourself to others.