Being self-satisfied
The main gist of being self-satisfied is really to be content with what you have. Instead of greediness, appreciating what you currently have tends improve one’s well-being. Given the increased exposure to social media feeds where successes are shared and celebrated all the time, it is not unusually for one to feel lesser and inferior as compared to others who seem more successful. They may have a better career, earning more money, able to afford better car and houses, and even managing to their relationships well. It’s easy to get depress and lose hope in the world where opportunities seem to be plenty for some, while dwindling thin for others. But is there a need for us to compare with others on social media in the first place?
Many of us started using social media to connect with friends and make new friends more conveniently. It’s often seen as an easier and cheap way to stay connected with family, friends, colleagues and network with others. Increasingly, some are using social media to gain popularity and marketing their brands and services. The mix between personal uses and business/for-profit uses increase the complexity of social media interactions. You may or may not know whether you are looking at a sponsored content or self-indulgence one. And because of the these purposes, it’s harder to find people sharing negative or depressing events in social media as compared to successfully and envious events and content. Even though that’s the case, we can still choose to stay true to our personal goals and life objectives.
How can we stop comparing ourselves with others?
- Focus on what you have and your accomplishments instead of others.
It’s easy for us to overlook our accomplishments and chuck them aside when see others achieving so much more than us on social media. However, we should celebrate our accomplishments no matter how small they might seem as they represent an improvement from our past selves to our present selves. Celebrating success provides oneself a little self-worth, a little encouragement and motivation to continually improve and work towards our goals.
2. Think about the positive aspects of your life.
Every successes mean some form of sacrifices. There would be an opportunity cost to achieve the successes that were shown in social media whether we know it or not. Hence, we should focus on the positive aspects of our life where others may not be able to see. It could be something as simple as having the time to have dinner with your family every single day, which not everyone has the luxury of time to enjoy the joy of family accompaniment. It could also be bringing your dog out for a walk during the weekend. Spending time on the people or things that you really love also bring immense joy and sense of meaning to your life. These are all the positive aspects that we may just miss out when we look at others.
3. Practice gratitude
Some of us just go about our lives like it’s repeated every single day without much changes, especially if you have been in the same place with the same career and meeting the same people every day. It could be easy to overlook things that we were once grateful of but have taken them for granted as time passed. The understanding from your bosses and colleagues when you need to take off to settle personal matters. The kindness of people whom you meet who treat you well and with respect. The working elevator that you depend on each day because of the consistent maintenance and responsibility of the institution. Isn’t that lucky?
Perhaps, it’s time for us to focus more about ourselves instead of being overly concerned about the difference between ourselves and others. It’ll help to end the misery of the endless comparison.
