Do you have Facebook Envy?

Can we just take a quick sec to get a little serious? Would that be ok? Thanks.

So I've really grown to hate Facebook over the last couple of years, and at one point seriously considered deleting my account. I even drafted a whole "Facebook Eviction" note.

Why?

To be perfectly honest, almost every single time I scroll through my news feed, I end up feeling like a loser, somehow. It goes something like...

Seriously, how can they afford that house?

Is she even capable of taking a bad picture?

Must be nice to afford a trip to Europe...

How does a 20-something land that kind of job right of college?

And then suddenly I'm all

I'll tell you what's wrong. It's called Facebook Envy, people, and it's a real thing. Actual studies have been done on it showing that Facebook can impact your self-esteem. Seriously, you can read about it here, here, here.  

"Suddenly the life that was keeping you completely contented only moments ago looks like a series of doors shutting in your face."  Sari Zeidler, CNN

I'm not saying everyone is guilty of this but obviously some people are, and that includes me. I'm not proud of it, but I am working on it. Here are a few things that have helped me:

1) I give myself a good ol' reality check. Hello, have you met my friend Instagram? Have you seen the amount of Photoshop tutorials online? Newsflash: Not only can people filter their photos, they filter their lives. Usually people only want to broadcast the good stuff. We're all guilty of it. I try and remember nobody has the perfect life, even if their Facebook statuses suggest otherwise.

http://lisamoorefield.com/photoshop-actions/

2) I count my blessings. I know it sounds cheese-ball but it works. I think about LT. Hubs and how he works so hard every day to make me happy. I think about my family and friends who are ALWAYS there for me. I think about how we just bought a house. How we've been blessed to travel. That we're employed. I may not have the fanciest life but you know what? I wouldn't trade it for anything.

3) Probably the most obvious of all- I cut back. I mean, way back. I eventually realized it was stupid to be spending so much time on something that upset me 90% of the time. When you start to feel like this-

-you should probably consider easin' up on the FB, Dude.

So there, I admitted my shameful secret. I know some of y'all are probably thinking, "Damn, this girl has self-esteem issues" and you're probably right. Will I ever get up the nerve to delete my facebook for good? I don't know. But here's what I do know:

There will always be somebody prettier.

There will always be somebody more successful.

There will always be somebody with more money.

There will always be something.

BUT

Nobody has everything.

Much love to ya,