Why Acceptance is More Important Than Comparison via Social Media
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” — Theodore Roosevelt
When I stayed in an ashram to get my YTT certification in India, the group and I were pretty secluded from civilization for about a month.
We had one day a week where we could choose to venture into town, but we spent most of our days in the countryside of Rishikesh.
Spending time in such a unique environment allowed us all to be a little more vulnerable. The teachers cultivated a nurturing and safe place for us to do so.
That was not real life by the standards of most. In no other circumstances would we have all felt comfortable enough to let our walls down.
In no other scenario would I have been able to speak about my anxieties and fears.
Most of us came to that place for a specific reason. All from different corners of the world, we had a similar purpose for being in the same exact geographical spot at the same time.
We all wanted to change something about ourselves. The exact motivations varied — some wanted to heal sicknesses they suffered from, some wanted to be able to open up more with others, and some simply wanted to fix their back pain.
But we all wanted something out of the experience.
Many of us underwent transformational journeys together, and by the end, we each took a turn explaining what we learned from the course.
Those who came with practical goals in mind achieved those goals. They learned to gradually correct their back pain, or whatever else.
But many of us had a common response.
What did we learn from this experience?
Acceptance. We learned to accept ourselves exactly the way we were. As cliche as it sounds, we grew to love ourselves in our present condition, in that present moment.
Self-acceptance could easily be the pathway to inner peace (if you believe in such things).
And honestly, a big factor there was probably the lack of internet reception.
The temptation to compare ourselves and our lives to everyone else’s is drowning us. Social media is both a tool and a weapon.
Protecting ourselves from the reflexive response of comparison is becoming a must-have survival skill. It’s far too easy for people to slip into depression or develop a negative self image due to what they see online.
Scrolling our timelines has become borderline dangerous to our emotional well-being.
So what do we do?
First, understand that comparison will not bring you happiness. If you find that you have a difficult time separating reality from ‘social media life’, then simply don’t look to see what people are posting anymore. Or limit yourself, a lot.
You might be a little too focused on what other people are doing with their lives anyway — try spending that time making sure you’re happy with yours!
If you need to create your own version of a month-long yoga retreat with limited internet access (maybe on a smaller scale) then do it! You don’t have to get YTT certified or go to India in order to take control of your mental health and happiness.
Put yourself on a ‘mental cleanse’ — something not too drastic, like only allowing yourself ten minutes per day on social media, or thirty minutes of screen time per day altogether. It’s okay to take a sabbatical from texting, too.
Acceptance is far more important that comparing yourself to others because it is lasting. It brings you to an emotional resting place.
Comparison never ends. You’ll constantly find yourself wanting more. You will always find some way to be unhappy and unsatisfied. It’s a debilitating addiction.
Better yourself for YOU, for your own well-being. Not to one-up someone else. And remind yourself the importance of mental health, too.
Just like you wouldn’t want to put junk food in your body all day every day, you want to limit the junk you’re feeding into your brain as well. Comparing yourself to other people is a self-destructive trait. It takes a toll.
Acceptance isn’t easy, but it’s so much healthier, and so much more important than falling victim to the habit of constant comparison.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” — Theodore Roosevelt
