In order to have a fully successful and realized life, I have to occasionally evaluate how I’m living. As I’ve stated many times before, livin’ ain’t easy. Once again, something flipped the switch on the evaluator in my brain.
On Saturday, December 16, 2017, I decided it was time to just sort of thumb through what’s been going on in my life lately and see if anything needed any improvements or removal.
I quickly ran to social media because that’s where me and most other people in my life spend at least 35-85% of our time. There it was. Plain as day.
I wasn’t portraying myself truthfully on social media. I had gotten so good at perfecting the angle of the shot for all of my “selfies,” that I literally had created a picture image of how I wanted to look. An image that is not too far from the way I really look, but when you’re using the front facing camera, you can create or hide anything you want. As opposed to the rear facing camera, where I’m at the full mercy of the photographer. Every characteristic and every single flaw are visible. I ended my selfie game at that point. It’s over.
I realized that I have to live my true identity to love my true identity.
I don’t want this turn into a soap box forum for people who take lots of selfies, but guys, it’s not really cool. I’m now realizing that it’s actually quite lame.
I remember before cell phones even had cameras. Remember what we did back then? We took pictures with cameras and had to hope that they developed well, or you could just forget that memory.
I even remember my first cell phone that had a camera and how fun it was to take pictures of things, not MYSELF! I’ll admit it, and some of you will probably laugh, but I was almost addicted to posting selfies. The rush of getting the perfect angle, getting the right lighting, making sure my hair, eyebrows, teeth were all spot on, to capture the perfect image of the person I wanted people to see.
It turns out that I get more likes on the pictures taken by someone else, than the ones that were taken by me of me. So, I can’t even say that I did it for the attention, I just have a really competitive nature, and I found something that I was really good at. I didn’t realize how much of a fool it made me look like, though. Lol 😂
I’m so glad that’s over, and I’m pretty sure a lot of other people are, also.
I talked to a friend of mine the other day that was bashing people that take a lot of selfies. I kept thinking, “I post selfies, but do I post a lot of them? What’s considered a lot? And who’s opinion?” You see where this is going...
When I went to my Facebook and Instagram feeds, and saw just how many selfies I had posted, I literally laughed and said, “omg, this is so stupid!” 😂 I also saw how much weight I’ve gained. I look alright when I’m standing, but pooyaii, don’t let me catch anyone posting a picture of me sitting. 😂😂😂 I just need to do some crunches, and all will be back to normal. (I hate working out though, so I’ll just eat less and let me body naturally eat itself down a few pounds.)
Why did I ever think that the world just wanted to see my face posted on an internet webpage?!
In the end, I caught myself before it turned nasty and ugly, but I totally get it now. All those people on What Not to Wear and those makeover shows, they just kept living life, until one day, you wake up and you forgot to evaluate your life for problems. It’s never too late.
Random inspirational thought for the evening: you and I were given these lives. It may be cliche, but it’s up to us to make them great. I plan to never stop trying to be great, and I’ll support anyone willing to keep working on it.
I was joking with some ladies at work today, and said, omg, no one would ever want to be me. And one lady said, “I’d love to have your constant positive, upbeat energy everyday.” (She obviously hasn’t seen me when it’s my time of the month.)
I always wake up with choices. I have the option to be happy/positive or grumpy/negative. I’ve always said, it takes a lot more work for me to be grumpy than it does for me to be happy.
Optimism is both burden and a curse. True optimism takes over your entire thought process. I always take into consideration the positive and the negative. Very seldom will I accept a negative situation without trying, in some way or fashion, to positively improve upon it. It’s tough sometimes to be met with constant negativity, but everyone ultimately wants to be positive. They just need a little inspiration.
One last thought for the evening: I have a lot of truly great friends and coworkers. We take the time to get to know one another and build those really great bonds. We also are there to raise up one another when we’re down. If you don’t have people to raise you up, then find some.
I firmly believe that we are not meant to hold ourselves up alone. Allow others to help you up from time to time. It’s worth it, because the strength you borrow can be passed on to someone else who needs it more than you. And don’t forget the gifts you possess. Share them. If you keep the important gifts to yourself, you may forget about them and ultimately lose those precious gifts. What a waste.
I did some makeup on my friend Ashley, and she made me write it all down like we used to do at the makeup counters. 😂 So enjoy this:
