Today's rant is going to be a mix of my shitty life and social media.
You must have come across countless posts of people putting their life up on social media for everyone else to view, judge, critic and comment. They do it for short-lived gratification or internet points. They feel good when they post about their new dresses, toys or holiday travels. This goes on so much that they feel the need to post every single moment of their life for others to see. They are looking for constant validation from the "internet friends" about their personal lives.
Social media has f**ked up their brains to the extent that a single disagreement over a thing as tiny as their hair-style disappoints them. They get sad, depressed and angry just because some stranger didn't like the colour of their dress. All this frustration ends up in arguments over their loved ones.
I find this so hard to understand that people get affected by other people's opinion of them to an extent that they are willing to change their way of living to suit others.
On the other side of the coin, there are those who view these posts and try to imitate every bit of it. They long for the riches that they see on screens. The lengths that they go to just to imitate what they saw is baffling. They start comparing their lives with these screen personalities without giving the slightest thought to what they have in their lives.
Two really apt sayings come to mind when I see all this:
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Happiness is being content with what you have.
While there may be counters over these, like comparison forces you to be better, or being content all the time may not allow you to grow, and such, I feel there has to be a balance like everything in this world. Comparing your life to others can be really disheartening. You are unaware of the things behind the scene, or screen, if I may, and you are judging your whole life against an instant of someone else's. The ones you see on screen might be faking it, working harder than you or maybe just a bit well off. When you think you can only be happy when you have the things you see, you are in for a world of hurt. These trinkets come and go like buses. There is always something better belonging to someone else. You are setting yourself up for long term sadness if your happiness depends on "things". And, when your life doesn't resemble the fantasy that you've created watching other people, you start blaming people around you.
In essence, everyone has their own troubles in life. When you judge someone's happy moment, be it fake or real, against your current situation, you are bound to get unhappy.
Try to be positive on your own. Keep yourself happy and your loved ones as well. Peace comes from inside, which leads to contentment and happiness. Do strive to be better but do not set yourself up to fail by setting ridiculous expectations and comparisons.
CHEERS!!
The real post ends here. Rest of it is just me being sad myself.
So, the other day my wife sees a friend of hers posting photos of her baby bump in a more-than-decent location. (She had a whole maternity photo shoot with professional photographers. I don't know why this is a thing nowadays). Lo and behold, she wants a post wedding photo shoot of her own in different exotic locations.
A couple of days later, she sees a couple going for an international holiday (in the current Covid situation. WTF people!!). and now she's pestering me to take a holiday of our own. The worst thing is she starts bitching at me for suggesting taking this holiday some other time: "I wish I had a better husband"; "I wish I had a husband like Mr. XY"; "You can't provide me with a place of our own"(We live in an ok-ish rented apartment and I can't afford to buy one); "I wish you would leave me alone"; "I wish I had married XYZ"; "I wish I was dead". Must be something I did wrong. SIGH....
PS: I did do something wrong the night before this conversation. She wanted to have sex while she was half drunk and I refused as I had a bit of headache. Looks like you are not supposed to disagree with your wife. Oops..
FML..
