Quitting social media

Hello beautiful!

It's been a long while since I posted anything. So many things have happened since my last blog post. First of all, I got married to my wonderful husband in July! We had a beautiful and intimate ceremony with friends and family, which I will cherish forever. It was truly one of the best days of my life and I'm so happy I get to spend the rest of my life with my dear husband.

I have also gone through a huge lifestyle change which has greatly improved my emotional and physical well-being, but more on that later...

I chose to quit using social media. Finally. I know that most people don't see that as a big thing but for me it was huge. Social media has brought so much unnecessary stress into my life so I chose to pull the plug. I got tired of spending countless hours every week scrolling through Instagram or looking at Facebook. It wasn't adding enough value to my life.

I kept giving myself excuses as to why I didn't lessen my screen time or quit social media altogether. My most prominent excuses were: "What if I miss out on crucial information?" and "What about my friends and family?". You might have similar reasons too as to why you don't want to quit social media. And I get it, there are positives to being on social media, but it seems like most people don't truly benefit from using it.

Social media gives you a false sense of connection.

That's the trap I fell into. Feeling like I was more connected to people than I was. It was somewhat freeing to realize that if people wanted to stay connected to me, they would either see me in person, call or text me. Staying "friends" on social media doesn't mean anything unless you are connected and in contact with one another regularly.

Social media was also affecting my self-image. I kept comparing myself to other people's highlights. Be it someone's pretty face, an aesthetic house, or material goods that I don't need.

And of course, there's nothing inherently bad about beauty, but if it steals your joy rather than inspires you, consider staying away from it.

It made me focus on the outside rather than the inside. I kept forgetting that the true value anyone can provide is VIRTUE. That includes everyone, even the people I kept comparing myself to on social media.

I encourage everyone to look at how much time they spend on social media. Let's say that you spend an hour every day on Instagram. That adds up to a ridiculous number by the end of the year.

Think about the things you missed, the things you could have learned, the time you could've spent with your loved ones... doesn't that horrify you? It horrifies me.

I don't want to be 80 years old and mourn the fact that I spent time on social media instead of spending time with my husband. Or that I wasted all of my 20s worried about other people's lives, instead of being grateful for my own.

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That's going to be it for now. Hopefully, you enjoyed this post and it inspired you to look at your own social media usage and how it affects you. I won't judge you if you choose to dabble in social media, but if it causes you stress, I hope that you will consider quitting (or at least minimizing the time you spend on it) You deserve a happy life.

xoxo Ida