Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you than you.

Point to Ponder:
Do you strive for physical and life perfection or wish you had the body or life of someone else?

Action Item:
Be grateful for all of your God-given unique attributes and life and share your imperfections, life struggles and even embarrassing moments with others.

Have you ever ventured on Facebook to accept a quick friend request, to then look at the clock and shockingly realize a whole hour has passed?! Or maybe you found yourself looking through a friend’s pictures admiring their travel adventures, beautiful family photos and even their life… Or maybe you quite possibly experienced an ego boost after noticing that you have more followers than someone else… These are only a few of my concerns with social media and the challenge it poses for us, our children and our society at large.

When my son Durant was born I became diligent at posting his monthly albums on Facebook, as I thought it would be a great way to share our new life with friends (and because everyone else did it- a good reason, right?!?!)  Although at the  time I thought it was a good idea, I found I couldn’t keep up with the demand or justify the time it took to upload, organize and post the pictures. The other problem was that I could never just post and log out. I would get sucked into other friends’ profiles and it quickly became too much for me. Furthermore, I always felt obligated to respond to a nice comment and even hoped for one in return, which eventually stressed me out…so finally I just quit all together.

One time, I distinctly remember a friend saying that Durant was the happiest baby ever, as he smiled in every picture! I laughed and told him that my objective was to not show the many horrible pictures of him covered in spit up while screaming his head off, or the ones of me holding him while in my pajamas, with no makeup, hair everywhere and glasses on…..and it was 3:00 in the afternoon! NO WAY was I about to show the world that my newborn wasn’t always happy, I was losing my mind and my life wasn’t perfect.

I think social networking has many redeeming qualities, as I still have a personal account and iGnite has one too! It allows us to quickly connect with people and friends from around the world that we otherwise would not be able to contact, quite an extraordinary opportunity. However, I also think it is important to put on our safety goggles when using it, and always be aware of its challenges and even dangers, like judging and comparing ourselves and our lives to others.

Last week during class, Claire S. told me about a great article she read on perfection and how

our imperfections are actually a blessing, as they enable us to relate to one another.

I couldn’t agree more and I want to relate with you so badly that I’ve included one of the most unattractive and unathletic picture of myself, which is above. What’s most crazy is that I do not keep unflattering pictures of myself, so finding one that was worthy of the weekly inspiration was very difficult!

All in all, the pursuit of perfection will keep you in a vicious, unhappy and never-ending downward cycle. Perfection is impossible and despite all of the seemingly “perfect pictures” posted on Facebook, no one lives a perfect life, everyone struggles, has problems, and gets bumps and hairs in embarrassing places. Therefore, I encourage you to embrace your imperfect beautiful body and life and share it with others….and join iGnite as we start an imperfect and relatable Facebook and Life Revolution! Join us on Facebook here!

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We think you might also like: 

• Faking It: The Art of Perfection in Social Media…”The long term effects of this art of perfection and self-construction remain to be seen, as although this has existed in society for centuries, never before has it been so public and so accessible for individuals to change the way others perceive them, by being selective about the information that we share. The art of self-construction will only get more sophisticated.” Full the full article link at: http://www.simplyzesty.com/Blog/Article/August-2011/Faking-it-The-art-of-perfection-in-social-media#sthash.PLRUKJkt.dpuf
• We connect through our human imperfections! Read this short and sweet article, “Who’s Breasts Are These Anyway?” about a woman’s realizations post-double mastectomy…She became insecure and private about her surgery, and forgot about all of the other women who go through her same struggle she could have reached out to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eva-moon/double-mastectomy-whos-breasts-are-these_b_3713800.html?ref=topbar
• This wonderful article,”Why Women Should Stop Trying to be Perfect“…”Instead, the problems we face are subtler. They come partly from the media, partly from society, partly from biology, and partly from our own vastly unrealistic expectations. To address them, we must go beyond either policy solutions or anger with the patriarchy. We must instead forge partnerships with those around us, and begin to dismantle the myth of solitary perfection.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/09/23/why-women-should-stop-trying-to-be-perfect.html