PARENTING :: comparison

Today’s devotional was alllll about loving your body. Exactly the way God designed it. And what mom couldn’t use a little reminder to be kinder to our bodies? I know I’ve been so harsh with mine over the years.

But we were also asked with whom we compare ourselves? Who are we measuring our bodies up to? Who are we measuring our lives up to? And while I love to compare today’s Amy with the younger version of myself, I hate to admit I’m a recovering social media comparison junkie.

I used to follow all the “It-Moms” on social media. The top, most popular bloggers, who have the brightest homes, the smiliest children, and the happiest marriages. Hashtag Blessed. You know what I mean.

They seem to have an endless budget for their revolving closet of amazingly comfy-chic clothes. And they have an even more bottomless budget for home decor.

But you know what? Every time their pictures would pop up in my feed I felt sick. Crummy, guilty, sad, self pity sick.

Because my life didn’t seem to be measuring up to this ideal they were creating.

I’m the kind of girl that needs disclaimers. I need a crappy post about a zit and a bad hair day covered in baby fluids to balance out that perfect stylized shot of them standing in their pristine kitchen with their Mrs. Meyers cleaning supplies.

I need to know other people forget the quarter at Aldi. And realize it only AFTER they’ve unbuckled and hauled all their kids, and their grocery totes, to the locked carts.

I just couldn’t do it anymore.

The pivotal moment that turned me from a self comparative junkie into a recovering scroller was the realization that it wasn’t their posts that were making me feel bad. It was my lack of confidence in myself, my home, my parenting, my body.

I simply lacked confidence in myself.

So how do we get to the other side?

First, unfollow. Unfollow. Unfriend. Unlike.

Now, if an account gives me that yuck feeling, I hit a quick unfollow. I don’t know why, but I had felt so committed, so involved and invested in these accounts. But for what? When I really, deeply thought about it, I owed these accounts nothing. And they weren’t currently serving me the inspiration I was seeking out social media for in the first place.

I come to social media to feel good. It’s at no fault of these women, they’re running accounts to make a living and I fully support that. But I didn’t want to use social media as a consumer, I wanted to be inspired. To find new ideas. And I simply wasn’t getting that from certain It-Mom accounts.

Once I hit unfollow, my feed instantly perked up.

And seeing a feed filled with positive posts instead that uplift me, encourage me and inspire me started to spark that self confidence I had been seeking out.

So if you are in that space, that negative, “why am I not measuring up” space. If you are leaving social media feeling empty, uninspired and deprived (like 86% of women feel after a scroll fest), then I so strongly suggest you reconsider the accounts, pages and friends you follow.

Not to get all minimalist on you, but perhaps a social media purge is in order. 😉

xo

Amy

Devotional Series: #nomoreperfectmoms by YouVersion, click here.

Some Instagram Accounts I Love that Keep It Real

• @arrowsandbows
• @mintandbirch
• @simplyonpurpose
• @mother.ly
• @thrivemoms
• @januaryharshe
• @risenmotherhood