Mental Health>Perfect social media life
I feel like this post may trigger a lot of people. I can picture all the Karen's with their metaphoric pitch forks screaming for me to take this down. "My life is perfect". I used to be the young wife and even the young mom that worshipped the perfect lives I'd see on social media. I thought I had to post certain things. Act a certain way. Even dress in a certain style. I remember the day exactly I decided to change my life forever.
October 2019 I decided to take my life back. My husband was currently deployed, at the time I was left to take care of two small children. Amongst all the chaos I was working 11 hour days, six days a week. My stress levels had never been so high in my life. My mental health slowly began to enter a dark place. A place so dark I didn't think I'd ever make it back into the light. My children have saved me so many times. Times when I didn't even know I needed saving. It seemed like I could never make anybody happy. I still feel like that most days. There always seem to be something. Something I wasn't doing right. Somebody I couldn't make happy. The hole was just becoming deeper. I was slowly drowning.
I kept looking at peoples lives on social media wondering how they are so put together. Perfect marriages. Perfect children. Always so well put together in photos. Then I scrambled across a post on Instagram of a hot mess mom just like me. I wish I had screenshotted her profile. Still to this day almost 2 years later I haven't been able to find her again. Maybe she was just my guardian angel? Whatever the case her post saved me. I had stopped caring. I didn't care what I looked like. I stopped caring what I ate. I had been given a health diagnosis and kept it completely to myself not even my husband knew. I had stopped caring about ME. Bethany Brooks was completely put on the back burner, where she in fact did burn out.
I've always dealt with severe anxiety since a small child. It causes me to feel insecure in ever aspect in my life. I never think I'm good enough. I never think I can do anything. I'm always looking for affirmation. I crave that acceptance. I struggle with simple tasks. Going to the grocery store is hard for me. Going anywhere alone is hard for me. It's caused issues in my school work in the past, employment, and even my marriage. You can have a supportive partner but it's still a hard life style to live with. Seeing all these perfect lives on social media was the worst thing I could do for my mental health.
I slowly started taking small breaks from social media. I had contemplated just deleting all platforms but being a military family with children it's easier to just take breaks. I started opening up about my health condition and mental health. You have to tell yourself those lives are just a picture. They are NOT perfect. It's a picture. Simple as that. These people are struggling just as much as I am. They just choose to hide behind a façade. Where as I prefer to be genuine when I post on social media from here on out. If I'm struggling I post about it. If I didn't get anything done I post about it. If I don't feel like posting anything I don't. Simple as that. I will never post a fake sentiment just because it's what people want to read.
I'm fixing to blow some people's mind with this next line. "YOU DONT HAVE TO POST EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE ON SOCIAL MEDIA". Take a break. Recharge your soul. Listen to some music. Spend some quality time with your family. Let them know when you are struggling. Focus on your self. Be YOU. The true you.
At the end of the day there will always be picture perfect profiles. Of the well dressed, well put together smiling family. I read about them often in my true crimes when they finally snap. Because at the end of the day we all have our own struggles. Some of us just prefer to be transparent to the world.
I hope this blog finds you well. I hope you take something from this. I hope you share it with someone that may need it. I hope it gets better. Know you are not alone. There are so many of us dysfunctional individuals out there just trying to survive another day. Just be the true you. It's the best version of you. It's the version this world needs.
October 2019 I decided to take my life back. My husband was currently deployed, at the time I was left to take care of two small children. Amongst all the chaos I was working 11 hour days, six days a week. My stress levels had never been so high in my life. My mental health slowly began to enter a dark place. A place so dark I didn't think I'd ever make it back into the light. My children have saved me so many times. Times when I didn't even know I needed saving. It seemed like I could never make anybody happy. I still feel like that most days. There always seem to be something. Something I wasn't doing right. Somebody I couldn't make happy. The hole was just becoming deeper. I was slowly drowning.
I kept looking at peoples lives on social media wondering how they are so put together. Perfect marriages. Perfect children. Always so well put together in photos. Then I scrambled across a post on Instagram of a hot mess mom just like me. I wish I had screenshotted her profile. Still to this day almost 2 years later I haven't been able to find her again. Maybe she was just my guardian angel? Whatever the case her post saved me. I had stopped caring. I didn't care what I looked like. I stopped caring what I ate. I had been given a health diagnosis and kept it completely to myself not even my husband knew. I had stopped caring about ME. Bethany Brooks was completely put on the back burner, where she in fact did burn out.
I've always dealt with severe anxiety since a small child. It causes me to feel insecure in ever aspect in my life. I never think I'm good enough. I never think I can do anything. I'm always looking for affirmation. I crave that acceptance. I struggle with simple tasks. Going to the grocery store is hard for me. Going anywhere alone is hard for me. It's caused issues in my school work in the past, employment, and even my marriage. You can have a supportive partner but it's still a hard life style to live with. Seeing all these perfect lives on social media was the worst thing I could do for my mental health.
I slowly started taking small breaks from social media. I had contemplated just deleting all platforms but being a military family with children it's easier to just take breaks. I started opening up about my health condition and mental health. You have to tell yourself those lives are just a picture. They are NOT perfect. It's a picture. Simple as that. These people are struggling just as much as I am. They just choose to hide behind a façade. Where as I prefer to be genuine when I post on social media from here on out. If I'm struggling I post about it. If I didn't get anything done I post about it. If I don't feel like posting anything I don't. Simple as that. I will never post a fake sentiment just because it's what people want to read.
I'm fixing to blow some people's mind with this next line. "YOU DONT HAVE TO POST EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE ON SOCIAL MEDIA". Take a break. Recharge your soul. Listen to some music. Spend some quality time with your family. Let them know when you are struggling. Focus on your self. Be YOU. The true you.
At the end of the day there will always be picture perfect profiles. Of the well dressed, well put together smiling family. I read about them often in my true crimes when they finally snap. Because at the end of the day we all have our own struggles. Some of us just prefer to be transparent to the world.
I hope this blog finds you well. I hope you take something from this. I hope you share it with someone that may need it. I hope it gets better. Know you are not alone. There are so many of us dysfunctional individuals out there just trying to survive another day. Just be the true you. It's the best version of you. It's the version this world needs.
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