If my friends (or even just some acquaintances) were participating in something I would've loved to be included in, I'd ache seeing tweets, Instagrams, and Snaps. Or even when my friends would hang out doing things I was not interested in, like kitschy bars, Beyonce concerts, Hawks games, and frat parties I'd wish I could convince myself to like those things.
 |
| Let's be honest, we've all been in a crowd like this and it's not actually that fun. |
Social media always makes it worse. Everybody posts their smiliest group photo, and their wildest worldliest adventures, with the most flattering filters applied.
My best way to combat my FOMO feelings is to reflect on the fun I've had recently, and not put a scale on it. Break the scale. Throw away the scale. There is no scale. Fun is fun is fun, no matter how extravagant. Examples, if you please:
- So what if someone else had front row tickets to see Taylor Swift? I was having fun in the nosebleed section, dancing the night away.
- So what if someone else went on vacation to a dreamy mountain house with a few friends? I was having fun watching Downton Abbey, snuggling under a soft blanket, and eating goldfish.
- So what if someone else went to a romantic hip restaurant for Valentine's Day? Brian and I genuinely thoroughly enjoyed our frozen pizza.
- So what if someone else got an outrageously adorable puppy? I have a lot of fun not cleaning up yellow puddles on my floor.
When I was a dummy, I thought that when other people had a lot of fun, it diminished the value of my own fun. I was such a dummy.
No comments