Due to the rise of Social Media platforms, we are perpetually (and subconsciously) comparing ourselves and our lives to others. Human beings have always craved a certain healthy level of dissatisfaction in their lives and from an evolutionary standpoint, we need to compare ourselves with others (past and present) in order for changes to occur so that we can become more advanced as humans. However, knowing where to draw the line between a healthy level of comparison for evolutionary growth purposes and comparing for vanity’s sake is crucial.
Subconsciously, our minds are programmed to notice others who are better looking, better performing, more popular or more successful than us. This subconscious behaviour was part of our upbringing whether we like it or not. The problem arises when we allow feelings of jealousy to creep in and allow it to skew the visions that we have of ourselves and our lives. How many times have you caught yourself suddenly running someone else’s race? What I mean by this is when we are too busy looking at what others are doing and comparing ourselves to what appears to be true, sometimes we will subconsciously begin to do things and create situations in our lives that mimic those we are comparing ourselves to because we want what they have. What we are striving for might not be on our paths but the allure of the success we see in others is what drives us to mimic them in our own fashion. Wanting material items, followers and focusing on vanity with the intention of finding happiness in them is an indicator that our egos start to control the show and we wander off of our paths. Of course, nobody is perfect and having a role model who you can compare yourself to in a healthy way is a great way to improve your life. What i’m talking about is when you’re comparing yourself to celebrities who have gained popularity solely on their looks, the lavish lifestyles they tout or for their ridiculous one-off talents that took the world by storm. Most of them have either nothing if very little to offer the world in a meaningful way yet they managed to capture our attention and some of us are even striving to create lives similar to what we think they have. The reality is, that we don’t need to be skinnier, more fit, prettier, more fashionable, richer or more successful in order to live full lives or to be happy with what we have. In fact, focusing on not having those thing and feeling bad about it only creates more of the same! The Universe is a mirror and like attracts like. Striving to become better is the key but it’s important to not lose yourself in the process.
Fear of Judgement is a Block to Our Evolution
So, what the heck is wrong with just being ourselves outwardly and openly? If you’re afraid of being judged, consider this: There will always be someone out there judging you, the next person and everyone else no matter what. Not everyone in this world is going to heal themselves and rise above the pettiness of judgement so try not to take it personally. Judgement by some who are not awakened is inevitable in our limited 3D reality of consciousness so considering you will be judged by some sad soul out there, you may as well be judged for being yourself instead of someone who you aren’t. Don’t let the fear of judgement by others be the reason why you suppress yourself, your message or your gifts that you came here to share with others who need them. Each time we arrive to what we know as “life”, we get one shot during that time to fulfill our soul contracts. Due to our freewill choices, if the contract is not fulfilled, those parts carry forward to the next life. The point is to follow your intuition and make choices based on what you know in your heart is right and to ultimately care less about what others will think of you. Your mission here is just as important as the next person’s.
Popularity is Made Up of Illusions and is Used as a Means to Enslave Us
Most of the people who have massive popularity rarely show or tell the full story to their successes either which can leave the rest of us feeling pretty awful about our accomplishments. These individuals rarely share their struggles that happen behind the scenes because it might dissolve the illusion they’ve created of perfection. They are in the business of creating illusions that people will buy and some will profit from it. Our egos usually love it when we get noticed and get attention from others, so it’s natural for us to strive for popularity. Wanting popularity is the ego’s way of making us feel validated. So instead of doing what is right for us, sometimes we start to do things that are out of alignment to our true authentic selves as we strive for popularity.
Companies love to capitalize on the vanity of the masses on Social Media, so the worse you feel about yourself because someone else looks better, thinner, prettier, more successful or more fit than you, the more money these companies make from people buying their products to help them feel better about themselves. Popularity is just another way that “The Man” uses to control us, so that we stay unawakened and silenced. Many of the most popular and well known social media “Influencers” are happy to do the bidding of these giant corporations and to keep their real opinions to themselves just to make a buck. The problem is that the Influencers who have the power to influence positive change rarely use their power to do so. Instead they will influence people to continue on living in the dark, distracted and blindfolded to world events. Think about this when the next Social Media “Challenge” arises. Once you become aware of it, ignoring it will become that much easier. How do things that are “irrelevant” have so much power? Simply because there is attention given to it. The only way to make something go away is to stop giving it your energy and that includes your attention, your money and your support. A lot of us are just following whatever is popular at the moment as a means to fit into our social circles, even if the trend is irrelevant to us on a personal level. If this is you, consider whether you are in the right tribe.
The problem is that our egos have become totally out of control as many of us find ourselves living in this illusion that “what is” in our lives isn’t good enough and that we need to have “things” before we can truly be happy with ourselves. We are striving for things and lifestyles that are meaningless and that don’t serve a greater purpose hoping they will fulfill us somehow and bring lasting happiness. It’s all a lie manufactured by the rise of Social Media, the Government and large corporations to keep us hidden from the truth and more focused on what certain sports teams, athletes and celebrities are up to rather than for us to focus on living up to our true potential in our lives The more we focus on what these purposed distractions are doing, wearing, driving, vacationing or buying, the less we are likely to bother with our own purpose and intentions for bettering the world. Focusing on not having these “things” that we are conditioned to think are essential for living a “good life” is a really good way to become discouraged with the path that we are intended to walk. It’s much easier to live vicariously through others than it is to get out there and chase your dreams when you feel “less than perfect”.
Our favourite sports teams and celebrities are nothing more than brands that were created to make money and used by the Government to keep us distracted from what is really going on in the world. It works. People are slowly starting to wake up and realize this is yet another method of control used by the “higher ups” to keep us in line and to occupy up our time so much that there won’t be any time left over for other important things like healing ourselves, finding ourselves or living up to our true potentials. The most money is paid to the people who create the biggest distractions in the world. Some food for thought, perhaps?
Challenge the Illusion Created by “Popularity” and Change Your Perspective
We need to start looking for the truth behind the seeming successes of others. Too many of us are quick to believe and trust what we see and hear in the media (including social media) without further investigation or thought. I don’t need to tell you that just because something looks good in a photo or sounds appealing in an advertisement doesn’t mean it’s real so why aren’t we looking at big media sources in this same way? We are starting to collectively become more aware of the Fakers out there who just want followers and popularity but who are not authentic and have no real meaningful goal to make a positive difference in the world. Some of these people at one point or another even gained our trust, took advantage of it and profited from it to fuel their own selfish interests. It’s our willingness to believe in the illusion and the perception they are portraying to us that gives these “Media Moguls” their power. I mean, when you think about it, if some of our favourite Social Media platforms or highly influential Media Groups went offline forever tomorrow, the people who have built their success on them would become completely irrelevant. More of us are waking up and beginning to question things that are being put out there for the masses to absorb.
The way in which you choose to perceive what you see and hear from so called “Trusted Media Sources” is essential. The pro’s are really good at dressing up their words to make sure you perceive things in a certain way as a means to gain trust from people to use as a means to fulfill their own selfish intentions for profit or power. What we forget is that a lot of the information put out there by the media is all communicated via someone’s opinion. An opinion does not equal truth yet we have been conditioned to perceive it as so through “Trusted Media Sources”. An example of how our perceptions of information we receive is skewed is when we think about things we have been trained to know as being “luxurious”. Someone tells you they own a boat in the French Riviera. Sounds good right? How many times did you see photos or videos of your favourite celebrities partying on their yachts in exotic destinations? Thanks to our conditioning, we automatically thing that leisure boating is luxurious and generally reserved more for the rich and famous. So, of course you will imagine a big, fancy yacht with a private dock when the reality is the boat is small, old, run down and used as a cargo boat in the slummy end of town. Just because someone owns a boat, doesn’t mean that it’s a luxury yacht – in fact plenty of middle class people own nice, modest boats and enjoy leisure boating. Another example of our conditioning from the media would be when you see a woman sporting fancy, expensive purses, haute couture fashion and luxury jewelry. Thanks to the conditioning we receive from reading popular fashion magazines and from seeing certain Instagram models wearing these luxury designer brands, you immediately assume that this woman is super rich, very well to do and therefore she can buy whatever she wants. Yet the reality which is hidden from us is that she’s so far in debt from impulse shopping that she’s about to claim bankruptcy. Its hidden from us that the models we see sporting these items online or in magazines are usually paid to do so and even given or loaned the items for free from the fashion companies so they can use them as promotional items. People are obsessed with whatever looks and sounds good on the surface – even if it’s not the truth – and they generally don’t want to know, hear or think about anything less. It’s time to change that way of perceiving things if we want to create a better reality for ourselves.
Wake up and Focus on Being Your Best Self
How can you break away from these influences when they are all around us? Rule number one is to stop believing the illusions our minds create whenever we see other people’s success and realize there is always another side of the coin that is hidden. Rule number two is to start thinking for yourself and to start being your authentic self instead of wanting to be like someone else. Embrace your uniqueness and run with it even if it doesn’t make sense at the moment. Rule number three is to stop following people and accounts on Social Media that leave you feeling bad about yourself or less than. This also applies to watching or reading news that is negative or does not offer any positive solutions to the conflicts they are promoting. A lot of us stay trapped in the illusion that is created by Celebrities or Public Figures as a way to distract ourselves from our own shortcomings, failures and events in our lives. The more we can focus on becoming our true authentic selves, we open up to the possibility of achieving greatness in our own lives. If we are working on ourselves, the opinions shared in the media and what others are doing on social media won’t be as noticeable and therefore won’t be taking your attention away from making self improvements.
Your Uniqueness Matters
The reality is that we can’t live our lives like anyone else’s. Nobody else can ever be you, and you can never be them. In fact, if you’re running someone else’s race, you’re not living up to your full potential. We are here in this life to be ourselves and to discover our own uniqueness and to share those special gifts to the world. Every single one of us has a unique gift that is purposed to us and us alone. There will always be someone who seems better, smarter, prettier, sexier, richer but comparing ourselves to those people will only slow us down on discovering and following our own purposes. There is beauty in finding and living your own true purpose that is yours alone that nobody else can have. Your purpose is exclusive and unique to just you. We all have special talents and at least one thing that nobody else can do exactly the same or as well as you can. Don’t listen to the ego that tells you that you aren’t good enough or that you’ll never be as good as some celebrity or social media flavour of the month. Set your sights higher and become your own biggest fan.
Living as your true authentic self means being true to you. If you’re awakened, stop dumbing yourself down so that others who aren’t there yet will feel better about themselves or so that they will understand you better. It means allowing yourself to be just as you are without apology or justification. It means continuing on your path despite criticisms from others who don’t understand where you are going or why. You aren’t required to give others an explanation for what you are purposed for. It means not caring what others will think of you. It means living your mission here on Earth and being present while doing it. If you are struggling to understand what this all means and how it applies to you, it’s an indicator that healing could be required somewhere in your life. It’s easy to lose touch with ourselves if we are constantly being distracted by what everyone else is doing. You may benefit from going on a Social Media or Reality Show “diet” where you stop following certain people online and stop watching unrealistic shows so that you can get back in touch with yourself. As mentioned earlier, not feeding into negative news is also a great way to increase your vibration and to feel better about your life. Starting a regular meditation practise is a great way to start getting more in touch with yourself and what your purpose is. Seek healing and direction from a licensed councillor or psychologist to assist you with your healing or consider hiring a life coach to help you to achieve your dreams and goals.
By putting outside distractions that tell us how we should be or live on mute, we start to see our own potential and the beauty in our own lives. We can’t heal and open ourselves up to our unlimited potential if we are always avoiding the core issues and parts of ourselves that are affecting us by focusing on what everyone else is doing. It’s time for us all to truly begin to become our authentic selves and to start thinking for ourselves, even if doing so feels taboo. Fear can limit us from becoming who we really are supposed to be. We need to break free from the system that taught us what “perfection” means and become our own versions of what perfection really means and was intended to be. We were born perfect and happiness in life is achievable right now if we believe it to be so.
Keep Believing,
Colleen Smith