Saturday, November 17, 2018

Highlight Reels: You're Not as Alone as you Think

We hear a lot about "Highlight reels" on social media. 
We show pictures of our house when it's immaculate, our kids when they're being sweet and look adorable and our selfies are the 25th try at the right angle, with a filter. 
We tell of our accomplishments,our promotions, our triumphs...we present an image of ourselves that sometimes seems unattainable. 

Our tidbits don't tell the whole story though. Do you know of anyone who isn't fighting some kind of battle or difficulty? I personally do not!
What if there's someone out there, who needs to see more of our humanity?
Do we OWE our friends the whole story? No, of course not.
But what if you showing the good, the bad and the ugly some days; was the greatest gift you could give someone?

 If you've struggled with postpartum depression, you can share your experience and break the stigma associated with it; so another Mama at her wits end will know that even the most amazing mothers struggle with this and it's okay to reach out for help.

If you live with PTSD, maybe show the cracks in your armor and your battle wounds every now and then, for that other tough guy out there who won't tell a soul of his demons, for fear of looking weak or feeling less than a man.

Just think for a moment, how often you hear someone saying, "Back when I was suicidal..." I haven't heard anyone say that once...ever. 
But what if, like me, you have almost given up on life a time or two; but made it through? Someone out there NEEDS us to talk about it, so we can be a safe place to share their story. We may be the one who pulls them back from the ledge, they were about to jump off of. 

We all have that one friend that always looks PERFECT, right? You never see them without makeup, and even if you do, they have the most flawless skin and eye brows that you've ever seen! You never see their roots showing. 
Do they even OWN a pair of sweatpants?
I mean..every Mom has at least one ugly, stained shirt that they live in at home, don't they?

It's so easy to compare ourselves, when we are only seeing a moment, a snapshot of other's lives. We can become even envious at times, of a life that we are not seeing the whole picture of. 
I'm not saying to not share all that is awesome in your life.

By all means share those cute photos of your kids in matching sweaters at Christmas, cause Lord knows I will!
Let your friends congratulate you on that big promotion! 
Show the world that flawless selfie...and maybe make YouTube tutorials for the rest of us!

But perhaps we can also share our struggles, our flaws, the cracks that make us beautiful, strong and unique. 
Because these make us real and approachable and if one person realizes that they are not as alone in this great big world as they thought they were, our job will be done!
Let's learn to love the life we are living right now, in this moment~
The ups and the downs, the unedited behind the scenes clips and the highlight reels.





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