Your Life Isn’t Defined By The ‘Likes’ You Get On Instagram

You saw her, didn’t you? The influencer and Instagram model who looks perfect. She’s probably on a beach with a great tan, no body fat, and has a caption about “just another day” or “love seeing this view every morning,” right?

Thousands of likes, hundreds of comments and you keep scrolling. And scrolling. Scrolling until every advertisement and photo looks like an unattainable image. They used a great lighting preset to give it the perfect glow and obviously edited every imperfection.

You see these photos every day, don’t you?

How do you feel?

Does it make you feel like you’re missing out?

Like everyone is having fun without you? You may feel like you need some of ‘that stuff’ to be happy.

Well, news flash. You don’t need it. You don’t need anything that you see through the glittering lens of social media. You might feel like you have to post the ‘right photo’ to get the ‘right feed’ or the ‘right amount of likes,’ but honestly, you don’t need any of it. You don’t need any of what social media brings with it to feel happy or whole with yourself.

Your life is not defined by the number of likes you get, nor should it be. Let’s think rationally for a minute. Are you still going to be Instagram-ing when you’re 80-years-old? Are the ‘likes’ that you are working for now going to help you land your first job? Is posting the photo with better lighting going to keep the lights on in your apartment?

The answer is and should be no. In this day and age, people can become so consumed and lost in translation when it comes to the imagery of our lives online. Like it or not, your subconscious is being affected by social media and making it much harder to deter yourself away. Your self-worth is not found in likes.

In case you don’t believe me, here are a few places you can find your worth if you still feel like your Instagram feed is your ideal life: your work, accomplishments, relationships, ability to empathize with others, attitude, contributions to society, how you impact others, and your drive to make yourself successful, happy, and whatever else it is your inner desire feels.

So yeah, you like a good photo every now and then. That’s okay. But when you begin to feel bad or anything in the slightest that resembles feeling unworthy, take a step back. You are worthy of everything that this world has to offer. You are more than the number of followers you have. You are so much more than that. Don’t let the face of society keep telling you that you need products, certain facial features, or even an extravagant vacation to feel better.

Strive for yourself. Strive for your independence. Strive for whatever it is that you want, but if there is one thing I can leave you with, it is that no amount of likes are going to make you feel better than the success of living your own truth. Living your own truth is what keeps the human spirit whole because it is your truth. Put it this way, when I am 80-years-old I am not going to tell my grandchildren that I once got 10,000 likes on a photo; I am going to tell them and teach them how to fill their lives to the fullest, because at the end of the day you are the creator of your own life, and I know I don’t want to waste any minute of it distressed over fake imagery.