Social media only lets you see the results.
You see the delicious cookies, but not the flour covered counters when the baker messed up the recipe twice.
You see the graduate with their diploma, but not the hours of studying, and the crying over assignments.
You see the final performance of the show, but not the swollen feet, hours of memorization, backstage drama, and the late nights of rehearsal.
You see the thirty pounds gone through weight loss, but not the sweating in the gym, the courage of saying no, or the days when the weight doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
Social media only lets you see the end, not the middle. In this world of vicariously living through other people's virtual lives, we are tempted to believe that everyone else has got their life together. Engagements, weddings, graduations, moving out, new babies, new jobs and all of the other climatic moments jumble together in an exciting celebration, and we become discontent in our slow lives. As we live in the daily continuum, we scroll through others ending victories.
It can become quite deflating to be connected to others only through the lens of fast-paced stories on Instagram. Ten second snapshots of the best in someone's life.
So live life with people in the slow moments. Go out to dinner. Meet up for coffee. Be a part of a small group. Get to know people where they are at. Not only in the victories but in the seasons where nothing seems to be happening. Allow someone to see your life in the seemingly monotonous, boring, go to work and come home, pajama movie nights, peanut butter and jelly, ramen noodles kind of days. That's where life is truly lived.
Sometimes the best moments are in the late night study groups, running on the treadmills, off-book rehearsals, and remaking cookie batter because you put in the wrong ingredients! But how will you know unless you step out and make personal connections with others?
Don't live just behind a screen. Live in the slow moments.
