Stop Comparing the Highlight Reel to Your Real Life”
The unseen sacrifices are where true strength lives... Don't envy the picture; embrace the process... Love isn't perfect; it's patient, forgiving, and real.
My generation often lives life through the lens of social media. Many people think that everything, including human relationships, should always appear rosy and cozy, just as it does online.
However, once things don’t work out as envisioned or as perfectly staged on the internet, they give up and go their separate ways. The truth is, human beings are intricate. God, who created us, understands this deeply. That’s why in the Lord’s Prayer we are reminded: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
We fail ourselves so often, yet God still shows us grace. In the same way, we must learn to extend that grace to our friends, families, and loved ones.
Social media only shows the highlight reel of life, never the whole picture. If we use those polished images as the yardstick for our everyday relationships, we will always come up short.
Instead, we should ground our connections in patience, forgiveness, and genuine understanding, rather than in illusions of perfection.
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Relationships, hmmm… don’t be deceived. Everyone seems to have a “couple goal” these days, but even your couple goal has a couple goal. Sister girl and brother man, nobody shows you what they have to deal with behind the scenes or how much they’ve had to let go of just to keep moving forward. You don’t know how many times they forgive each other in a single day.
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No one tells you they had a heated argument just minutes before sending that lovely reel. That screenshot you just munched, the one you secretly hope you and bae can be someday. Girl, nobody is going to tell you how much they sacrifice to stay together when the world feels like it’s crumbling at their feet. That’s the hidden part of love you don’t see online.
So, please, stop dreaming about Mr. and Mrs. XYZ and start building your own dream home from ABC. Real love isn’t built on perfect pictures or flawless moments. It’s built on grace, patience, and forgiveness. The strength of any relationship is not in how beautiful it looks to the outside world, but in how much mercy and understanding is exchanged in private
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This also applies at work; it’s easy to look at our friends, classmates, or colleagues and expect our jobs to be as ‘cool’ or enjoyable as theirs appear on social media.
What we often forget is that what we see online is only a glimpse, a snippet, a highlight reel of their workplace and colleagues, not the full picture. Comparing our journey to theirs robs us of contentment and blinds us to the value in our own path.
We all have different callings and seasons in life, so it’s important to own yours and walk diligently in it. When you focus on your work rather than comparing it to others, you position yourself to grow, gain mastery, and receive the rewards that come with persistence. True success doesn’t come from chasing another person’s story, but from faithfully stewarding your own.
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” — Galatians 6:9
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And family? Girl, we all have responsibilities. Don’t think your family has any twists and turns, man up and stop complaining. No, we don’t talk to every uncle, auntie, cousin, or relative all the time. What you see on social media is just the rose; no one shows you the thorn. You see the beautiful pictures and perfectly edited videos and wish for it, but if only you saw the ashes, you’d understand. Run your race, build your foundation, and leave social media to do its thing. It’s a highlight reel - not real life.
Originally published on 1/25/2018 at 3:37 PM with the title: Your couple crush has a couple crush on my Blogger page.