Stress, social media and unrealistic standards.
Having been out with the dog, exploring the beautiful Scottish countryside for a few hours with no care in the world for anything (other than making sure I don’t lose Tom’s dog) it makes you realise how much we worry and stress over things that in the grand scheme of things don’t really matter all that much.
I do believe some stress is good and some things we stress about do matter to us as individuals and there’s nothing wrong with that. Telling someone not to worry or stress about deadlines and to go for a walk in the middle of nowhere instead is not what I’m on about. Good stress can get things done and worrying means we care. Take my uni exams for example, when something means so much to you but there’s exams in the way of reaching that goal then stress and worry is unfortunately inevitable, no matter how much you try and prepare.
Bad stress, again can arise through caring about something but should we care so much? Do we really need to stress about making sure the blog post is updated on time? That it’s been 4 days since the last Instagram post? That yet another doughnut has been eaten even though I’m meant to be dieting or instead of going out on the bike I chose a bubble bath and a face mask? So many of us care about all these little things a little too much and it causes unnecessary worry and can even make you feel like your failing.
We set our own goals and this can be helpful with moving forward, reaching targets and monitoring progress but we can be so hard on ourselves. I am certain I don’t just speak for myself when I say this but so many of us are trying to live up to unrealistic expectations, almost setting ourselves up to fail and then having to deal with the aftermath.
You scroll down social media feeds and see endless weight loss, beauty tips, photoshopped models, expensive wardrobes, perfect holidays, slogans from the same accounts stating ‘love yourself’ etc.
We’ve all seen it and I’m sure we’ve all thought something along the lines of why is that not me as you sit stuffing your face with yet another doughnut, pondering over why you’re not on a beach with a cocktail?
Im not going to go on to say remove yourself from Instagram, don’t worry everything will be ok or just love your body because that’s unrealistic too. Instagram and other social media sites are key to how we interact, share interests and can be our businesses too and no one is ever going to fully love everything about yourself but we need to get better at being individuals. I speak for myself and probably some others when I say I need to stop comparing myself to every other girl I see, wanting new hair, longer eyelashes, tanned skin, stop choosing the food I eat by calorie content or not and then feeling guilty for eating it and I do need to exercise more but on my terms not when my app reminds me I’ve been sat down too long!
Key point to take away from this blog (or rambling by Meg, sorry) go for a walk somewhere quiet, explore somewhere new, take as many photos as you can, take selfies, pose with the dog, don’t rush and if your somewhere with reception put your phone on aeroplane mode.
Take some time to disconnect from worries, stress and the world and just relax.
Speak soon,
Meg xx
