So, the other day, I mentioned that I didn’t have any plans after work.  My normal week night evenings generally consist of working out or running, Dave making dinner, and then sitting down to watch our shows on DVR.  After sharing this, a coworker said to me that I was ‘living the dream’…

Really?  Who’s dream, exactly?  My dream for when I reached the ripe old age of 38 was to be raising more than one baby, out of debt, saving for retirement, and working only part time…  my dream was to have toys all over my house, waking up for feedings in the middle of the night, working on making our lovely house a home, and making play-dates with other mommies.

Now… in all honesty, I am living part of my dream.  I have a husband who loves me and does more for me than I can even say…  I have a home that I love… I have two step children that I can see are becoming pretty awesome human beings… I have three sweet kitties that love me unconditionally… and I have a full time job that pays the bills.

But, isn’t it so like us to want what we don’t have?  To look from the outside in?  Isn’t it like us to show on Facebook what we want others to see, not necessarily what’s true?  Isn’t it like us to see someone else have success and feel jealously, or to even feel like a failure?

Why do we base our success or happiness on what others have (or what we perceive they have)?

Let’s be honest here.  No matter what social media platform we choose (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, or Connect), we don’t always portray the ‘realness’ of our lives, right?  Maybe we post a photo of palm trees and the ocean, but we are drowning in debt.  Maybe we post a sweet, beautiful selfie, yet we are consumed with sadness or discontent.  Maybe we post how successful we are, yet we hate what we do for a living.  It’s all about perception, and perception is our reality.

How does this translate into our weight loss journey?  Have you ever sat in a meeting and thought that your leader has it all figured out?  Have you ever sat in a meeting and looked at a fellow member, and literally thought to yourself that they are so lucky because they don’t even need to try anymore?  We’ve all had these thoughts.  They are mislead and they are erroneous… but, we can’t help but think them.

We always see someone else doing better, but we never look at ourselves and see how far we’ve come.  We are jealous of others, but never stop to think that maybe, just maybe, someone could be jealous of us.  That’s a mind bender, right?

So next time you catch yourself looking at Facebook or Connect, and you feel those negative emotions flare up…  jealousy, anger, failure, defeat…  I beg you to look at yourself and see the power, success, and wonder that you truly are.

Look at it this way…  someone is looking in on your life from the outside… what will they see?  Will they see the love of a family unit?  Will they see that you are warm and cozy and happy?  Will they see that we are all normal and we all have problems?  Well, yes…  because we are human and that’s okay.  Sometimes it’s okay to hurt, or to cry, or to grieve.  But, keep in mind, we always have something someone else wants…

We are all just trying to live the dream, right?

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life.food.adventure & a cup of coffee… A blog about life, love, creativity, home, food, wine, step-parenting, weight loss, Jeeps, fitness, running, traveling, entertaining, fashion, being gluten-free, and… cats. Join me in embracing the chaos.

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