Why Taking A Break From Social Media Can Do You A World Of Good

IN THE WORDS OF KITKAT - TAKE A BREAK

OK, so this may sound a little hypocritical as we post about taking a break from social media.. ON social media, but hear us out!

ASK YOURSELF, IS SOCIAL MEDIA GOOD FOR YOU?

How many of you get into bed at night and aimlessly scroll through facebook, or get up in the morning and the first thing you do is grab your phone and do the same again; not even looking at one thing in particular but simply just browsing out of habit. We're all kinda guilty of that.

But why do we do this? Does it make us feel good? The short answer is no. More often than not we wind up feeling slightly deflated, beaten down and inadequate as we compare our lives to the friends (and strangers) of our social media feeds. We know the feeling.

Whilst social media can be great for keeping in touch with old friends, informing you of events and a buzzing hub of activity, it can also be a little tough especially when you're going through a hard time. So sometimes it's worth giving both social media a break and yourself too. It'll always be there, but maybe check out a book instead for your wanderlust instead of an heavily edited insta pic.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT ALWAYS REAL

The thing we need to remember is that people only post what they want others to see. Nobody is going to post a picture of them on an off day, when that nice shiny whitehead has just appeared in the middle of their forehead and they haven’t managed to get out of their trackie bottoms all day but instead binge watched the whole series of ‘New girl’ scoffing anything remotely unhealthy that they could get their hands on. And as much as anyone likes to hide it, EVERYONE has down days. It is normal and it is healthy. How are we supposed to learn and grow if everything was to go our way all the time?

I know it is easier said than done but I feel it is important to switch off from this other world from time to time. Turn your phone off when you go to sleep, or leave your phone upstairs for a few hours in the daytime. Start living. Start watching the world through your own eyes and not just the tainted view of Instagram. Anyone can put a filter on a picture, but you can’t put a filter on your life. And why would we want to? Life is beautiful and so many people are stopping themselves from reaching their full potential because they spend so much time comparing themselves to others.

EXPLORE, LEARN, TRAVEL.

Travelling is the perfect opportunity to take a break from it all, to immerse yourself in different cultures, foods, meet interesting new characters, build new relationships (real ones, not just the ones that are only official on Facebook), and see the world as a bigger picture.

You will find yourself so caught up in the busy day to day activities you find yourself diving into that you won’t even have time to check in with even your most loved ones. It isn’t because we don’t care, it is because we are too busy having fun living; you won’t even know what day it is after a while as everyday becomes a weekend! You start to realise what is really important in life and you will go back so rich with experience and a new found love for exploring.

You go home and material objects become a thing of the past. It is overwhelming to open your wardrobe as you start to realise that you have WAY too many clothes - I mean you just went 6 months in the same pair of shorts and you survived!

You think about all those families you saw when you were away who had next to nothing but still some of the happiest people you will ever meet. You see kids that go out and play, and not just on an Ipad. Pure, genuine happiness and the message is: it really is the simple things in life that count.

We just need to open those eye’s we were lucky enough to be born with and take it all in.

Don't Quit Your Daydream