Oh social media. It keeps me sane at work, helps me and Mitch unwind after work, entertains us while waiting for food at restaurants, keeps us in touch w/ people we love...AND MAKES ME COVET LIKE CRAZY.
"Why can't we be living in beautiful, charming costal city with an adorable baby girl, nice house and me making making easy money on the side managing social media for a dance studio??"
Seriously though, I just finished stalking an acquaintance who has that exact life. She had her baby naturally, is skinny, gorgeous and has the cutest house. Chevron rugs, granite countertops, kitchenaid, crown molding etc. I just wasted 45 mins at work going through her blog and getting more covetous with each scroll.
NOT GOOD. First of all, Mitch loves it here and is thriving in school. We have plenty to be grateful for and I need to support him. Period.
I also need to stop coveting. That girl didn't get where she is by pouting over other girls "lucky lives" (well actually I don't really know since I really don't know her well, but I'm assuming she's the go-getter, no complaining type).
Now since I can't come up with much advice on how to avoid this, I turned to an Ensign article written by one of my former professors at BYU. He says of coveting,
"Often the cankering of the soul and the destruction of our spiritual powers that stem from materialism, greed, jealousy, and envy are so slow that we may not even recognize them in ourselves until other, more serious problems appear." http://www.lds.org/liahona/1998/12/thou-shalt-not-covet?lang=eng
Whew, that's a hard statement, but from what we know of the devil, he works likes this. Whispering "reading blogs for hours is harmless....the discontent you feel is normal....it's okay to be constantly dreaming of future riches".
The most clever personification of the devil by far is the oft-quoted Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. I found these gems on the topic of coveting:
“Nearly all vices are rooted in the future. Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust and ambition look ahead.”“Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him.”
Now, that being said, I do believe there is a right way to read blogs, status posts, and view instagrams of people that are capturing a happy life moment. We must think of it as just that. "How nice that they can afford a beautiful new home" or "They must be so excited to have a brand new baby". I think it's fine to enjoy learning about other's successes and highlights, but the moment we start to compare it to our own life is when the toxin starts to drip into our souls. Okay, that was dramatic but I really think there is a healthy balance and a really unhealthy imbalance.
Here's to partaking of social media, getting excited about the present, being grateful for what I have while still gleaning positive ideas and motivation from others.
