The Dangers of Watching Others Live Their Lives on Social Media

One of the most difficult habits to stop is “watching other people live their lives”. It is an annoying habit that many of us find difficult to get over. I mean, we want to stop quite alright, but we would always find ourselves doing it regardless.

The most annoying part is that we eventually end up feeling sad/depressed after exploring their lives, even though we are really happy for them. It is nothing more than falling into the trap of “comparison”.

Have you ever muted someone for some reason, and on certain days, you find yourself checking their Whatsapp stories, just you to see what’s up in their lives? (Did you see what I did there?)

Like you go all the way down to your muted stories on Whatsapp or you search for their profile on Instagram just to see what’s up with them? Whoa!

Lol… This might sound weird to you, but there’s you who can relate to this.

As much as it is nice to keep in touch or ” be inspired” by other people, it is very important to understand your limits, and know when inspiration is turning to stagnation in your own life. Imagine spending so much time going through other people’s posts, stories, tweets, and at the end of it, you feel uninterested to do what you would have loved to do.

The Got Talent series (AGT and BGT) inspires me so much. But I got to realise that I would get to the point while watching the videos that I would lose interest in my own life. It’s more like “I want this to be my life”.

At this point, my life does not seem interesting to me anymore. I start fantasizing about myself being on the same stage and blowing people’s minds away, which is not bad in itself. The problem with this, however, is that I am lost in the world of fantasy, making no progress in real life.

I love movies as well. But I also get to the point where I want the movie to be my life, my reality, which is impossible by the way.

What I am saying is that, as much as other people’s stories can be inspiring, you could get to the point where inspiration turns into fantasies and hopeless wishes. And that is not a good place to be.

I am currently learning to control how much of the “Got Talent” videos I watch. I had to stop watching Movie Series altogether. Lol… ‘You don’t want to know what they did to my mind, especially the thrillers like “Money Heist”, ” “Attack on Titan”, “Blacklist”, “How to get away with murder” (this literally twisted my head so much, I don’t even want to start another season), to mention a few (lol)’.

Now, I know we love watching videos for entertainment, and for book lovers, it can be a perfect escape from reality. But taking a break from reality does not mean your life has to stop.

You can watch just enough to spur you to action, read just enough to get you started on something that you love. It is a needless habit to overindulge as it leaves you in a worse place than when you started.

I hope this gives more answers than questions. Feel free to share your thoughts or questions in the comments section.