DO YOU GET JEALOUS OF OTHERS 'PERFECT LIFE' ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA?

I was talking to somebody the other day who told me how jealous she was of a few of her friends on facebook's lives. She said she looks at the pictures of their children dressed perfectly smiling in every photo alongside a perfectly clean and tidy house and feels deflated. Social media lifestyles how realistic are they? When you see a photo posted on Facebook or Instagram of a family or somebody's house looking immaculate do you feel a hint of jealously? 

Should you? No. A photo can hide a thousand problems. A smiling couple doesn't necessarily mean they are a happy couple in fact it could be the complete opposite. You need to remember that people only upload the best moments and keep those not so great moments private. 

When i scroll through a few instagram profiles i must admit i do get hit with the jealousy bug when I look at peoples homes especially when they are perfectly set out and they also have children. I ask myself how do they do it? Where do they keep their kids toys? How have they not got hand prints and chocolate engraved into their sofas? I constantly moan to Will about wanting the perfect home that is always immaculate I then thought, do i upload the bad photos of my house? Do I add photos when my house is covered in toys and piled high with washing? I don't! Of course I wouldn't so why would someone else?

'Social media photo'

'Real life'

I have lost count of the people who have said to me 'Wow Josh and Freddie get on so well don't they? You can really see how much Josh loves him' from the moment he was born. Funny how pictures can paint a completely different picture to real life. When Freddie was first born Josh didn't want to know and every single cute photo of them together was bribed and not wanted from Josh at all! I mean don't get me wrong now he does love his brother so much but this again is just more proof that you can't believe everything people want you to believe by looking at a picture they have uploaded. It is amazing what a kit kat can do!

'Social media photo'

'Real life photo'

Honestly I have to take around 30/40 photos of the boys together before I get a half decent photo of them both at least looking at the camera. As do the people you see splashed across instagram with their perfect family. I think people can get carried away with trying to live the perfect life through social media and forget to actually live their life. Spending hours trying to get the perfect lighting/perfect angle when in reality they are just missing out on living life to the full and letting the fun times slide by as they are far too focused on picture perfect photographs. 

When you are older do you think you will look back at photos of your clean home and think remember when I spent hours cleaning and how perfect my house looked? Or do you think you will think more about the times where your house was trashed but trashed with complete love of a child who is having the time of their little lives. The latter I hope. Sometimes people need to look at whats around them rather than through the lens of a camera. 

This whole post came about from me looking at my tulips lost for life in my kitchen and thinking life just sometimes gets in the way of having the perfect home and perfect life but I am ok with that!

 'Social media photo'

'Real life photo'

The couple who have just uploaded a photo of their baby scan with beaming smiles could be hiding the trauma of three miscarriages and this could be their rainbow baby.

 A couples date night photo, jealous because you and your boyfriend don't go out as often as you'd like? They could be on a last ditch attempt of keeping their relationship together. 

A photo of their child looking perfectly dressed with a gorgeous smile? She has probably just had the mother of all tantrums because her parents gave her a yellow straw instead of a red one.

Somebodys uploaded a photo of all the new clothes/make up they have just purchased and you feel low because you wish you could afford them to, they could have just gone way in to their overdraft and be in bucket loads of debt. 

The girl with millions of friends and followers? Selfies galore? She can still feel the loneliest girl in the entire world. She can have millions of followers and likes on every single photo but will still be dreaming of real life friends.

I know how easy it is to think your life is nothing like somebody else's and to feel slightly disappointed that things aren't going as perfect for you as they are for them 

but don't let social media fool you in to thinking your life is too far from perfect as more often than usual appearances are deceiving. I think it is easy to portray the perfect life across social media but I bet you their life has every single up and down that you do they just hide it with perfectly timed happy/clean photos. There are so many people out there who aren't as lucky as us, feel happy for the life that you do have as there are many out there who would dream to have everything that you have. I would rather a toy filled messy house and my children to be happy than to constantly clean and shout at them for making a mess! (not that everyone shouts at their kids!) Let them make memories. 

xoxo