Life is more than a highlight reel
- Kyle Snyder: Live on Purpose
- February 22, 2024
- 310
“Social media is both a dark and brilliant thing for mental health.”
—Fearne Cotton
Has this ever happened to you? You see a preview of a movie that just looks awesome, and you think it will be an automatic blockbuster. So you pay $9, and halfway through you realize you might be more entertained watching paint dry. There may have been 10 minutes that were great, but through the rest, you try not to cry — out of sheer boredom. We can get pretty upset because we not only wasted our money, but also we wasted two hours of our life.
Facebook can be a great tool to help people stay in touch, especially if they live far apart. Also, it can be helpful in getting our name out there if we are going into business for ourselves. There is nothing wrong with free advertising. Hopefully when we post our product, it will sell like hot cakes. Those are the correct uses of Facebook. It should be fun, a safe place to share stories, pictures and great memories.
I understand people are being bullied online, and I know it is being addressed in the best way people can. However, I think the platforms were designed for good.
One thing we all should be on the lookout for is when we see a post about our friends getting married, a big promotion at work or someone having a baby. It can have an unwanted effect on us. Seeing the highlights of our friends’ lives can get us down. I never had many women standing in line to go out with me. In fact, Stacey was my second girlfriend. I saw wedding photos on Facebook and wondered, “When will it be my turn? And who would marry me?” Of course, when we get married, we post it online.
I often wondered why I couldn’t just be happy for the person who had the great event happen in their life. I realized I really was happy for them; I just was sad my time hadn’t come yet. I think it is valid to feel joy for others and yet wonder when it will be our time. We will have questions about why things didn’t happen when we wanted them to. The problem can be timing. At 18 I wanted to be married, but I didn’t meet Stacey until I was 27.
It’s so true that God’s timing is not our timing. We overlook the value of growth. If we don’t grow, then a piece of us dies a little each day. If we want a promotion, then we ask people who are higher up the ladder to have lunch with us. Have we also asked God for help? One of the areas I am growing in is asking for help and asking to be blessed. Money is hard for me to pray about because I don’t want to be a worldly Christian, but God sees the heart. No one has the right to make us feel like we can’t believe God for big things, just because some people are misrepresenting the faith.
No one can tell us what is in our heart. That is just between God and us. It is always going to be a balancing act between being happy for people and wondering when it will be our time. Pray, learn and rejoice with others.