If so you’re not alone. Social media sites make more than half of users feel inadequate, according to a survey of 1,500 people by disability charity Scope, and half of 18- to 34-year-olds say it makes them feel unattractive.

Social media used to be a tool which made our lives easier to connect with friends and our loved ones, an easy way to see what’s happening in our friends’ lives or to help us promote our businesses. But as time has gone on, it has become a platform for people to show a carefully curated snapshot of their life which may not be an accurate representation of who they really are and what their life is really like. This can lead to others using these air-brushed glimpses, these windows into someone’s life, as an unachievable standard against which to measure themselves, leading to feelings of being a failure.

On the other side of the screen, we need to consider the insecurities people feel, which pushes them into posting reels which create an over-positive representation of their lives. The constant quest for likes, or followers promotes a sense of wellbeing in the poster and helps them feel validated and wanted. They are building their sense of self from what people think of them, rather than it coming from within. Confidence comes from our self-belief and has to be nurtured and worked on. It doesn’t come easily. It’s hard to do the work, but when we do, it is real and solid, not created synthetically by filters and followers.

Time for change

But there is a way we can change things. It’s fairly simple to start, but it does require a change in outlook and self-belief.

The way we look at the world, our perspective on the world is formed from our life experiences- how we were raised, childhood experiences, relationships we’ve had, key events in our lives and so on. Our lives are seen through the lens of our previous experiences, so we attach our own system of meaning, our own filter to our lives. This story we add means “we do not see how things are, we see them as we are.” According to coach Alan Sieler.

If we can surround ourselves in the main with authentic people, then these interactions will feed our souls. If we can bring beauty into our lives, this will nurture us too. If we can avoid the synthetic, the insincere whenever possible, then our heart is growing on a diet of love and acceptance.

Credits: envato elements;

Jennifer Louden in her book, ‘The Life Organiser’ also says to Immerse yourself in love and appreciate yourself, you become what you think about, so if you focus on happy things, and nourish yourself with experiences which inspire joy, and laughter, your brain will form new neural pathways and you will be able to get back to this positive state more easily.

So there’s scientific proof that this way of life works!

Filter

It is hard to filter out the fake, low-vibe people, those people who make us feel bad about ourselves or unworthy. But if our emotional ‘diet’ is over 60 percent of authenticity and joy, then it stands to reason, we will feel 60 percent better than if we kept bathing in the quagmire of low vibe, vacuousness. As Jennifer Louden says, “Soak in love, compassion and creativity, and in time the ways of seeing and feeling that produce suffering will fall away…”

The skill we need to regain is the ability to use our intuition, to stop us being taken in by the phonies, the insincere and the inauthentic. It can be hard to do, when we’ve become immersed in this fake world. One way of doing this is to start using your instinct again. Remember when you were a child and you’d get a feeling in your gut, or a nagging sensation when you came across a person or situation with which you did not resonate? That’s your intuition. Life programmes us to use it less and less as we get older, as we have to compromise our instincts e.g. to do a job which does not align with our values or meet with people whose energy doesn’t mesh with ours. Pay attention to what your body is saying, it will always see you right.

I’m not saying that it’s an easy process, but it’s something that we can do bit by bit, and it’s quick to feel a change in how we feel about ourselves. It won’t happen overnight but it WILL happen!

Author

Sally saw Angels as a child and could occasionally see and feel people who had passed over. This ability grew as she got older and she now gives readings, as well as channelling Ascended Masters. She often works with Mary Magdalene and channels information from Lord Kuthumi. She is available for readings and spiritual development sessions both online and in person (heaven2heart). 

Sally Heart