The Destruction Social Media Can Bring to Our Lives If Used Incorrectly

Our lives now are controlled by advancing technology and social media, instead of going to the bank we are using online banking, instead of sending birthday cards in the mail we are receiving text messages and Facebook comments. While I appreciate the advances in technologies in some aspects like immediate information about a topic while I am studying I can see the destructive side of social media as well.

In our society today people often define themselves and their worth based upon how many “friends”, “followers” or “likes” they have. Even worse the internet has become a place of bullying in addition to schools so the person who is being bullied has no escape and often performs extreme measures to stop the bullying hurting either themselves or others. This is extremely sad and I while I was growing up with the internet relativity new I even saw bullying occurring in passive aggressive manners on things such as AIM.

Our society now based a person’s worth based upon their popularity online and for those who do not have the popularity this lack of being “popular” can cause them to feel worthless and strive to have the lives that others have. This can cause individuals to become someone they are not and live a life that is not really theirs because they are trying to achieve perfection that is not really attainable. We now have extravagant marriage proposals on the internet, pregnancy announcements and posting about accomplishments which make others feel like they are not achieving anything in their lives. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying these things should not be posted if the person is generally wants to share them, however the problem is they are often posted ONLY to brag to others.

These levels of extravagance cause simple things to seem dull, for example with my parents their engagement story may seem dull in today’s standards although it is wonderful for them. They were looking at houses together and my dad asked my mom what she thought of the house they were looking at, she mentioned it was nice but she could not live there unless they were married and my dad said of course so do you want to get married and they were engaged and they went out to celebrate. There was no engagement ring and instead my mom got a house and then a very nice wedding band. Looking at this story it is wonderful however with comparisons to today’s standard people might roll their eyes at this because in the world of social media now it is all about how he asked and how big the ring is.      

I want to stress that social media can be what you make it so PLEASE try not to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others based upon what you see on their online profiles. Although something may seem perfect online it really is not. Also think about this if you have 1000 plus people that you are friends with online who can you really trust in an emergency? Who will come help you on the freeway with flat tire? (besides triple AAA ;) ) True friends really are a blessing so try not to let the perfection of the internet and other individuals successes get to you. Please don’t compare yourself to others on the internet because it will only bring you down. Each and every one of us is special in our own way and we each have our own path in life, don’t let other individual’s lives define how we should live our own.   

 

 

 

 

Pay Positivity Forward

I am currently extremely stressed out amongst the final weeks of the second semester of nursing school. There are two weeks left and in those two weeks I have a total of 3 exams, 1 presentation, 1 quiz, 2 more clinical experiences and of course 3 finals. It is a lot in a two week period and it is easy to say I am extremely stressed. Today I went out to take a study break and I come to my car and see a nice big scratch on it. Upsetting of course however the thing that bothers me the most is not the scratch itself but what the scratch represents. It represents disrespect and a lack of concern for others. Anybody who deliberately intends to destroy another person’s property completely baffles me why is there such disrespect? Why would someone go out of their way to do harm? Despite this setback I did not let it get me and decided that my focus should still be on my studies and the next couple of weeks.

I decided to take myself to lunch and turn my negative experience to a positive one, before I went to lunch I stopped by a mattress store to test out some mattresses to update my 20 some year old one. The sales person that helped me out was phenomenal and I now have a better understanding what I want when I am ready to buy. I then went over to lunch at Islands and I was deep in my studies and my waiter was great as well. I then decided that I wanted to pay my positivity forward and left a pretty generous tip, and walking out of the restaurant I held the door open for an older couple. Although both these things were not significantly extreme it helps to make these individuals’ days a little bit brighter and happier and that is extremely important. Try each and every day to turn negatives into positives and pay the positivity and kindness to others no matter how small the task may be. Have a wonderful day lovely readers!

Five Quirky Things You May Not Know About Me

1)      I am a completely different person when a dog comes around:  

This is not even a joke! I can be seriously professional and as soon as a dog comes by me I turn in to a little kid. I get all giddy inside and I just want to pet it all day long. It is so ridiculous, the baby voice comes out and I say things like: “Oh how cute are you little one!” “How wonderful is that?”, “What do you think about that?”. All of these comments are spoken to my dogs or other dogs. 

 

 

2)      I am an avid “Bath and Body Works” product enthusiast:

I have a little problem when it comes to this store because I currently have a collection of 80 plus shower gels/lotion/soaps/room fragrances. My problem is the fact that I always “need” the newest fragrance. I love all of the new scents and I MUST have all of them. Thankfully I have not bought any more items in a couple of months, however whenever a new fragrance comes out then I have to control myself not to buy it! Some pictures of my collection are below!

Drawer 1

 

 

 

 

                                                                      Drawer 2
 

 

 

3)      I CANNONT stand my belly button being touched at all

This is a weird one however I can’t stand it. If I accidentally touch it I get a cold shiver and freak out.  If I am wearing clothes that have buttons that touch it I freak out. I have no idea why but it is like nails on a chalk board for me.

 

4)      I have a particular system when it comes to books in my bookshelf

 The books must be in order of size and height, the tallest go to the farthest left and then the shortest go towards the right. If I see a book that is out of place I must fix it immediately or else it will continue to bother me.

5)      I cannot stand peanut butter- Shocking!

I cannot eat peanut butter, I cannot smell peanut butter, hands down to me peanut butter is one of the grossest foods I have ever tasted. Funny thing is when I was younger I love it but now I can’t stand it. People are shocked when they hear it but it is the truth!