I was listening to a podcast in my car today, as I always do. There was a guest speaker on the episode that I randomly chose, and she was talking about the fitness world. She started talking about these different infomercials that she has been a part of and what she’s had to do to prep for them. She made a comment about how she was told she needed to “slim down” to be approved for one of her fitness shows that she was about to launch. She ate very little and in turn, became very little. Everyone idolized her and she got approved for the show.

It’s ironic if you think about it but this is what happens every single day. We spend our time on social media idolizing people without seeing the other side of things. It’s happening all around us. The models that we strive to look like are being covered in makeup and being edited with photoshopped. The yogis we see upside down that are using a wall to help balance. The famous book author wrote hundreds of stories before getting published. The perfect couple that actually fights all the time. The fitness coach eating little to nothing to slim down. You get the point.

We compare ourselves to everyone else without stopping and thinking about what they had to do to get to that point. I’ve spent much of my life envying other people. I’ve struggled with my image and self-esteem. I’ve played around with different ways to lose weight including but not limited to starving myself, forcing myself to throw up, fasting, excessive exercise, and extreme dieting. None of it has worked because it isn’t healthy. Hearing a fitness coach talk about the lifestyle that she lived for so long and that so many people are currently living just to be able to hold a certain image in so upsetting. We idolize without knowledge of the truth and follow so many people in hopes that one day we can be like them but guess what that fitness coach also said. She said that she was so unhealthy and unhappy. She called it a “crisis”. She felt so lost and guilty for lying to all the people that have been following her. She was promoting this fitness program to lose weight, look better, feel better, etc. but she didn’t even use the program herself to lose the few extra pounds. It wasn’t until she spoke her truth that she felt whole and happy.

I challenge you guys to stop comparing yourself to other people. When you look at the pictures on social media, turn that envy into gratitude. Stop seeing the edited pictures and thinking how wonderful your life would be like that because trust me, I’ve tried to have the picture-perfect Instagram page and it isn’t easy. You don’t know what’s going on in their life, it probably isn’t as glamorous as you think.