Detoxing my sense of self

Once I eliminated social media from my life, gave myself what I need, and learned to be selfish, my happiness flourished.

This may seem like a strange concept considering this is a social media form in and of itself, but let me explain my process.

Cleansing Your Sense of Self

Can you truly be happy with yourself while constantly comparing yourself to others? Especially when your concept of others isn't the full picture?

Through social media, we only see snippets of what others' lives are like - and only aspects of their lives they deem worthy. You won't see "bad" pictures, posts detailing their woes and struggles. Everything is edited and selected. So you can't possible compare yourself to someone's social media page because you see your entire life and compare it to the best snippets of others' lives.

Removing all of social media from my life - even for just a few months - was the best decision of my healing journey. It allowed me to turn my eyes inward and consider what is best for me.

What Do You Need?

What do you need? Do you need to cry? To scream? To curl up into a ball?

Let yourself do what you feel you need to do. It's a liberating feeling when you do. The biggest lesson I've learned is suppressing emotions can completely ruin your life. It nearly ruined my life. Years and years of suppression made my view of life entirely negative. I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Now, I let myself cry when I need to cry. I curl up into a ball when I feel the need. It's a small act that helps tremendously. The key, however, is to not dwell on the negative emotions. Set a timer, feel what you need to feel, then let go.

Be Selfish

You don't owe anyone anything.

I don't consider myself a selfish person. Throughout my life, I've found joy in helping others and allowing others to succeed. It took a toll on my mental health, but I thought that was a normal sacrifice.

During my journey to healing, I've learned - and am still learning - that there are times I need to be selfish. I need to say no to going out or helping someone or staying late at work. Especially after years of putting everything and everyone first, I need to take care of myself. I need to get enough rest. I deserve time to take care of myself - whether it's in the form of exercise, yoga, a bubble bath, or just time to write these blog posts.

Have Patience

This is something that will take time. Even now, I'm still struggling with mental health. I'm still struggling with work/life balance. I'm still trying to find my way in the world. And that's ok. Give yourself permission to heal, to make mistakes, to bounce back. You are trying and that's what really matters.

I hope you enjoy this blog and find some helpful pieces of advice or just feel less alone in the world. If I can help just one person through their journey of healing, that will make this all worth it.