“Like”

With coffee on my left and the computer mouse on my right, I browsed through my social media feed as part of my morning routine.

Happy faces and beautiful pictures greeted me “Good Morning!”as I checked Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I am used to seeing updates like these every day. But today was a little different –

Someone just got engaged!
A family is having a reunion!
Her baby is so adorable!
He got a promotion!
My friend is now ‘in a relationship’!
Their wedding looks magical!
Aww she is out of the country again!
That lunch looks delish!
Oooh nice car!
It looks like they’re living their life to the fullest!
Hashtag #blessed #kilig #lovetheweekend #forever

Instead of feeling envious or jealous like I normally do, I had a huge smile on my face and felt happy. It was good to see that my friends are living the good life. I was so thrilled to see them succeed, thrive, and be blessed. I felt even grateful that they are sharing these moments with me.

For once I stopped looking at my life and comparing it to theirs. I just celebrated with their triumphs and even their simple joys. Today, I looked at their life in social media and wished them more blessings! More promotions! More travels! More adventure! An overflow of all the good things that they are praying for!

What I felt today was  surprising as much as it was liberating. It made me realize that being genuinely happy for other people’s success brings freedom from trying to match your life according to what you see on your social media feed – just because these are the things that you should be doing or you should be having at this age, at this time. I realized that I don’t have to give in to living a life based on those assumptions because, in all honesty, we are all in different seasons in our lives.

So today I started my day with gratitude for my friends, contentment for what I have, and a shining hope for a wonderful future!