CTeenConnection

Snapchat:

Click, delete. Click, delete. Click, dele—eh, it’ll do. Swipe, swipe, hold it down, add a geotag—perfect.

Instagram:

Scroll through gallery, choose one to three. Add a filter. Type and retype a caption for a minute. Text friends for help. Thirty minutes later—perfect.

Facebook:

TBH, who even uses it anymore?

In case you’ve missed it, welcome to the twenty-first century, ladies and gents. In this wonderful era of modern technology and social media, we have blinded ourselves from reality and from seeing truth.

In this decade of iPhones, filters, and emojis, many people are drowning with smiley faces bubbling up to the surface as they go under. Everyone is struggling with personal issues, but everyone is trying to hide them because they think that they’re alone.

In a world where nothing is real, where everything is Photoshopped or plastic, we have begun to see lies and deception as the truth. We begin to believe that humans should become what they physically and mentally cannot, and we destroy ourselves in a chaotic way. We tell ourselves that we must when we mustn’t—we push ourselves further than we are able to go, either at that point in time or ever.

We tell ourselves that we aren’t enough and will never be.

Why? Why do we neglect ourselves and tell ourselves that “try our best” will never be our “best?”

Why do we compare ourselves to beauty made with waist trainers and steroids and try to make our bodies look the impossible?

Why do we say, and think, that no matter what, we will never be good enough to get enough likes and comments?

Why do we think that it matters?

Why are we brainwashed to believe that we must strive to achieve perfection when we don’t even know what it is?

Perfection, as defined by the dictionary, is “the quality, state, or condition of being free or as free as possible from all other flaws or defects.”

I don’t think that that definition really pertains to humans though.

So, what is perfection?

I believe that a perfect human is a person who has goals and faces them head-on. I believe that a perfect human fails and gets up to try again. I believe that a perfect human respects others and is honest.

I believe that a perfect human has confidence in who they are and what they believe in. I believe that a perfect human sometimes feels down and isn’t ashamed of it. I believe that a perfect human isn’t perfect.

And, I also believe that no matter how hard we try to portray otherwise on social media, none of us are perfect. Behind every celebrity and model lies a sick family member, stress, and/or personal drama. Why do we believe that others in this world have everything in their lives figured out? Dear reader, I can assure of you this: no one does. You are not alone—don’t give yourself the downs by thinking otherwise.

I will leave you with one more question:

Will you try to be perfect by being the impossible, or will you be perfect by being human?