Perception Is A Dangerous Thing

I heard someone say recently that perception is a dangerous thing. 🤔

Taken as a standalone quote, it could be interpreted in various ways, but it made me think, so I looked up "perceive" in the dictionary. It offered two definitions and this is the one that resonated with me.

“To interpret or regard (someone or something) in a particular way.”

The part of that sentence that stands out for me is “in a particular way”, because each individual, each person’s subjectivity, can make their particular way different to yours or mine, even when we are looking at the same thing.

We sometimes do it, often subconsciously with people we see online. “Ah look at their perfect life” or “They really have got it all together.” 📱✨

But herein lies a danger. What do we really know?

I get it, we all fall into this trap from time to time and now I am more active on social media, I see how easy it is to make assumptions.

I am a GP and Transformational Coach. I spend my life (hopefully!) helping people make their lives better. My mission is to guide people towards discovering their own solutions, helping them overcome challenges so they can become healthier, and ultimately, happier. I strive to support my patients and clients in achieving optimal wellbeing, both physically and emotionally. 🩺❤️

But am I a shining light of super health and uber self control? The short answer is no, of course not. I am flawed and I have faced, and will continue to face, my own struggles and challenges and rest assured I will continue to get things wrong! (I still can’t get myself to commit to a regular exercise routine) 😅

I feel there is Rosie the GP/Coach, Rosie on social media and Rosie in real life and a piece of each of these, when added together, is where you will find the real me.

So I thought that today, for your benefit and mine, I’d share a few musings and observations on how social media can affect our mental health and to remind you that social media is there to serve us, not vice versa.

Because despite being a source of connection, information and entertainment, it can also have detrimental effects on our mental well-being. This is especially evident during times like summer, when our feeds are flooded with seemingly perfect holiday photos of friends and acquaintances looking happy, tanned and carefree. These curated glimpses into others' lives can often leave us feeling inadequate or like we're missing out. 🏖️📸

These posts rarely show the full picture and that comparing our everyday lives to others' highlight reels can be detrimental to our self-esteem and overall mental health.

Comparisonitis : This is the big one. I heard someone I really respect say: “Comparisons are always unfair because we are comparing the worst we know about ourselves to the best we presume about others.” And that is the bottom line. You don’t know what is really happening in other people’s lives. Try to take it all with a large pinch of salt and focus on what you have the power to influence.

FOMO : Social media definitely makes us feel that everyone else is living an amazing life while we’re stuck at home or at the office or traipsing round Tescos! Believe me, 99 times out of 100, this is not the case. Rather than analysing the social activity of 1000s, focus on the people that mean the most to you. 🏠💖

Addictive Behaviour: Social media platforms are designed to be addictive – that is their goal! Try not to get sucked into the infinite rabbit holes that these places can become. Put some boundaries in place and get up, walk, move, allow your brain some space! 🚶‍♀️🧠

So often we feel that we need to create a smoothed out, perfectly manicured version of ourselves for our social media accounts, because plenty of the household names that we follow do precisely that.

But it's the flaws, the imperfections, the quirks that make us who we are, these are the reality, they are what make us, well, us and they are also the very things that people who may start to watch us online will find way more engaging than a pretence of perfection! 🌟

Rest assured, I am working on this too and will continue to do my best to listen to my own words.

Warmly, Rosie x