“If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” A quote by Maya Angelou portraying the reality that can come from social media. In our generation, social media has affected us in many different ways from judgment to deciding what is normal, and what is not. When it came time for myself to take my fitness journey public and create a social media platform where I can be vulnerable, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have doubts. Growing up with social media surrounding your every move gets to a point where you lose yourself and fall into a loop of hiding your true reality. Social media has affected mental health for a lot of individuals including myself, and when it came to creating a fitness account I was scared. I was so afraid of the judgment and concern from others that I was missing the whole point of creating a fitness account in the first place; for myself.
Social media is a tool to make life easier for individuals, but over time it has become a way to tear individuals down and make their life even worse. “The online social media sharing communities and e-business sites allow users to rate other users negatively with distrust, dislike or negative ratings.” (Young Ae., 1995). In our generation, a lot of individuals want to hide their reality and post what others want to see, only considering ‘how many likes can I get on this post?’. With that being said, “Facebook alone reported an estimated 1 billion users on August 27, 2015.” (Bashir., 2017). The population on earth in 2017 was 7.6 billion; which translates to 1 in 7 people on earth using Facebook. This shows how broad social media’s reach truly is, as it is consequently affecting the world and future generations. By preserving your reality as something completely different, you face conflicts that can arise in your mind diminishing your self-confidence. “The overall influence of regular use of social media on the well-being and mental of its users” (Bashir., 2017) has caused people to deal with anxiety, stress, depression, loneliness, and lack of self-confidence. Don’t get me wrong, social media does have its benefits, but for some individuals, it has done more worse than good.
When it came time for myself to create a fitness account for a school project that can be used as a tool to promote my fitness platform, and brand in the future, I had mixed feelings running through my brain. The first thought I remember was that everyone will judge me on what I post and have an opinion on what I do. I was worried that people from my high school would look at me and laugh at me wanting to take fitness public, especially with all the “fitness influencers” that are around right now. My goal in taking my fitness public is to share my love and knowledge for other individuals while avoiding the “influencer” term that came behind it. Many people in our day of society have opinions about everything, whether they are positive or negative, everyone has something to say. I felt a lack of confidence within myself because I did not believe I could be amazing in this lifetime and only ever saw myself as normal. I had no self-love for my future and felt I could not become who I truly want to be because social media has affected me in a way that other individual opinions matter more than my own. It wasn’t until I realized that I had two options in this life for myself; 1. Be normal like everybody else and live in fear every day never knowing what I could’ve become if I never listened to others, and 2; I can believe in myself and create the future I want for myself ignoring everyone’s opinions.
Hopefully, you were able to conclude that I went with option 2. The truth behind reality in our day of age is that everyone has something to say so you might as well do it anyway. Show the haters how much you actually love your life with no hidden reality or a fake lifestyle to draw attention. I absolutely love my fitness account right now and am so excited to see where I am able to take it and the confidence, I will build from it. I will take each post one at a time, and showcase my love for fitness, health, and working out. I have learned that the best things come from stepping out of your comfort zone and creating the future you want to live in. I encourage everyone to take the leap of faith and see what can come from ignoring the opinionated individuals and living life for yourself.
In conclusion, everything you want in life will not come easy, and creating your ideal future requires personal sacrifice. Ask yourself if you want to live in fear never knowing what you could’ve become or take the leap and become everything you ever wanted. Social media has affected millions with mental health, inflicting harm and negativity even in my own life. I lacked the confidence to take my fitness public and would rather listen to what everyone had to say. Once I made the decision to take action in my own life and listen to no one but myself, my mental and physical health have flourished. I will know every day that I choose to be amazing because like Maya Angelou said, “If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.”
Author Bio
My name is Christina Szudor, I am 21 years old and love fitness and health. I love finding to news to stay active and enjoy life through physical active. Living a healthy and happy life Is the motive I want to achieve from working with fitness.