We're all guilty of mindlessly scrolling through social media feeds and comparing our lives to the friends and strangers we see. FOMO is real when you see someone having a spiritual experience at an outdoor music festival (not shown: it's 101 degrees and water bottles cost $8), or when someone else documents their amazing relationship with the person of their dreams (not shown: he doesn't pick up his dirty socks and it really causes a lot of tension).
Social media can take its toll on our self-esteem, especially when we're regularly subjected to people who look absolutely flawless.
Stacey Lee, a 28-year-old psychologist and influencer, recently pointed out — not for the first time — just how easy it is for people on Instagram to fake a perfect body and the perfect life. To make her point, Lee posted the following side-by-side photos.
Lee appears in both images, but one thing is different: She pulled down her high-waisted leggings to show her stomach.
"Don't compare your bloopers to someone [else's] highlight reel," she writes. Her point is that nobody is perfect, and people only put their best face forward on social media.
Lee frequently posts original photos and ones she has Photoshopped side by side, to show her 40K followers that you should always take all those flawless Instagram models with a grain of salt.
Next time you catch yourself using the Explore tab on Instagram and comparing yourself to all the beautiful people with perfect lives, Lee hopes that you remember that these are just their highlights.