Do you use social media as an outlet to avoid the realities of your life?

Trouble

Do you use social media as an outlet to avoid the realities of your life? 📱
Does fighting the urge to pick up your cellphone feel impossible?
 
Many people use devices to avoid those crappy feelings or situations that don’t feel good to us.
 
… to avoid things that are not fun.
 
Just becoming aware of how many times you reach for your phone throughout the day can be so enlightening.
 
What are you trying to avoid in that moment?
 
When you have the urge to check Instagram to see if you got any likes, ask yourself if you are doing it to make yourself feel good.
 
Why do you need that external validation?
 
What is that feeling you expect from seeing all the”likes” helping you really avoid?
 
Is it giving you a false sense of being liked or loved to reassure you when you are not feeling this way somewhere else?
 
Social media and our devices are just one outlet.
Anything you do to avoid feeling a negative emotion is called buffering.
 
Need some examples?
 
When you over-work because that is how you tell yourself you are worthy, you’re buffering.
 
When you start doing laundry during scheduled work hours to avoid starting that daunting project, you are buffering.
 
When you have to drink at a party to loosen up and make yourself more fun and likable, you are buffering.
 
When you yell at your kids after a bad day at work in order to maintain some form of control, you are buffering.
 
All of these behaviors draw your focus away from what really needs your attention- just feeling the crappy feels for a moment.
 
So, what are your negative feelings that you do your damndest to avoid?
 
Could you imagine yourself just feeling them?
What’s the worst that could happen if you did?
 
Yeah, it won’t feel good.
And that’s the key to breaking the cycle. 💪🏾
 
Reach out to me today and let’s do this.