I’ve had esteem issues in life. Hopefully I’ve overcome most of them, some still linger and rear their ugly heads once in a while. Sometimes I’m strong enough to fight them off and other times I’m enveloped in this horrible feeling that takes a very long time to shake off.

I read an article that said reading other people’s happy status updates on social media only served to depress the people who read them. Funnily, I saw the said article on a social networking site. I guess there is an element of truth in this. One starts measuring oneself up against what one is reading. I had a look at my personal accounts and saw that mostly I’m cheerful, other times I’m colourful (with the language!) and then sometimes I’m melancholic. That’s a good balance, even if I say so myself.

I can’t be happy all the time and I can’t be sad all the time; and if I want to use my social media to share my joy and laughter, my children’s triumphs and squabbles, post pictures of pretty flowers then I don’t think I’m bordering on showing off. That is the reason why I only have only close family and friends on my personal accounts and a separate one for work. I don’t mix the two together.

There is no way that we can go to a social gathering and not find someone who is busy on their smartphone, either communicating with someone or uploading pictures, updates, or just checking how many ‘likes’ or ‘retweets’ their last message got. Many of us are addicted to this instant access to see how popular our posts are and I’ve even heard people bragging about how many ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’ they’ve got over a certain message.

I can only look at them and smile. I’m not being condescending at all. On the contrary! I was once on that side of the fence, looking for that instant gratification and then I suddenly realized it didn’t matter. I like being on social media but not to see how many people have liked what I have said. I do it to keep in touch with my close family and friends and share bits about my life, which has brought us so much closer than ever before.

I’m more confident in life than I was about ten years ago. I have also learnt, somewhat, the art of saying no, so I guess things are more in my control. I’m actually loving the lack of limitations on me when I wish to soar. If there are any mistakes to be made, they are mine and I’m responsible for them. No more being told off or being yelled or shouted at for doing something that didn’t agree with someone else. This is a surefire way of getting your esteem slashed to ribbons. The damage done takes years to fix, that is if you’re able to get out of that hole and say you want to fix it. You will end up believing that you are in the wrong when you are not.

I’ll strongly suggest to you to also become a Nobody in your life simply because Nobody is perfect.