Don't Let Others Hold the Pen - Social Media Rant

*begin soapbox*

The fact of the matter is that my life, no matter how glamorous it may or may not appear online is full of disappointments and triumphs.

My house has stuff all over the place more often than it has everything in its perfect order.

I run into failures more often than not when it comes to my work endeavors.

I run into impossible situations, being placed between a rock and hard place and having to make incredibly difficult decisions much more often than I care to admit.

I have family issues both externally and internally that keep me and my wife up way too often for way too long at night despite the fact on the surface everything seems to be in perfect harmony.

My children will blow up out of nowhere in public and private places and everyone around will start questioning particular parenting tactics that I do and do not choose to employ in those moments.

I fail way too often as an individual, businessman, teacher, church member, a father and a husband.

But I don't allow those failures to define me in those areas. I don't allow the seemingly perfect photos and status updates of others on social media or in person diminish the successes and triumphs I have personally even though by some measures it may appear to be short of others.

"When writing the story of your life, don't allow anyone else to hold the pen."

We need to remember that despite the seemingly perfect life that others portray online, it's never that perfect and we can't hold ourselves to that impossible standard of perfection.

We should be happy for the successes of others and remember that their success in no way diminishes our own.

We are all in this together when it comes to this crazy experience we call life. It is simply too short to spend it constantly in envy or comparing it to others.

Every journey is unique and we ought to spend much more time simply trying to find joy in this journey called life.