What sometimes drives humans to take a photo of themselves and post it on social media is self-love. Human beings want to be loved and appreciated. Everyone eagerly waits for likes and comments to show up after posting a #selfie on Facebook. Our pictures say “Look at me, this is who I am” and the more likes we get the more it boosts our self esteem.
But what if somebody commented on my photo and noticed the bad angle or the smudge of lipstick in the corners of my lips? What if nobody liked my picture except for my little niece?
When I was younger, I created an anonymous blog full of rants and whines. How disgusted I was by human behavior. How upset I was by criticisms and insult. It was mostly all about my distaste and rage for particular subjects. As I read them today, I’ve figured why I was always unhappy is because I was often focusing on own thoughts and preferences. “This is me, me, me, me. I am so annoyed because nobody is good enough!”
I realized I was being self-absorbed. Extremely valuing our own opinions and interests and showing little concern for other’s ideas and feelings are characteristics of self-absorption. I became defensive when hearing negative feedback instead of trying to understand another’s perspective. I had a tendency to blame others when something went wrong instead of thinking what I should have done. “This is me, me, me, me. Take it or leave it.”
I want to be a person God wants me to be so I decided to let go of my old self.
The world doesn’t revolve around me. There are billions of living things in this planet and I am just one of them. We are all equal in the sight of the Lord. I exist just like you and anyone else. After all, it’s not all about me, neither you.
“If anyone thinks there are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.” -Galatians 6:3 (NIV)
When someone hurt me I nurtured deep hatred for that person and focused immensely on how hurt I was. How broken and devastated I was. I self-pitied but hey, we should stop assuming that we are always the victim. Try to put ourselves in their shoes so we can understand why they behave and think that way. Were there also times that you did things that hurt others? Thinking of ourselves less is becoming more like Christ (remember he died for you) which is exactly He wants us to be.
God wants us to be like Him because we are His children.
“If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.” -Matthew 6:14-16 (GNT)
“Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.” -Ephesians 4:32 (GNT)
I am posting these things not just to preach to you but to myself as well. I am still battling selfishness and self-righteousness. I’m flawed but forgiven by God so that I can forgive others. Difficult but possible. I’m not loving nor caring and I am full of bitterness in my heart but I let God take over.
“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” -Ezekiel 36:26 (NLT)
I should always remind myself that it’s not all about me but Jesus.
Photo credit: http://tando.org/archives/2893
More Drafts 
Or it can be the other way around: we value too much what others think of us that we forget who we REALLY are and in doing so we already gave others our switches, that they now have the power to define us instead of us being ourselves. Well, I think it’s still finding that equilibrium point, but the bastard’s a moving target, very difficult to hit 🙂
But thank you for pointing out that we only have limited if not totally out of control with the things around us. Things are in His hands and we can only pray, I mean it’s the only thing we can do…
Still proclaiming yourself “ugly”? 🙂
Thanks for reading my post but I can’t understand what you mean here: “the bastard’s a moving target, very difficult to hit”. What exactly you are pointing out?
Yes, I believe in praying as much as I believe in God and believing in God is not just about praying.
Oh yes, are you pertaining to my previous post about myself feeling ugly? I posted my selfie on this post not because I feel beautiful. I didn’t mention anything about physical appearance. It’s more on emotions and feelings. I apologize if I confused you. But I’m not GGSS as my caption says. I’m trying to imitate everybody’s doing on social media. Have you tried to post your selfie on Fb and why did you do so?
The equilibrium point that is. It’s finding the balance of not being afraid to be ourselves and yet being mindful whether we’re already crossing the line where the right of the other person begins, or whether we’re already hurting other people…
Sorry but you also missed my point. What I just want to say is we have our own perspectives of who we are, and we differ. I just think, something like, I feel I am handsome and yet others may not agree 🙂 I mean you may profess yourself to be ugly but you’re just as perfect from the eyes of another.. I hope I explained myself well (or did I?)…
And by the way Karen, I am not that much into social media…
You explained the concept of equilibrium pretty well and I understand it. Thank you.
Nice to know you’re not into social media. 😉
Great post
Thank you. 😉
Ganda ng message 🙂
Parang spam comment. lol. Biro lang. Thank you.
Hahahaha wala na kasi ako masabi tapos pagkita ko ang haban ng comment ni engineer wahaahha
Ayos lang. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. 😉
😄😄😄
bakit naman kaya ako ang naging rason…
Hahahahaha may masisi lang lol
a ganun, nananahimik ako tapos ako ang may kasalanan.. galing..
Grabe sya oh hahahaha
This post reminds me of my friend’s IG post. She posted a photo of herself doing this cutesy pose and captioned it ‘superficial post of the week’. It was a complete mockery of our vain friends’ behaviors in social media. 😂 I used to be active in social media as well but as of late, naah. I feel too old to post selfies or solo pictures of me. Can’t even remember when the last time I posted a selfie (Except for selfies with my cats lol)You know what I think about people who post their selfies all the time? I think they are advertising themselves out there, like, hey notice me, I’m single, lol no kidding. Like I rarely see selfies of my friends who are already in a relationship. This is fine. It’s their call, and that’s how they roll. :))
Yup, this is fine and it’s a trend 😂 and I respect that. I also do that with someone I adore. But I wanna do it in moderation. Once a month is fine. Lols.
This is me me me! hehehe. Kidding aside.. I also was a pessimist about how life and whatnots, and actually became atheist in some part of my life. Just like you, I was self- absorbed and never liked other people because I think they judge me poorly without even knowing anything of them in the first place. I wasn’t sociable and never liked hanging out in parties and such events. I was just living life full of beers and cigars. LOL. But, as I was getting old, narealize ko that I need a higher power to guide me in the right path. There, life took its turn and led me to the right path. I thank the people I am personally close to for believing in me and for not taking me for granted when I get mad or I tell what I honestly feel even if it can hurt them. Life is short, we must enjoy it while we can! Pero ha, you seem to laugh more often and please blog more often too! I miss blogging! 😀
Janus! I’m happy to know that you’re happy too 🙂 Siguro because we’re maturing and we want to be the best version of ourselves as we age, not necessarily physical but emotional and psychological. I easily could dislike people based on my standard before but I’m learning to empathize through Him. Not everyone can agree with me but I like to share the reason of this change which is for the better.
Please blog more often din! Naba-blog kasi ako sa duty, hindi masyado busy. 😉
I will! haha. Nubanamang comment yan, andaming errors lol.