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Bitten Once Again By The Comparison Bug


Not gonna lie, to say that I've had a lot on my mind these past couple of weeks has been an understatement. If any of you who are reading this and in into trying to have a social media presence, then you probably know the frustration that I feel when it comes to the lack of engagement. (Unless you are one of those who can post a picture on Instagram and get over 200-300 likes in an hour, and your photo continues momentum until it reaches over 800 likes). Me? I finally hit over 300 likes. I thought I had finally found the right consistency - the magic whatever it is.... to tank. I mean royally tank. And I was spending HOURS on Instagram trying my best to figure out what I'm doing wrong - what I should be doing different.

And life on the home front lately hasn't been a walk in the park either. Between Hubby traveling a lot, a carbon monoxide scare, lack of sleep and the list goes on and on, I feel like I haven't been able to stay on top of everything. And well, spending HOURS trying to get my social media accounts where I'd like them to be, surely wasn't helping.

So yesterday, as I took Blue Thunder out for the first time. Oh yeah, I got a bike for my 44th birthday. :) And yes, I think
I'm naming it Blue Thunder ;)




It took me awhile to figure out how to get it in the car. And then I finally did figure out how to get the tire or is it wheel or are they the same thing? off.

Anyway, as I was riding Blue Thunder along the river, it gave me some time to think. Oddly enough, I think riding a bike gave me more time to think than running. With running I seem to be preoccupied with distance and pace and all that jazz. With riding the bike, I was simply just enjoying a ride. So I mulled over some issues that I've been dealing with.


 I sometimes struggle with having something of my own. I don't know if I can even explain that to people where it would make sense. Maybe it's because I don't have a career so to speak? I don't know. I never had a career before I was a stay-at-home mom.

But I realized that my blog, my social media accounts, my social media presence (no matter how big or small) are mine. And although it's great to take tips from others who might be more successful, trying to mimic their online behaviors or presence is NOT what I want to do. So once I realized that I was falling into the trap of comparison, yet again, I stopped trying to mimic certain online behaviors in the hopes of more engagement. Because the reality is, at the end of the day, I want to be me. I want to look at my Instagram feed  or any of my social media accounts and be proud of it.

To those of you who aren't into social media, I'm sure you can't identify with this at all. But it's not just social media. We can compare ourselves to others in other areas or our life - our kids, marriage, career, clothing, body image.. the list goes on and on and on. And have you ever tried to mimic what others were doing in the attempt to try to fit in when you knew it really wasn't you? I admit I have.

So as Blue Thunder and I cruised along the river, I realized that once again I allowed myself to get bitten by the comparison bug. Sure I would love to have a favorable presence on social media, but not at the expense of losing who I really am!

** Injury update **

I'm frustrated that it's taking so long to recover. But I realize that my injury didn't happen overnight, and it's going to take time. That being said, today after my exercises was a lot of rolling the area, ice, used the tens unit, and then a patch with meds on it with an electrical type charge. In fact, I'm still wearing it as I type that. Soooooooo let's hope all of this helps.

The Hershey 10K is approaching fast!

But check out my pretty shoes that I just got. I can't wait to test them out. Physical Therapy suggested that I maybe get some new shoes. I didn't argue ;)

Hopefully, this will be the last time I'm bitten with the comparison bug. I may have found a decent repellent this week. Basically...





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Comments

  1. I'm with you. I don't have much of a following. I blog to keep myself motivated and hopefully have an impact on another runner - the 10 or so who read my posts.LOL

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