“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”

Marcus Aurelius

With the advent of social media, you need a lot more to be happy, a certain number of likes, comments, retweets, upvotes, etc. etc. What you think of yourself is important but sadly now, others’ opinion of you is equally important. Most of the conversations aren’t with oneself, but one to many. The quietest girl in class will be vocal about her views on social media. Not only will your favourite Actor have a fan page but also your favourite teacher will have one that you need to like and follow. All said and done, the following is a list of few things we need to stop on an immediate basis and be sociable instead of only; #social.

1. PDA: Love your husband, tell him. Miss your brother, tell him. Proud of your daughter, tell her. Not the world. Period.

A year back two of my friends got married after dating for 2 years. Their entire journey, from getting engaged to wedding shopping to the wedding and finally the honeymoon was well documented on Instagram. During this 1 year period, the lovebirds wished each other on their birthdays via Facebook posts that were supported by poetry. How each of them had changed their lives for the better. Not only the couple but the in-laws jumped on the bandwagon. They supported the couples’ posts by commenting how they were made for each other and the girl’s side has got a son and the boy’s side got a daughter. One big happy family, right? Wrong, their relationship status now? Seeking a divorce and resorting to Facebook again to deface each other’s families.

2. Leave your job and travel: Not everybody can do it and it is ok. People can have other goals than just stamping their passports. Someone would want to buy their own house, someone would want to build their own company, someone would want to get a promotion at their job, someone would want to have kids and raise them well. I believe that we are a privileged generation, our parents have toiled enough for us lead a comfortable life today. To lead a happy one is on us.

3. Animal Rights Sham: There is a rage of animal rights and animal protection among our peers. I am glad people are more vocal about it and there are small and large groups working towards animal safety. But there is a large number of bigots who are hypocrites too. Someone very recently told me, “I hate humans, humans betray. I love dogs, dogs are loyal.” “I believe in animal rights more than human rights.” I slammed him with my series of questions.
   Are you a vegan? Answer: NO
   Are you a vegetarian? Answer: NO
   Do you eat meat? Answer: YES, but how does it matter? I don’t torture the chickens.
   Do you know if your chicken comes from a non-caged farm? Answer: What is that?
   You have 2 pet birds right? Don’t you think birds should be free instead of being caged? No answer

I believe in the cause and agree that humans have no right to suppress animals. We are here to co-exist, but being a non-vegetarian myself I don’t indulge in the hypocrisy of animal rights.

4. Pseudo Patriotism

After a successful surgical strike against terrorism by India, there is a rise in patriotic posts on social media by Indians. We need to stop belittling the efforts of our soldiers to keep us safe. We just post our support on social media while we are busy worrying about the best deal we’ll get on big billion days. Our concern is limited to a few minutes; till we post and till a few people like and comment on the post. On a daily basis, we are completely oblivious. The soldiers and their families have a different value system and us commoners will never be able to match the grit and determination. Posting and supporting on social media is fine but posing as patriots is not.

 

Restricting our lives to social media and living for social media is jeopardous. Image building is great but actually being able to match it, in reality, is a task. Hence, knowing oneself and not following a trend impetuously is imperative.

 

 

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