Perfectly Imperfect. Social Media VS Real life

In the mornings while I’m sipping my hot coffee and the house is still quiet I find myself scrolling through Instagram while making my daily to do list. Lately, its been scrolling while the kids are eating since no one has any concept of time anymore haha. But anyway, one thing I noticed on Instagram is how seemingly perfect those that I follow lives are. How each day they look perfect and put together. Even with so many kids these moms look like they are ready for a photo shoot, and don’t get me started on their magazine worthy homes. Then I do something that I honestly absolutely hate about myself…I compare.  I compare my house, I compare the way I look and honestly it is very unhealthy.

I compare my house more than I should. I try to keep a clean house, I clean daily and it feels like I clean the same things over and over again. Once my house is tidy and up to my standards I swear its like I blink and its a disaster again. With two kids walking around its as if they are walking behind me and destroying whatever I just cleaned, at least that’s how I feel anyway. I started to think the other day why in the world cant I keep this house clean. Am I just that lazy? What do I actually do all day? Of course I thought this while I was on the floor playing cars with the children. That’s why my house is a mess! I devote a lot of time enriching my children’s lives as some would say. Playing on the floor, reading books, playing hide and go seek all while the dishes and laundry pile sky high. Now I am not saying those perfect Instagram moms don’t play with their children I’m sure they do and most likely devote a ton of time to their kids. I’m also sure that their laundry and dishes are piling up too, they just don’t post it on social media. Since myself included, want people to think we have these picture perfect lives we only show the good and not the bad.

For all my life I have compared myself to others, its another flaw/ imperfection of mine. Ive never had a super flat stomach and after two kids its gotten worse. Ive never been able to perfectly do my makeup, and my hair cant decide if its curly or straight. But that’s me, Rocking the mom bun and leggings. I do wish I made more of an effort to put myself together in the mornings, That might make me feel better about myself and accomplish more during the day. Although, right now that few extra minutes of sleep is all I want. (thanks pregnancy)

My imperfections, and there are a lot more then I’ve typed out, are what make me who I am, and I am perfect in my own way. Who defines perfect anyway other then ourselves. My perfect isn’t going to be the same as someone else. We (myself included) need to stop comparing ourselves and start living. Each person on the face of the earth has imperfections whether we want to admit it or not. I have two pictures in this post and each are perfect in their own way. The feature image is of my fall decor, its perfectly lit and clean. The second image is if you look down..the kids play area it is a mess! It too is perfect since it shows where my children show their imagination and play oh so nicely together for hours on end. It may not be perfect by social media standards but when you change your mindset from looking at the negatives and start looking at the positives (see what I did there) then it too is a perfect picture. Next time you find yourself scrolling through social media at these picture perfect lives remember you aren’t getting the whole picture. If the camera were to move a foot in either direction who knows what you would see. Remember also, that those lives are perfect even with what we cant see, and You are perfect no matter what!

XO-Leah