Social Media Is
Not the Problem
Excerpt from The One Truth
When you know The One Truth you will see that, although people say social media is the cause of what ails our country and is the reason why so many are struggling with their mental health, in fact social media is not the problem. The problem is separation that causes us to look outside and compare ourselves to others and feel unworthy.
Social media is simply the vehicle that causes us to constantly look outside and not inside. We’ve done it for years even when there wasn’t social media. We looked outside when we read the papers, watched the news, looked at the tabloids, watched reality TV, were jealous of the cool crowd in high school, or strived to be a part of the in crowd in our community.
A generation ago, when you saw that a neighbor got a new car, you might have gotten jealous. Now you see it online. The problem with social media is that it makes it so much easier to look outside and compare more often. When you look outside on social media, you see other people’s highlight reels and compare them to your own flaws and failures. As Jerry Flowers Jr. says, "They don’t have a better life; they just have a better editor."
But when you are constantly looking outside with a low state of mind, you often forget the truth and compare yourself to others, which ultimately leads to despair.
The more separate you feel, the more you return to social media. It's like a drug, only to make you feel worse. In looking at social media and feeling increasingly separate, you activate the unworthiness which leads to, insecurity, fear, ego, and the need for validation that comes from believing the lie that you are separate. Social media then pounds your soul with this lie, as it wreaks havoc on your mental health and well-being.
People often say the solution is to get off social media, and while that’s not a bad idea for many of us, the real answer is to apply The One Truth and see social media for what it truly is: a vehicle that constantly reinforces the lie that you are separate and causes you to look outside and compare and feel worse about yourself.
The answer is to look inside and know you are one and anything you see outside you, including social media, has no power over you. When you remember that you are one and remember your power, you will be able to look through social media and not have it impact you. This is real and true power. If it does bother you, it’s a sign letting you know you are feeling separate.
In oneness, you love others, celebrate others, are happy for others and their lives do not define yours. We always create from the inside out! As I tell teenagers all the time, never let the opinion of others or social media define you. You are defined by so much more, as I’ll share in Book (section) III of The One Truth.
-Jon
