Why I Focus on the Good Stuff & Why You Should Too

This post contains sponsored content. All opinions are my own.

(I thought this commercial was pretty funny and pretty fitting for this post. You have to capture that moment! Because life is messy and filled with ups and downs. And a giant gust of wind could blow it all away in the very next frame ;))

One common gripe I hear about bloggers/social media in general is that people only post “the good stuff”.

I have to admit, I can’t relate to this argument at all. I suppose if you make it a habit to compare your life to what others post on blogs/social media, this might be an issue for you (understandably…but might I recommend? Don’t do this! You will make  yourself miserable. “Comparison is the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt).

Your best friend might post about her AMAZING vacation to  Hawaii, but neglects to post about the tantrums, the lost luggage and the constant sibling bickering that went on throughout the whole.entire.trip (you got to hear all about the drama during her 1am – “oh I forgot about the time difference!” distress call)

Your mom posts a family picture filled with adult siblings, grandchildren, etc that took some serious sweat, tears and perhaps even blood to make happen (you would know, you were THERE!)…but captions it with “My Wonderful Family!”.

Um, what?!

The worst is that coworker who you just KNOW (because you are an authority on these things) has an awful marriage, well she posts a picture of her and her husband and captions it “My best friend! Date night!”.

I mean seriously, didn’t you just spend last week listening to her endless vent about how she wished she could have a complete do-over in the husband department? It’s not like marriage has good days and bad days *insert eye roll here*  Be real!

Here are some pics from our 4th of July celebration last week:

What you don’t see is the rain that took away our yearly tradition of watching fireworks in the park. 

You don’t see my daughter have a COMPLETE meltdown the moment the fireworks started going up (the fireworks we waited almost 2 hours for in a HOT STUFFY van in the rain). 

Oh wait, here’s that picture real quick 😉

You don’t see me mourning for my mother. July 4th was the anniversary of her death (she passed in 1995) and I had a real good cry in the bathroom that day while my family was swimming in the pool. It was cathartic and a bit ugly. 

You don’t see the GIANT WASP nest that terrified my SIL who has been bitten by a wasp in the past and is now fully traumatized for life. You don’t see 20 wasps swarming around their nest in our outdoor rolling countertop in…get this…the SAME SPOT as the flipping Wasp Spray (I kid you not!). 

You don’t see my future BIL who had to work all day long, instead of getting to enjoy the festivities. 

You don’t see my side of the family, celebrating all the way across town at my other sister’s house, because sometimes holidays are with one family and not the other. 

Why don’t you see all that?

Why don’t we share all of that?

Honestly?

Because WHO WANTS TO HEAR IT? 

When I share pictures, I want to share pictures of the good moments. The happy moments. The funny moments. The moments that I want to remember forever.

Sure there are some pictures like this:

Well posed, well dressed, everyone at least looking forward.

Some might not be well posed, but still tell a funny story.

But most pictures are like this:

Just like life, you have the moments you share and the moments that just aren’t worth sharing. Not because they didn’t happen, or because you want to live a lie…but because who wants to remember the squinty eyed picture when you have this moments later:

It’s called optimism. It’s called letting go of the bad and enjoying the good. It’s called not sweating the small stuff.

It’s called capturing life’s most precious moments with a snapshot or a post and holding on to that tightly so it will get you through the hard times.

You know what? I had a wonderful 4th of July. Did some bad happen with the good? It was real life, so yes! Of course!

The bad just made the good that much  sweeter.

Next time that friend posts something positive and rose colored…don’t judge her for it. Celebrate with her! Maybe if more of us focused on the good in life, things would be just a little less ugly. 😉