Look at me, I bench-pressed 1000 pounds and then ran 15 miles!
Look at me, I need everyone to tell me how pretty my hair is!
Look at me, I'm a parent just like billions of other people on this planet but no one gets it like I do!
Look at my owie!
Look at all this time I'm volunteering! I'm such a giver!
There's nothing wrong with having a pity-party every so often or taking a well-deserved selfie on a cute day. And there's certainly nothing wrong with calling attention to a cause you hold dear. But when this need for attention, for comments, for "likes" dominates your entire online presence and defines you as a person... well, I define you as pretty pathetic. Sorrynotsorry, as the kids are saying.
Part of my annoyance comes from learning about real hardships from people who want nothing more but to blend in and have a normal day for once. Take Cari and Mo, for instance. Their adorable little girl, Charlotte, is two years old and going through her second bout of liver cancer. The treatment regimen - chemotherapy, surgeries, days spent in hospitals - would be brutal for even the toughest of adults, but that baby continues to smile and her parents continue to remain positive even though they have full-time jobs, two other kids and their own emotions to deal with.
Then there's Genevieve, a gorgeous, talented young woman with an enviable wardrobe and a dream job of being a successful makeup artist. Through no fault of her own, Gen spends every day of her life in severe pain because her nervous system has malfunctioned, causing swelling and chronic pain throughout most of her body. Her condition is called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and there is no cure. She is confined to a wheelchair most of the time and even wearing socks is excruciating. No one would blame her for being bitter, yet she hangs onto hope and finds something fun, happy or inspiring to glean from each day.
I have never heard Cari complain about their impossible schedule or make Charlotte's illness about her. I have never seen Gen snap at anyone who asks her questions about her condition that I'm sure she's answered dozens of times before. These women have infinite patience, hope and sympathy for others, and it pisses me off that there are people out there who think the entire world should be grateful that they've posted another picture of their abdominal muscles or rambled on about what a chore it is to have to get up early every day with a toddler and a newborn.
Look, sometimes I feel like my life sucks. I don't sleep well and being pregnant has made that infinitely worse. I have year-round allergies that produce some pretty rotten headaches. My hair is growing out from a pixie cut and there are days I look like an elderly politician - sometimes male, sometimes female. I get bored being a stay-at-home mom and sometimes run out of energy or interest in creating stimulating activities for my 4-year-old son, so I'm reduced sitting on the couch while he waves his legs in the air and asks me questions about the color and consistency of each family member's vomit. Some days I want to hide under the covers and cry and eat all of my son's Easter candy.
But good lord, sometimes you just have to reel it in, whether it's good or bad, and consider the fact that the world doesn't revolve around you. I'm not saying you have to dwell on the miseries going on the world - because believe me, I take a lot of steps to avoid reading about violence, child and animal abuse, politics - but please, get some perspective. When we're calling Kim Kardashian a visionary for posting Instagram pictures of her cosmetically enhanced T&A, something is seriously wrong.
If you can't get some perspective, then just do everyone a favor and shut up.
