In the past, before the internet, we usually made friends with the people around us, in our neighborhoods, with lives that were similar to ours. The houses looked similar, the people around us made the same amount of money, the kids all played together. How often would you have someone coming over to your house with a bag of polaroids from their trip around the world and the beach house in Maui they just bought?
Facebook changes all of that. We get an inside look at the lives of people all around the world who, without the internet, we'd never get to know. Which is such a crazy blessing, but it has it's downside now and then too.
We get to see pictures of those trips to India, the retreats in Bali, photo albums of the cherub-faced-angels that you never hear of misbehaving, the brand new house that overlooks the ocean and they all make it look so damn easy. If you're just an Average Joe (or Jane!) you might find yourself being a little discontent, wishing your life was more like that.
Facebook envy happens over those magical picturesque lives.
Suddenly you start to wonder if you can really be happy with your normal hum-drum life. The pile of dirty laundry calling your name, the screaming-fighting-in-need-of-a-bath-and-nap kids, the apartment that you can't even call your own because you're renting it, and vacations? Vacations are those stretches of time when you catch up on chores. Tropical vacations? Yeah, you wish.
Your life seems so far-removed from that picture of Facebook Happy.
Then there are the articles, websites, and blogs that tell you that you can have that life if you buy x, they have the secret and they are willing to tell it to you. Buying x can give you that ever elusive happiness. They have the recipe, just give them a few month's rent, stand on your head while speaking in Latin and sacrificing a few virgin princesses while you're at it and you can be happy and rich with a life just like theirs.
That mentality teaches us not to be happy with what we have and where we are.
I want to show you how to be happy in your ordinary life. I want to show you how to make your ordinary life extraordinary. I want to showcase all of those ordinary things that create happiness, because it can be found everywhere, for free even.
Every week I'm going to post an Extraordinary Ordinary Life tip. A simple, easy, reminder for you to do something ordinary and allow it to make your life extraordinary. Those simple joy that get overlooked, the things that make you smile... let's embrace them and love them and be grateful for them.
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