Social media doesn’t show it all.

In this picture you might see a girl showing off her new dress from the high fashion store, “Tar-jay” (i.e. Target).

You might see a smirky smile and a hand on the hip.

You might see someone who has been running regularly for months and is proud of how hard she is working and how far she has come in taking care of herself.

You might think you see someone who is confident and happy and has nothing to worry about besides her new fall wardrobe.

But if you see these things, you got it wrong.

Because you don’t see that this girl had cried multiple times on this day (before and after the picture was taken).

You don’t see that she often struggles with insecurity, self doubt, and anxiety to the extreme.

You don’t see that she recently went through a breast cancer scare and biopsy, and only told a handful of friends about it.

You don’t see that she recently lost her grandpa to cancer and came close to losing her dad to a serious accident.

You don’t see her struggle to hold on to her patience during long days of pandemic parenting.

You don’t see her worrying about how she is failing her children by not being a good enough mom, a good enough advocate, a good enough teacher.

Because all those things (and more) are true, too.

If you are reading this, I hope you realize that no one has an “Instagram perfect” life. There is no such thing.

We are all human. Complicated, multi-faceted, real people.

Every single one of us. On social media or not.

Please don’t compare yourself to what you see on other people’s pages. It’s never the full story.

You are not alone.