I don’t blame social media. To some extent, it saves us from clinical depression. Without instagram reels, lives presented on Facebook and commented on, those long hours of sitting unemployed could have been ideal times for developing suicidal thoughts. Social media could be the only thing that stimulates the serotonin centers in our brain, making us feel euphoric enough to get through another day. Twitter updates on politics are probably the only thing a graduated youth harnesses, in their hopes for a better future.
So many interesting things happen in today’s world, yet everybody seems tired and alone. Yes, social media makes life easier, but at the end of the day, it makes a lot of people miss out on important opportunities and events. It’s often said that the best things in life are free, yet we overlook the true meaning of happiness and spend days and nights hoping for a future that probably won’t be as rosy as we think it will be. We tend think of our experiences as flattened, as we look forward to a tomorrow that never comes. Why live in the future?
Social media turned the world into a global village, allowing societies and civilizations with different standards to interact as one. The picture of success and happiness has been painted anew, begging for everyone’s attention. Nice poshy cars, beautiful three-story houses, shark cage diving in the Maldives… Young people are losing their youth hustling, spending nights awake, living according to an unrealistic picture of success instead of embracing the true, profound happiness that can only be experienced by living in the here and now. It’s good of course, to attain the good materials that life can offer, but what about your youth?
When our available resources don’t meet the present needs, we get stressed. A young man born in a humble family in Mvurwi, Zimbabwe spends his youth in isolation, working to secure the bag. His dreams may actually come true, eventually, in his forties, yet he missed out on friendships, fun—the many good things college has to offer.
In light of that, it is very important for young people to understand what happiness actually means and how it can be reached. That way, newly employed graduates won’t spend their valuable time searching for loopholes to make them rich fast. I hear a lot of young girls say it’s better to cry in a Range Rover than to be happy on a wooden base bed. They raise their bars high for the kind of man they want to meet, and ultimately, undermine the quality of their relationships.
Our time on this earth is borrowed. Each day, we’re closer to death. We have to make every hour count by seeking the things that bring true happiness. Let us live in the moment, shape the future, and consider each step along the way as important as the destination.
6 February, 2023
