Why I like to keep it positive on social media

- disclamer- this is a posting on my personal thoughts and choices for the new year. Take from it what you like.

It is a new year and that brings about a time for new things and remembering old things that we may want to perfect. Well something I decided about half way through last year was to keep my social media posts positive. Why you might ask? Well I have a few reasons. Many may look down on this posting and say "Kaitlin why do you want to hide who you are?" I do not think of it as hiding who I am one bit. I think of it as I have 100s of people I call my friends and I know someone has got it worse than me. So here I go on my soapbox.

Someone has it worse than me: Early in 2013 I saw a different doctor because I was tired of doctors telling me to lose weight and me telling them that I eat 1500 calories a day and exercise 4 days a week. This doctor finally ran some tests and told me I had PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. I spent many nights upset feeling like my husband had married a broken woman. I felt it was all my fault and yet somewhat relived at the same time. I finally had an answer, something I could blame, and yet that wasn't enough for me to not feel like I had a death sentence (I'm a little dramatic). I kept my diagnosis a secret for a while more out of shame than anything. But when I did reach out I was welcomed by many with the same struggles. Many who had it worse than me. There will always be someone out there who has it worse off than me. I thought of my courageous aunt who had just battled cancer and knew she always remained positive. I turned to those thoughts for empowerment.

Truth is not everyone cares that my Monday sucked: I was having a particularly bad day and of course like any woman who's husband was away on an international study abroad trip I turned to social media for a pity party. I posted something of the nature of "had a terrible day wish husband was here". I sat by my phone for an hour or so waiting for a notification to say that someone pitied me. Well it never came. So as any embarrassed social media failure I deleted my post. Pretending it never happened.  No one really cared because chances are there day wasn't peaches and cream either.

I have a loving spouse who cares: I think the word spouse can be interchanged with anyone in your life who cares about you. We all hate to burden those we love with our problems, so instead we burden 300+ pairs of eyes with our problems. What has this world come to? I married a man who promised to be there for me for anything and he never took that promise back so why am I not letting him do his husbandly job? I think I'm being selfless but I'm really being selfish.

I never know when what I post could be a trigger for someone: If you ask me privately how I am doing I will be honest and tell you most days. But there are some things out there that you may think are harmless but could trigger deep emotions within another person. The things I may complain about on a daily basis may be the very blessing someone has exhausted all their efforts trying to achieve.

I need to remember to rely on my Heavenly Father:  I am not one to frequently post on Facebook about my spritual convictions to the gospel (I should more often but I am shy) but there have been many times where I have not turned to the Lord and the tools he has given me to make it through this life. I have scriptures to turn to and even more excitingly prophets on the earth today who constantly give me material and the strength to keep going (to learn more about what I mean visit www.mormon.org).

As I climb down off my soapbox I just share with you all my personal reasonings for keeping social media positive. This isn't a challenge, but it sure has helped me out and is a resolution I intend to keep working on every day!