Matthew 6:23
But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep the darkness is.
Social Media can have such a toxic effect on our thoughts without us evening knowing. I guess I have to acknowledge I am old at this point. Never in my lifetime would I have believed that people who are “popular” in some way can become “influencers” and make a lot of money. They are a walking commercial on social media and their “followers” buy what they are presenting.
Words like “influencers” and “followers” really need to be considered when it comes to our young people. The toxic cocktail of current news, social media standards and depression for Joey was a battle he couldn’t win. If you think about it, if you are feeling down and turn on the news, do you feel better? No. If you are feeling insecure and go on social media, do you feel better about yourself? Not usually. If you are feeling social anxiety and again go on social media, does that help? Probably not. While social media can have positives as I am clearly on it right now, it’s important to keep in check what you see.
Our young people are in a very challenging position. They have grown up with followers, influencers and likes in the palm of their hand. It’s been so accessible. Educating our young people on the deceptions and dangers of getting lost in social media standards is so important.
Guard your thoughts by shielding your eyes. While thoughts can still happen, if you don’t allow the access to begin with, you won’t be fighting with what you saw. Social media can never fulfill a deep healing need in mental health. It’s not possible. That starts with help and with a concerted effort to understand your thoughts and where the source of them originates. If you adjust the source, do you “see” a difference? I would guess the answer will be yes.
Joey spent a lot of time in his depression doing things that he thought would preoccupy his depression and anxiety enough. The result in fact was not much different than an addict would tell you. It’s the temporary gratification distraction that leaves you feeling worse about yourself afterwards. The depression was still there and again and again he likely was more and more finding the thoughts were holding him captive.
Those of us in this generation have only had this in our adult life when we were full grown having a time in life without it as a reference. These young people do not have that grounding mechanism built in. They may have figured it out in an experience which is great or someone may have educated them. It’s important to present this perspective whenever possible.
I strive to make my influencer God and to be a follower of Jesus. If others benefit in any way from my social media posts, the glory goes to God. Just hoping to “save a Joey”.