Instagram had become a bragging platform. Meanwhile, I was posting photos of what truly made me happy.

I am all about positivity and sharing accomplishments, especially on social media. My favorite posts were comeback stories: stories where someone had lost over 100 pounds and loves who they are now. THAT is what I liked seeing on my feed.

Instead, I saw photos of peoples’ big houses, pools, fancy vacations and brand new cars (meanwhile, I’m in a one bedroom apartment, can’t afford luxury trips and have a humble Ford Focus with a severely cracked windshield). Instagram was flooded with materialistic, superficial garbage that eventually became toxic for me. Why keep on if it brought my mood down?

In the end, Instagram forced me to compare myself with others. This reason is actually the most harmful and what ultimately brought me toward deactivation.

On my friends’ posts, and even strangers’ for that matter, I was seeing “perfection:” perfect hair, skin, bodies, clothes, friends… perfect lives (and there’s me, questioning when I last washed my hair and wondering if I had brushed my teeth yet that day)! As a woman, this was especially detrimental to see on a daily basis. One scroll through my feed and I was suddenly ashamed of who I was, what I was doing or what I looked like.

I have come such a long way in finding myself and creating my own happiness. Why should a few “perfect” posts tear me and my confidence apart?