#Blessed

In the past few years I’ve found the saying, 'the grass is always greener on the other side' to be undeniably true. More often that not, I picture that thing that’s on the other side to be a bright light at the end of a super long tunnel. When I moved to Geelong almost five years ago, my new school and new home were those bright beacons of light I was racing towards. When I ran into the light, everything seemed pretty similar to what it was like before I moved and I couldn’t work out why. 

When I scroll through Instagram, I get serious FOMO (fear of missing out for those of you who aren’t up with the internetz). This is partly because I follow a lot of people who make a living out of travelling and taking photos (#jealous), and partly because right now, my life isn’t really all that exciting or #magical. It’s easy to make fun of those people who like to remind us on a daily basis that they are so #blessed but I’m also a teeny bit jealous of them. 

Now I know that Instagram is only a highlight reel of someone’s life. If someone was to analyse my feed, they would discover than in the past three weeks I’ve gone to the beach and eaten a ridiculous amount of delicious food but my reality has been quite different. While I’ve been posting photos of the beach and my diet, I've been test driving an insane amount of cars and applying for so many rental houses with no success. 

Obvi what I share on social media is exactly what I do IRL (in real life for you oldies).

Now you’re probably thinking, ‘Carolyn, what the heck does Instagram, #blessed and your boring everyday life have to do with that old green grass saying my parents have been telling me over and over since I was like, five?’ Well chickens, I’m here to tell you that Instagram graced me with an epiphany this morning.

This time last week I was adventuring around The Twelve Apostles and  Loch Ard Gorge (see photos). Today I’m sitting in my pyjamas on my unmade bed in my super messy room that I probably should be cleaning, whilst I contemplate how acceptable it is to have chicken nuggets for brunch. Only moments ago, I was scrolling through Instagram, feeling pretty bummed out about my current circumstances when I realised that it’s not about what is on the other side but it’s about what you make of it.

I can sit here and feel sorry for the fact that I don’t have my license, and that I'm suffering from major cabin fever while people on Instagram are out eating brunch with friends and visiting amazing places. OR I can make the most of all of this spare time I have and use it to read books, watch new things or you know, actually edit some photos. 

It’s about what I do with the time I have that determines whether or not this side of the grass is greener. 

It’s like a lightbulb just switched on in my brain. If my fifteen year old self realised this in 2010, I probably would have had a better time enjoying my life rather than dwelling on the past.

So this long weekend I decided to make the most of my life. I went to see some friends perform in a musical and I spent all of Sunday lounging around at the Australian Open watching some awesome tennis with my little brother. Although the introvert inside me is wanting to hide under a blanket and spend some time away from the rest of humanity, I'm glad that I seized the weekend.

Hopefully you also had a nice long weekend (if you live in Australia)! Let me know what you got up to in the comments below!