Are You Taking Enough Selfies?

We live in a society in which most people are obsessed with taking selfie photos. When posted online, some photos have gone viral depending on the type of photo it is and the popularity status of the person.

I have been fascinated with how many photos my son has taken of himself. At times he’s stored more than 100 photos of himself. Ironically, he’s been considerate enough to take a few photos of other family members and a friend to add to his photo collection.

Social media platforms have been inundated with account owners’ selfies. The volume of selfies that one possesses appears to indicate how much love a person has for his or herself.

However, I’ve found that it’s not necessarily true for those who seek to gain attention for negative reasons, or those who have taken their lives because of personal problems that no one could see in a selfie.

While the concept of selfies has its advantages such as showing the world how well you’re doing in terms of body image, clothing styles, makeup, and other trending behavior, it has its disadvantages in terms of allowing people to hide pain, fear, low self-esteem, and other issues that some people choose not to disclose to the world.

This evasiveness leaves opportunities to explore an area of discussion that most may not be ready to confront in order to present a self-image that may be flawed but shows true happiness.

What I’m talking about is taking selfies as it relates to restructuring your life around meeting your needs.

The Cons of Selfishness and Selflessness

I know Western society is basically driven by individualism, but what I want to address is becoming selfish in a good way so that you can present yourself to the world in a balanced way. Typically, the message of success is for you to acquire a lot of material things in order to appear important, but materialism does not necessarily equal value in terms of morals and behavior.

If you’ve acquired the majority of what you’ve desired in life, but have become rude, condescending, selfish, narcissistic, prideful, or arrogant, you may want to think about your reason for becoming materially successful. After you’ve accomplished your goals and find that you are still lonely or lack quality relationships, it’s time to take an inner selfie.

I also want to discuss how becoming extremely selfless can lead to self-destruction. I have discovered that when some people crash mentally or emotionally it’s because they were giving themselves to the wrong agendas or people.

Giving is a good act when it’s able to help others who need it whether it’s pertaining to money, housing, food, shelter, time, and other areas that may require your expertise or physical labor. Whether you generate compensation or not, it’s always good to lend assistance without any strings attached.

Some people may be in situations where they will not be able to pay you back, but eventually you will reap the rewards later in life. On the other hand, you may find yourself helping those who may not care about your sacrifices.

When it gets to this point, you must decide to serve others with this mindset: “And whatsover ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; (Colossians 3:23).

This verse informs us to serve people but do your work as if you were serving the Lord. This will help you avoid being extremely hurt when people have forgotten about your good deeds.

Create a Balance of Servitude

It’s easy to become bitter when others have forgotten about what you’ve done, or they’re quick to bring to light the things they’ve done for you. It’s also easy to lose yourself in giving to others so much to the point that you neglect yourself.

If you’re not sure if you’ve given too much of yourself away, here are a few questions you can ask yourself to determine if you’ve become depleted mentally, physically, financially, and emotionally more than you have become satisfied.

• How many committees have you served on to support others’ agendas, and you failed to meet the deadlines of your personal goals?

• How many errands have you ran for friends or family members only to be forgotten about when you didn’t have transportation?

• How much money have you given to various programs only to be neglected when your finances were low?

• How often have you listened to other people’s woes, given them a shoulder to cry on, and when you needed their shoulder, they turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to your dilemma?

These questions and other inquiries regarding why we give selflessly to others who don’t feel as fervent as we do when we’re being recruited for something that they love is the reason why many people give up on life.

When our focus becomes about pleasing those whom we think will grant us the validation we deeply desire and away from the One who said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5), we tend to go beyond the call of duty for things He never called us to do.

We go the extra mile, work longer hours, give more money, cook until everything’s devoured leaving us with scrapes, shop till we drop, and other things that leave us so exhausted that we have nothing to give or feed others.

This heightened level of servitude can leave you angry and questioning yourself when you see those you’ve sacrificed a significant part of your life for enjoying life to the fullest when you’re left wondering if you’ll be able to recover from the lack of sleep, the financial investment, the deprivation of self-care, lack of appreciation, and other things you’ve sacrificed to make their lives more comfortable.

Since Jesus was the One who sacrificed His life so that you can have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10), you can make better choices regarding what’s worth investing your time, energy, and resources, and what’s not.

Although deemed as selfish from an outsider’s point of view, you can disregard their analysis and begin to shift your focus to live purposefully. As a result, you won’t be wasting time neither will you be lamenting over lost traction when you’ve supported someone’s goal that has held you back for many years.

Make today a day in which you will make an effort to take more selfies. You can do this when you choose to:

• Spend time alone to refresh your mind and spirit.

• Eat healthy foods to replenish your body.

• Sleep at least eight hours each night to heal your body.

• Stop when you’re tired.

• Show kindness and generosity when opportunities are available.

• Focus more on personal development than outer appearance.

• Take care of your outer image so that you can present your inner self in a brilliant way.

Selfies are not entirely bad. Selfies provides us with an opportunity to have fun, try different poses, and share with the world our God-given beauty.

When you take your next selfie, remember that your worth is more than your outward appearance. You’re worth the same level of love you give to others. Validate yourself and make others wonder why you’re not stressed about getting their approval.

Stay Blessed and Love Yourself!