I Stopped Posting My Personal Life Online (And Never Looked Back)

It’s been a year since I stopped posting everything online. Sure, I still have a TikTok account for the occasional scroll, but I have stopped posting my life! For years, I felt the need to show everything. I would go for a fun day out and as soon as I got home, I would go through the pictures to see which ones I could post, and show off what a great day we had. If my children had a performance at school, I would get a great picture of them and post about it right away! If I got a new job or changed my car, I would again get a picture and post it online!

Posting my life online consumed me for years! All I wanted to do was show off my success and my life, and a show of happiness! But the truth was, I wasn’t happy at all. It wasn’t until I found true happiness and was actually happy and didn’t feel the need to fake it any more, that I realised I was showing all this “stuff” online and trying to make everyone else think I was happy because, maybe then, I’d believe it myself. It got so toxic that I sometimes felt like I was competing against other people, people I barely knew! I always wanted to seem like I was doing better than them and had more in life, but I didn’t. My whole online persona was fake. Sure, all those success stories I posted about were real. I never made anything up, but the happiness I was perceiving was not real; it was fake! I was putting on a performance.

It’s been almost 2 years now since I stopped doing this. And my life has changed dramatically. I no longer feel the need to show anything. The truth is, no one knows anything about what goes on in my life anymore. It’s like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I no longer feel the need to share my life, my plans, or my wins. I saw a quote that said, “Work hard in silence, let your success be the noise.” This is now a quote I live by! Not to mention the improvement in my mental health! This has to be the biggest win of all. Not worrying about what others think and see about my personal life is such a great sense of freedom. It’s given me a big confidence boost and brought me real peace. I’ve seen an improvement in the relationship between my family and me, but mostly, between me and myself! It has honestly brought me closer to myself more than ever before! I used to spend a lot of time doing my hair and makeup just so I could post a good selfie, and for what? For likes and an ego boost? I don’t feel I need that any more to feel good about myself.

There are certain people who will always be around, trying to kill my happiness and even put me down about my success. Of course, I realise now that people do this because of jealousy, but no one holds that power over me any more. When you do everything in private, there is no one there to tear you down.

What I have realised from this journey is that posting online really consumes us! I still enjoy sharing what I’m writing online, but my personal life isn't for everyone’s eyes anymore. It’s for my family and me. I stopped worrying about what I could post next and how many likes I could get, and I started actually living. And honestly, the fake happiness I mentioned at the beginning is gone. What’s real now is actual happiness and freedom. Maybe if you're feeling that you're posting for others rather than yourself, you should try swapping your likes for life. Enjoy the freedom and the peace. This is your sign to at least try!

I have also published this story on Vocal. Media