Overcompensating

 Overcompensating

Human beings tend to react to different stimuli in their immediate environments differently. This often happens in their careers and even their relationships. We overreact to our inadequacies in order to negate the feelings of guilt, shame and failure, thus; overcompensating in some, if not all, aspects of our lives. The term 'Fake it Till you Make it' is not new to most of us, especially when it comes to our lives (online or otherwise). We hide what we think are our failures and focus on showing the world what we think are our 'greatest hits'. However, by choosing to show the world our perfections, we mask our imperfections to the world. Unfortunately, we cannot hide our reality from ourselves. 

Ask yourself this, before falling asleep, what is the one thing you cannot escape from? Your Reality. Individuals may fake it for society, but at the end of the day, your reality is your own and no amount of faking it can help you escape it. We are driven by certain aspects of our lives, for instance; the desire to achieve our goals, the need to have some form of control in an otherwise chaotic world, and also exert some form of dominance over our lives and others as well. However, this comes at the cost of our overall behavior and human nature. The once kind, patient, and loving individual becomes the troll, who happens to hate on anyone and everything, an attitude they may develop to hide their own feelings of inadequacy. 

For us to confront such problems, we as a people must come to the realization that we cannot keep this up for very long. The moment our perceptions begin to collide with our reality, it is to the detriment of the individual's mental health. Individuals in society today would rather live an online life than face the real world. What were once platforms to connect have turned into places to hide, mock and ridicule. We hide who we are for fear of rejection. We reject ourselves for fear of being rejected by others first. In doing so, we shame those who are not afraid to live their lives in bliss so we fake it through/past our innermost feelings. We overreach to make sure they do not label us as failures. We assign blame to the blameless because we want to be the first ones to have spotted a non-existent issue before going through all the facts.

All these are factors that work against us and our nature as spiritual beings. We were meant to care for each other. Talk and hear one another. Be involved with each other. Focusing on ourselves may be a good thing, but focusing too much on who or what we should be is a reward only you can give yourself. It is not for the benefit of mankind.