How often do you post on social media?
How often do you take your post down if you haven’t received enough likes or shares? Or feel upset if not enough people liked it because “you thought it was a good one” and people would resonate with it?
Are you posting for responses and validation from others or are you posting because it is a message that your heart must put out there regardless of response?
The Bhagavad Gita teaches that we have a right to the work alone, not to the fruit of our labor. This could not be more true than in social media yet we often fall into this trap believing that our worth is wrapped up in how others approve it.
A flower is still breathtakingly beautiful whether or not you stop and admire it as you walk by.
The same is true for you.
You are special and the only you that exists. This is so well described in the children’s book, You are Special.
In the book, You are Special, there exists a town of puppets. All of the puppets hand out stickers every day. Puppets are embellished with either gold star stickers or grey dot stickers. The puppets who have gold star stickers are happy and walk around believing they are better than the grey dot sticker puppets. The grey dot sticker puppets feel sad and less important than the other puppets.
There was one puppet, though, that when someone tried to put a sticker on her, the sticker slid right off. The puppet with the most grey dots wanted to know why. He went over to her and asked, “Why do your stickers slide off?” She replied, “Because I know I’m special.” He didn’t understand.
She took the grey dot puppet to the puppet maker who told him, “My son, you are so special. I made you exactly the way I wanted you to be. The precise hair, eye color, personality and life is exactly to my plan. You are perfect just as I created you.”
In that moment, all of his grey dot stickers slid right off of him. He realized he did not need anyone else’s gold star sticker to feel special.*
He knew he was special.
So often we look to likes and shares, texts and posts to determine if we are special when special is innate to us.
In fact, I found I needed this book more than my daughters did when I purchased it years ago. My work writing shifted after reading this book. I no longer cared how many likes or shares I received. I knew if it was coming from my heart, the message was meant for someone. I didn’t need to know who it was for and I no longer needed social media gold stars.
I invite you to embrace the You are Special mindset.
Begin to welcome in the idea that every detail about you and your life is already planned…and it is perfect.
There is no comparison because there is no other you.
Gold star stickers won’t stick, neither will the grey dots.
Because you will realize how very special you are, just as you were created.
Join me for today’s meditation, Finding true happiness- a meditation for finding joy in social media. This meditation will help you experience a healing that will bring you to a state of happiness and wholeness that will allow you to enjoy posting while basking in only having rights to the work alone.