Stop the Selfies!

Stop the Selfie Obsession!

Taking selfies is bad for your spiritual health

Are you obsessed with perfecting a pose in your photos? Do you take the same shot over and over again so you can post the picture on your social media and pretend it was an effortless snap shot? Perhaps you even spend time perfecting your image using photo editing software to erase those fine lines or make yourself look thinner? Wanting to look nice in a photograph is not a crime, but if you become obsessed with taking selfies, it becomes detrimental to your mental and spiritual wellbeing.

A recent scientific study has found that an obsession with selfies is an indication of narcissism. This is an undesirable trait that suggests that you are self absorbed with a desperate need for validation from others and have an unattractive neediness. None of which you want! Selfies are like a mirror into your personality and the inner reflection you reveal is not always very flattering - no matter how perfect the physical image may be. Of course nobody is suggesting that taking the occasional selfie is a terrible thing! It's when you do it too often - or like many people, all the time that it becomes a negative activity. Learn how to nip your selfie habit in the bud by changing the way you think about yourself.

Why do you 'selfie'?

Check which type of selfie you take most often to find out the underlying reasons for your habit. Discover how to replace these negative emotions with positive ones.

* Sexy Selfies

Meant to show the world how irresistible you are, these images do quite the opposite. By taking photos of yourself in sexy clothes with dramatically applied make-up and pulling a pouty face - you are proclaiming that you have such low self esteem that you need other people to constantly reassure you that you are worthy. The darker side of this habit is that you might be sending out the wrong message about yourself to other people. While your friends know that you are an intelligent, caring person - all other people will see is your pouting images. Future employers or even people with bad intentions may get the wrong impression about you.

Change your mindset: You are worthy of love and respect. You do not have to constantly prove yourself to strangers. So stop it! Instead focus upon the people around you - your family and friends - who love you. Do something positive that doesn't involve thinking about your appearance. Volunteer for a charity or help someone in need.

* Gym Selfies

Inspiring other people to get in shape is admirable. But if you're curating selfies of bulging biceps and showing how you haven't broken a sweat after 30 minute run - then this isn't helping anyone. At best, it's showing off, more likely it's a needy search for approval. Either way your energy is best channelled elsewhere.

Change your mindset: It's great that you enjoy going to the gym. Carry on with this but leave the camera phone at home! Set yourself targets for your fitness to keep your mind active, or start doing a team sport - you'll have no time to think about posing during a match.

* Food Selfies

If you have a food blog, inspiring people to eat a varied and healthy diet - that's great. But when food photos stray into cutting out food groups or obsessing about calorie counting, it becomes negative. Showing a super-lean image of yourself next to a lettuce leaf sends out a very negative message to young people, suggesting that restricting their diet will make them happy.

Change your mindset: Enjoy your food. Eat healthily and take in a balanced diet - there's no need to obsess over cutting out food groups unless you have a very sepcific goal, and even then you should be focussing on yourself and not trying to convince others that this is the way forward for everybody! 

* Holiday Selfies

Taking snapshots of your holidays is a great way to preserve happy memories. But if you are posting those photos online while you are on holiday, this reduces the experience you should be having. If you are more concerned about your online audience rather than the person you are on holiday with - you have an issue that needs to be addressed.

Change your mindset: Focus on the people you are with, not on the people online who you are not with! You don't have anything to prove. As long as you know you are happy - who cares what anyone else thinks? Be present with the people you are with. If your attention is focussed on keeping up appearances with your internet relationships, you will damage or even lose your real life relationships.