Disclaimer: Still struggling with false eyelash application so just act like ya'll don't see it 😊
Unlike F.O.M.O (Fear of Missing Out), J.O.M.O (Joy Of Missing Out) has been my state of mind recently. I only learned about this acronym from watching The Real when host, Adrienne was explaining how she felt joy rather than fear in missing out on some things today.
I shared her sentiments but I remember not always feeling joy when I thought I was missing out on all the fun, cool stuff that I saw happening around me. As a naive 25 year old for example, I thought I would be missing out if by age 27 I wasn't already married and starting my own family among other things. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure whether this fear was borne out of a genuine desire to be building a life and future with someone or whether this was brought on by societal conditioning.
Fast forward a couple of years and so much of my thought process has been modified by experience; there have been so many changes in the world with the way people now perceive things that a lot has taken place with the deliberate intent of minimizing people's constant fear of missing out. The internet made the world a global village then social media made that village even smaller so much so that with just one click or swipe, you could be instantly transported to another time and place.
In the past, it used to be that if you did not become a highly sought after corporate lawyer, doctor, petroleum engineer or a banker, you simply didn't measure up but nowadays people have managed to carve out brand new fancy careers as influencers, bloggers, content creators and lifestyle coaches making it look so appealing that there is a legitimate fear of missing out if you are not a part of this elite clique of new age celebrities and entrepreneurs.
On the other hand, the joy of missing out for me at first was not having a clue about this new world of opportunities and living blissfully in ignorance.These days, it comes from having watched my older sister for so many years living just as blissfully in the joy of missing out as I was years ago. We have always been polar opposites; where I was (and still am) into all the fashon, makeup, hooked on all the shows and familiar with all the latest music, my sister could care less about any of it. Even today, she is probably one of only 2 people I know who is not any social media platform besides Facebook. She is as uninterested in makeup and fashion today as she was years ago and I see how living this minimalist lifestyle has freed her of crap like comparison, fomo and the pressure to keep up with the jonses. She is the most accurate representation of a person basking in J.O.M.O that I have ever seen. Quite frankly, I still struggle daily to be just like her in that sesne but my love for all things fashion, beauty and ratchet tv won't let me be great!😊😏.
What's the point of this story? I do not want to get caught up in all the noise and distraction of the world because I'm unable to curb my F.O.M.O. I want to live as simply and as comfortably as I am able, focus more on myself and less on others or what they're doing. I'm finding my groove and loving it and slowly but surely getting better at appreciating the joy of missing out on stress, undue pressure and feeling like I need to do what everyone else is doing. In 2019, my hope is to have nailed this down to an exact science so wish me luck people.
Are you Team J.O.M.O or Team F.O.M.O? Comment below...
Always Love💖
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