Fomo… what is it, and how to fight it.

Fomo… what a silly phrase. We’ve all dealt with this concept at one time or another in our lives. And in case you don’t already know, fomo stands for “fear of missing out”.

Fomo

Yep I know you’ve had this feeling. Maybe it was a high school party you weren’t invited to. Or you had to stay home and study while all your friends hung out. Or you just feel like your missing out on experiences you’re watching the people around you have.

Whatever your experience with fomo is, it’s totally normal, but you don’t have to feel this way. And this is definitely easier said than done, so lets start by tackling this problem at its root… comparison.

First off, I think it is important to note that we are all on our own path, and that path is incomparable to anyone else’s. You are not behind, or ahead. There is no better, or worse. You are you. And that is all you are expected to be.

Comparison

Let’s take note of what God says about comparison…

Galatians 1:10 “Obviously, I am not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant”

Hebrews 13:5 “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.””

Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”

Situational Fomo

Fomo is most typically used in reference to specific events or activities that you are “missing out” on. honestly fomo in this sense is something I have not struggled with in a while.I think there is a sense of comfort that comes from my faith in God’s hand over my life. It allows me to have comfort that wherever I am at any given moment is exactly where I am meant to be. We are meant to trust God with everything. It’s easy to forget the small day to day things in this. But God’s hand is over everything, down to every detail of our lives, including whatever it is you are “missing out” on.

To think of it in a more tangible way, whenever I am “missing out” I have comfort in the fact that the decision I made to not be there is what’s best for me. And if I wasn’t invited to something than it wasn’t meant for me to be there.

Seasonal Fomo

Another way this idea of fomo surfaces in our lives are the decisions we make, the paths we chose to follow, and our current season of life. This world is full of opportunities and possibilities, and this can be overwhelming.

When we graduate high school, these choices start to pile up and pile up. Where will we go to college? What will we major in? Where will we live, and with who? As we get older the freedom we have to make our own choices only increases.

Then we graduate college. Will I go to more school? Will I move back home? Do I even like the field of degree I worked four years towards? Will I travel? Will I settle down? When will I get married? Will I stay single?

Stay Your Path

The opportunities and possibilities continue to increase and this allows for the comparison that causes fomo to come in. The grass is always greener. You see someone else’s highlight reel on the internet and you wish you made the same choices they did. You feel like you are missing out on traveling the world because you got married young and started a family. Or you wish you had started a family but you just haven’t met the right person yet. You wish you chose someone else’s career, or that you experienced their swift success. You wish you had the ego boost of getting another degree, despite the fact that it will never be more than a piece of paper to you.

It is easy to doubt your own choices. But every choice made will take you where you are meant to be. Every circumstance you go through comes with a purpose. Your path WILL NOT look like anyone else’s and it is not meant to. Stop searching for another life to compare your own to. Focus on watering your own grass, rather than wishing it was as green as someone else’s.

Final Thoughts

You are not behind. Wherever you are now is exactly where you are meant to be in this moment. And if you don’t like where you are now, do something about it. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Maybe you haven’t reached that goal that you have been striving for for years, when you watched someone else achieve it in a month. There is a reason you are not there yet, there is much to learn on the journey, so stay the course.

-xoxo, jenny <3