FOMO – (fear of missing out)
May 18, 2011
My name is Donna & I’m recovering from FOMO – or otherwise known as ‘fear of missing out’..
Looking back, I think my FOMO began a few years ago. It really crept up on me. My first symptom was an empty feeling when I noticed loving couples touching hands over dinner, belly laughing or looking adoringly into each other’s eyes. I would find myself thinking ‘What about me…? Why cant I have that too’.
I hold Facebook partly responsible for bringing on my next FOMO stage…. Friends started downloading happy snaps every time their new families shared special moments. My growing pangs of emptiness when I looked at the smiles on their childrens faces (or holding their little babies), whether they were celebrating a birthday, Christmas day, Easter, trips away or even just having fun at home, made me realise that my FOMO had progressed. How was I going to stop that voice from getting louder!? ‘What about me…? Why cant I have that too’.
In more recent times, my FOMO came to a head! This last phase was the final pang of all pangs, as I found myself being bombarded with another VOID (ie. what I was lacking) .. & it was popping up everywhere. I would walk out for my morning coffee & I would be confronted in the street, down the beach, around the lake, on every corner, even hanging out at most trees…EVERYWHERE!!…. DOGGY LOVE…. ‘What about me…? Why cant I have that too’.
Then I diagnosed it: FOMO
I had been (subconsciously) looking at these forms of unconditional love as being a VOID to fill. I had adopted the negative thought that I was ‘missing out’ on something special.
WOW… as I mentioned before, FOMO had really crept up on me! Talk about practicing what you preach Donna!
I am fortunate to be in a position to know instantly what the guaranteed cure for FOMO is: Practicing self-love. Make a commitment to SMASH those ‘fear of missing out’ thoughts (or else you run the risk of that negativity turning into a self-fulfilling prophecy). Ask yourself the question, ‘Do you actually love yourself?’
To rid this infliction, stop looking outside of yourself for unconditional love (to fill the void), start loving yourself & life. And (yes, I am one to know) sometimes that’s much easier said than done, so then you must make it your mission to discover new ways!
‘I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.’ Arthur Rubinstein
