Happy Thanksgiving?!

It’s hard to believe we have reached Thanksgiving week with Christmas and the holiday season a month away. I’m sure everyone is looking forward to the great food, time with family, and time away from work. I always enjoy following social media and checking out all of the posts and how people celebrate along with all of the great things going on in their lives.

I must admit that I do not post a lot on social media but when I do, it is usually for something positive. I have not done actual statistics on this but I’m assuming a high majority of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat posts are for something positive (X (Twitter would be a different story!). It got me thinking why we only post positive things and stay away from sharing our faults that come up at times. I totally get that none of us want people to know how/when we are failing-I could post for days on all of the failings I have on a daily basis!

Social media does give others a bit of a one-sided view of our lives and may have people think we have the perfect life as well as possibly making others feel a bit lessened in that their lives are minimized because of our view of how glorified our lives appear. I think this is magnified at the holidays with all of the joyous family pictures and stories of trips taken and visits made. It is easy to feel like “woe is me” if we focus too much on social media and how we fall short of others during this time.

Another consideration when posting during the holidays is that remembering that not everyone is having an idealistic holiday season for a variety of reasons: they may have recently lost a family member, they may be having financial issues and are unable to travel or spend lots of money, they may have health concerns for themself or for others close to them, or they may be having relationship issues within their family. As much as we would like to think everyone is excited about the holidays, that is definitely not the case. I can personally say I can relate to a number of the issues I just mentioned: we won’t be having a larger Thanksgiving gathering in my family this year and Christmas won’t be quite the same as we lost my sister 2 years ago on Christmas Day. We will still celebrate the days but it won’t be the “Hallmark movie” events that we might see on TV!

When I was teaching, I often thought of this with my students and staff I was working with. While it appeared everyone was pumped for the break and the time away, there were definitely kids and adults who may not even have a celebration to attend, and that their most positive times may come with their “familly” at school. I always felt like it was important to be careful after a break to not ask students, “how was your break” as a classwide event so as to not embarrass a student or bring up events from break that may have been challenging for the student. A 1 on 1 conversation-yes-but in front of a larger group-no.

So as you celebrate the holidays with family and friends and rightfully post those celebrations on social media, know that others may not be having the same, positive experiences you are. Check in with those family and friends who may be having a challenging time as often a quick message can turn around a difficult time. We should never assume that everyone is having the same positive experience during the holidays that we are and don’t always believe that a positive social media post means the holidays were the best of times for everyone! I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving and safe travels as you head out to visit family!

Coach K