A college girl’s guide to FOMO – The Sunflower
It always seems like everyone is always doing something. You check your Snapchat or Instagram and see people all over campus at things you weren’t invited to.
This will probably make you feel multiple emotions. Confused, sad and even angry. Most of all you will feel left out — so your FOMO, or the fear of missing out, begins.
FOMO is simply the feeling of anxiety when something is going on that you long to be at. Almost everyone has encountered this at some point in their life. It may have been a party you weren’t invited to, or your friends went out to dinner without you.
Though you can’t avoid it, there are ways to help you get over your FOMO.
Learn to enjoy yourself:
Being in college comes with learning how to be alone. Though you may have friends, a lot of the time you’ll be facing the world on your own. You will need to find things that you like to do. Maybe it’s something you’ ve been doing for years, or maybe you’ll discover something new.
Learn how to love spending time alone — it is more than likely that it will happen a lot and is perfectly normal to do things by yourself.
Make other plans:
Just because someone you know is out doing something and didn’t invite you doesn’t mean that there aren’t other things to do. Hopefully you have made multiple friends by now. If some of them are busy, make plans with others.
Or even go do something by yourself. You are more than capable of taking yourself out to the movies, or to pick up some food. Just because you weren’t invited to something doesn’t mean you should sit in your room and sulk.
Stop checking your phone:
Put your phone down or even turn it off if the temptation is too strong. There are so many things you can do without looking at your phone every thirty seconds. If you absolutely can’t stay off your phone, limit your time checking your socials . If it makes you feel bad to see Snapchats of parties, don’t check them.
In your time away from your phone, catch up on some homework or watch your favorite show. There are endless amounts of things to do on campus. Just find something to do and unplug. Your phone isn’t your life, and neither is being lonely.
Don’t get negative:
FOMO can make you feel a lot of emotions. Don’t let them get to you. You don’t need to feel jealous or angry. Put things into perspective, maybe if your friends didn’t ask you to join them, they aren’t ‘t really your friends.
Don’t blame yourself for what is happening. For whatever reason they didn’t invite you, it is not your fault. Don’t change who you are or try to force relationships because you want to be included. Real friends will include you no matter what, it might just be a matter of finding them.
Remember that social media isn’t always true:
All the things that you are seeing on social media are more than likely not accurate. A lot of the time when people are constantly posting all of these parties and activities it’s to gather attention or to make people feel left out. Some people may post just because it was fun, but most of the time they just want people to know they’re doing something.
Over exaggerations happen when it comes to social media. What may look like fun from one person’s perspective could be absolutely horrible from anothers. Don’t judge how you would feel in a situation based on some else’s story. At the end of the day, if you really want to be there, just go. What’s stopping you? In most cases the event you’re missing out on is something you can just show up to.
Remember, FOMO happens. Don’t let it get the best of you.
