The grass is always greener.

Facebook highlight reels are running, and the comparison game begins.

On which side of the Facebook fence do you fall? One side tells all there is to tell: the good, the bad and the dirty. It’s like a train wreck. We know we shouldn’t be seeing this, but we can’t help but rubberneck as we pass. The other side shows the amazing perfect life, filled with cocktails, extravagant check-ins, fabulous friends, precious kid moments, yoga retreats and healthy choices.

I tend to be on the highlight reel side because I look to facebook for light hearted fun and inspiration. But, I can also tell you that in between the highlights, I have challenges and struggles, just like anyone else. Nobody’s life is perfect, even if social media tells us it is.

If we fall into the trap of comparing, we compare our kid’s accomplishments, our yoga poses, our vacations, our homes, our relationships, our recipes and our number of likes and followers. Stop the comparison game. There are no winners. The only thing we should be measuring is how unashamedly we are living the life we want to live.

And, there really is no way to compare, because it looks different for every person.

If our life involves cheerios on the floor and stepping on legos, then that means we get to spend time at home with our kids.

Maybe we’ve put our career or travel plans on hold, because we want to spend precious moments with our ageing parent.

This might be the perfect time for travels around the world, and experience every city we’ve had on our vision board.

Any of these choices are right if they truly feed our soul. If it is nourishing our mind, body and spirit, it’s right. How will we know? We all know inside. It’s the difference between a knot of angst inside the stomach, and the ease of letting our shoulders relax down from our ears.

And if we are not where we want to be, we can make a conscious change. Yes, the truth is, it’s that easy. Everything at once? No.

But, what if you made one choice that moves you closer to the life you want?

I always ask my nutrition clients to use this question as their measuring stick:

Are the choices you are making moving you closer to or farther away from health?

It can be as simple as a choice between soda and water with your meal. Every choice you make is either moving you closer toward or away from the life and health you want. And, if you make a choice that moves you away from it, don’t beat yourself up, because soon enough, you will have another opportunity to make the next choice.

The bottom line: stop stressing over keeping up or having the perfect life, because I bet if you look around, you will see you’ve got your own set of highlight reels that are imperfectly perfect.

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Author: Marcy Snodgrass

Image: flickr/Mike

Editor: Ashleigh Hitchcock; Sarah Kolkka