The REST of the Story...Candi Style

I've heard it said that people feel more lonely, less content, and a general sense of dissatisfaction after looking at Facebook. Evidently, since people post mainly the "high points" of life on their pages we conclude that our life seems dull and boring compared to everyone else's. I've started giving some thought to this lately.  Hmm... Do I only put on edited versions of a glorified life? Have I put up pictures of misbehaving, unkept kids? Would I ever post a picture of my home so messy it looked like a bomb just exploded? How about a picture of myself fuming, mad with nostrils flaring?

Granted, I don't think anyone gets on Facebook to see my piles of laundry, cheerios on my unswept kitchen floor, or a family pic of us amid a fight. But I do think this argument against presenting "edited, perfect lives" reveals a longing we all have.
We long to know the genuine. Part of that is finding out we aren't the only ones with imperfections. It's easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that every other mother must be doing everything right or that all your friends keep a clean house all the time. Or that everyone else's marriage is conflict-free and all smiles.

So, just like Paul Harvey's old radio program, "The Rest of the Story," I'm going to share a couple of recent "rest-of-the-stories" from my life. Yes, I recently posted that I painted the entry of our home. I am not gonna lie...I love how it turned out! I've wanted to do this for years. But as my family can attest, every time I get into a project that fills my creative need, my house goes to pot! Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll show you.

While this happened, just feet away...

...this is what the kitchen turned into!

Our Christmas vacation really WAS fun this year, but this was all you saw...

We enjoyed wonderful weather along the beach where we did take walks and drink coffee and enjoy the retreat from the regular everyday grind. But what you didn't see was that we had one of THESE on the way home...

We had a doozy of a fight in the van on the way home. Actually, I didn't take a picture of THAT moment so this picture captures the
essence of its nature as good as anything!

                       

So, yes, I am a woman who enjoys painting for days on end but I have a knack for letting the dailies turn into mounds. Paint dries on walls while food dries on plates. I'm blessed to have a husband who takes me on vacation and works hard to make it possible. I'm equally blessed that he also works to fight through the tough things, too.  Life is messy! Sometimes it's REALLY hard! Some days I just want to hug my kids so hard because I love them so much. Other days, I want to hug them a little "extra" tight and ring their necks!!!

Anyway, we all have unkept, hard areas of life. I'm not saying we need to post pictures of it all online, mind you, but when I heard this conversation about contentment in light of pristine Facebook profiles, I just thought it was a good reminder to keep it REAL and remember we all have the "un-postable" moments. It doesn't make us bad. It's just life. And let's not compare because we'd be comparing against an edited perfect version that's unattainable.

And that's the rest of the story... my story. Dishes, laundry, fights, and all.