My FOMO

   FOMO, the acronym for fear of missing out, is an universal phenomenon where people have the pervasive and underlying concern that everyone else is having more fun, more excitement and more rewarding, anecdote-worthy experiences than themselves. So ubiquitous is FOMO in modern people's lives that it was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013.

     Actually, most of us have a pretty bad case of FOMO that we constantly have the feeling of disconnection and dissatisfaction. To be frank, I am one of those who have FOMO. It is normal for me to feel a kind of anticipatory regret from time to time. For instance, I may decide to watch soap operas in the dormitory on Saturday night, but in the meantime, I am uneasy to miss the corporate practice. Besides, I am always afraid of being the ones to stop. I don't want to miss out, instead, I'd like to stay in the know. Therefore, I keep on checking the QQ, WeChat and microblog to keep up with the updates of my friends or people surrounding me. Recently, I have found that my FOMO has been negatively impacting me, both physically and psychologically. Since I am always playing with my phones to check messages, chat with my friends or watch newly-updated videos, I spend too much time on my phone. It does not only cause a waste of time, but also do harm to my eyesight as well as my cervical spine. What's worse, sometimes I just can't control my FOMO that I stay up late to look at what my friends have done and what has happened in the world. So, in the daytime, I feel sleepy and can't focus on the class, which will might cause low efficiency and confusion in study. In addition, I find that when I keep scaning the QQ Zone or the Moments where people portray their lives selectively, I gradually don't just want to keep up- I start to compare and evaluate my life based on others' lives. Consequently, I am inclined to feel satisfied with my own life.  Sometimes I even suffer from pressure and anxiety in that I begin continuously questioning my study-life choices, wondering if I am going on the best way.

   Now, since I have recognized the negative impact my FOMO has on me, I am not going to blindly let it drive me to make decision I don't want to make. Rather, I will name it and claim it to spend my precious time reasonably.