I love social media and the internet. I couldn\u2019t live without Facebook, Instagram, and my favorite blogs and websites. The internet is humanity laid bare and I find this stimulating and disturbing in equal measure.<\/p>\n

I have a lot of friends who are doing amazing things and changing the world, and the internet provides information about their accomplishments on a daily basis. I get to celebrate someone\u2019s success every day. I hate to admit this, but one of the emotions that I feel when I read about the victories of others and the praise that comes with doing something great is a little bit of envy.<\/p>\n

Everyone has a need for recognition, especially overachievers who are often working hard to further passions or promote causes, and I certainly get my fair share of praise. Often, though, I walk around with the sense that I have no expertise, and that, somehow, I\u2019m letting all of my potential go to waste. I compare what I know I could do with what other people are doing, and I don\u2019t measure up.<\/p>\n

I told a friend about this feeling, and, not surprisingly, she said that she often feels that way, and some of the time she feels envious of me, just as I feel envious of her. It\u2019s difficult for many of us to believe we are doing enough or creating enough or making enough of an impact. It\u2019s not a feeling that is comfortable to admit, but talking about it gave me both a boost and a reality check. What is it that I need to be doing that I\u2019m not? Is there an untapped skill or passion that I\u2019m ignoring? And why do I undervalue my own achievements? Most important, how do I change my perception and support my friends who often feel the same way?<\/p>\n

We are all doing something praise worthy just by being here, being ourselves, and being both interesting and interested, and it\u2019s time we all own that and feel good about it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tanzi Merritt has made a career out of words. She spent several years working as an academic reference librarian and a community college library director, teaching students how to locate and evaluate information as well as to choose reading materials purely for pleasure. A career shift landed her in the position of sales and marketing coordinator for a technology consulting company, where she translates things written by software engineers into words that the non-developers of the world can understand. In her free time, she sits on a number of nonprofit boards, reads, knits, crafts, listens to (and sometimes makes) music, obsessively watches documentaries, buys art, and frequents lots of local restaurants and craft breweries.\u00a0Pinterest: pinterest.com\/tanzimerritt \u00a0Goodreads: goodreads.com\/tanzimerritt \u00a0Instagram: tanzimerritt \u00a0LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com\/in\/tanzidmerritt<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Twitter: @tanzidawn<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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