FOMO is prevalent in our lives 24/7. However, especially in the summer time, you may be tending to feel it more often. Summer is when you go on vacation, meet new friends, make more memories—and watch your friends do the same thing. Through their Instagram stories or posts, you may begin to feel anxious. Others are at concerts, parties, traveling overseas—you begin to feel pressured to create your own “picture-perfect” summer.
This type of heightened tension is the start of FOMO, also known as the “fear of missing out”. It’s a psychological phenomenon that’s driven by the fear of not being connected or included in some event. While some tend to think that FOMO is just a fleeting emotion that you can get rid of easily, it’s not that simple at all. FOMO is a real phenomenon that almost everyone feels in various parts of their lives. It’s not just an emotion and it’s more than just simple anxiety or jitters.
When or why you feel FOMO can be different from others around you. It’s expected to be. We all live different, diverse lives—FOMO appears in different, diverse parts of it. According to PyschCentral, “The innate desire for social connection and belonging can drive FOMO”. As humans, it’s natural to want deeper interpersonal relationships and be included in possible moments that may make your bond with others stronger. FOMO ranges from seeing your friends hangout without you to not being apart of the latest social media trends online. We all experience FOMO in distinct manners, so know your FOMO is valid.
FOMO isn’t something that you can erase completely. As you grow up, you meet new people, and form new connections. There’s bound to be moments where you feel left out, excluded, anxious, etc—in other words FOMO is inevitable in most cases. Yet that doesn’t mean you should plainly dismiss it or think nothing of it. Research has shown that FOMO can deteriorate your health and well-being—making it more crucial to be aware of it. Being over-fixated on others’ lives, most often that not, will not bring a positive outcome.There’s plenty of ways to prevent FOMO from occuring in the first place, and ways you can alleviate it as well. By taking slow but steady steps, it is possible to transform your FOMO into JOMO: The Joy of Missing Out. TFomo is a expected outcome that everyone experiences once in their lifetimes. Regardless o There is no need to feel inferior to others or be ashamed of yourself when you are expericng FOMO, it is a natural response that humans are expected to feel once in their lifetimes at least. HOwever althuouhg Fomo can be a natural response it is significant to understand how to prevent it and how to rfoweoif fiowjf how there is aj row jfwo .
Embracing your FOMO, opening up to JOMO, may lead you to unexpected serendipities and open your eyes to a whole new perspective. Instead of concentrating your energy and attention on what “could be” and comparing your life to another’s, JOMO will allow you to focus on your present self. Like Psychology Today states, “when you free up that competitive and anxious space in your brain, you have so much more time, energy, and emotion to conquer your true priorities.”
Works Cited
Grohol, John M. “All about FOMO: Overcoming Your Fear of Missing Out.” Psych Central, Psych Central, 14 Apr. 2011, psychcentral.com/health/what-is-fomo-the-fear-of-missing-out#:~:text=Fear%20of%20missing%20out%2C%20or,the%20latest%20gossip%20or%20news. Accessed 6 Aug. 2023.
“JOMO: The Joy of Missing Out.” Psychology Today, 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-is-state-mind/201807/jomo-the-joy-missing-out. Accessed 6 Aug. 2023.
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