Fiona and three of her friends whose names start with an F (yes, they are cool like that) are hanging out at the mall, having a good time. They would like to see The Last Witch Hunter, but at the moment, they are nibbling on fries dipped in ketchup at KFC, and pretending not to notice the boys seated at the adjacent table.
Everything was pretty hunky-dory until Feyi receives a message from Roy about a rocking party that’s happening without her, and to make matters worse, the party pics already has a couple hundred likes, and appears to be going viral.
That was the instant everything changed for Feyi; the fries suddenly tasted like sawdust, not even Feranmi and Fifi’s comments about the Wizkid look-alike who was eyeing their table had her attention. She wants to be anywhere but there – put more specifically, she wants to be at Roy’s party! – because she’s feeling left out. Feyi just developed a bad case of FOMO! But what is FOMO?
Does FOMO sound like a strange and painful incurable disease to you? Well, it could be all that and even more if you let it! FOMO is an acronym for Fear Of Missing Out which you get when you want to be everywhere doing everything. You’re too busy wishing you were someplace else to really enjoy whatever it is that you’re doing at the moment.
You Might Have FOMO If You….
1. Constantly Check Social Media
This isn’t about logging into Facebook a few times a day; this is feeling anxious if you can’t be connected at all times. You want to check your social media networks all the time because you like to stay in the know, and to be on top of everything. In other words, you don’t want to miss out, which you are because you are not paying attention to the people who are right there in front of you.
2. Want To Participate in Everything
Yes, you want to be socially relevant. You want to roll with the coolest cliques, and get invited to the coolest parties and get-together. But if each time you spy an interesting picture on social media, realise that you had not been tagged – you only saw it because a close friend of yours had been – and that you had not been invited. If these make you feel a sense of loss, that’s just another proof that you have got FOMO.
3. Are Always Questioning Your Choices
It’s normal to wonder from time to time if you’re handling it right. That said, one sure way to get it wrong is to never be satisfied with what you’re doing when you’re doing it.
But if you want to overcome FOMO, simply take this 2-step process:
- Stop checking your phone so often when you are out with friends or family. This way, you can truly enjoy what you are up to rather than being dialed into what others are doing, or talking about via social media.
- Plan to work on not taking for granted what you are doing, or who you are doing it with – like hanging out with your friends. Be present and give them your full attention. It goes back to the lyric: You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. Instead, try to know now what you’ve got — before it’s gone (that is before your friends leave your sorry FOMO self because they can’t stand such a selfish person anymore!)
