FOMO i.e. Fear of missing out, is not a new phenomenon in the history of human civilization. It was present in earlier times as well, but has become much more pronounced in today’s age of social media. The culture of “show-off” has reached exorbitant proportions in this era of consumerism, where there is a mad race to hoard things and compare with others to “prove” that one is not inferior to others in any way.
Take for example, the habit of smoking. Many teenagers start smoking in their school or colleges, because of FOMO. The peers and friends pressurize the sober guys and girls to just try it in order to look cool, and the latter in the fear of FOMO start smoking. Some of my batchmates even started drugs and non-veg food for the first time in college. The issue that I would like to emphasize here is not morality of having drugs or non-veg food, rather the FOMO factor driving this behavior. If the person “trying” these would have done due to own volition or he/she is enjoying it, then also it could be understood to some extent. But, being driven by others even if one doesn’t want to, is just ridiculous.
The movies, have also contributed to this FOMO factor, where the youngsters are being called out by the peers and society for now following a certain norm which is in vogue. Like, the kind of language and lingo used, the fashion sense, the party culture etc etc are all being pushed down the throat of common people to digest, lest they would be called “uncivilized” or worse “ganwars”!
In this quest of copying others, people are now becoming more distanced from themselves. They are adopting behavior which is not consistent with their personality. Even there is a tendency to hide stuff from family members and friends, otherwise they fear judgement. Moreover, adoption of such lifestyle pushes them towards split personality disorders, which further increases their anxiety and stress. And mind that, affording such ostentatious lifestyle is also not pocket-friendly to them, which puts strain on their limited finances and well-being of their family. So, it is a loss to their wealth and more importantly their health.
Now, consider this. COSO- Courage of Standing out- for things that you believe and practice in actual life, even when nobody is watching! COSO is opposite of FOMO. FOMO pulls you down to do things that you are forced to do by others, whereas COSO uplifts you to do things that you want to do voluntarily and by your own will. But the problem is that when you do COSO, the same peers/friends/colleagues may try to mock you or again pull you down to their level of mediocrity! So, it is easier said than done. You may find plethora of people who practice FOMO daily, but you may be lucky to still find some people who practice COSO. And mind it, more often than not, COSO people become inspiration for others to follow. But what about FOMO people? Well, they like to be in mediocrity and promote it around themselves as they feel safer. So, which one are you?
Till next time….
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