Trapped In The Loop

Wajid was just 17 years. Sitting on his bed after school, tired, bored, and curious. He opened Instagram “just for 5 minutes.” That was two hours ago.Now, he's watching a guy with abs telling him, “You’re nothing if you’re not grinding 24/7.” A girl with perfect skin saying, “This lip gloss changed my life.” A boy dancing with a car in the background and millions of likes.His homework’s half-done. His football kit lies untouched.But somehow, he feels like he's the one behind in life.

He opens his eyes, grabs his phone, and dives in.Scroll. Like. Swipe. Laugh. Compare.The day hasn't even started, but he's already tired.

Every morning, like clockwork, he wakes up and scrolls through his feed. Influencers with six-packs, luxury cars, flawless faces. "If you don't own this car, you're a loser." "Real men don't cry." "Hustle 24/7 or stay broke forever."

He used to laugh at this stuff. Now he's living by it.

He changes his haircut. Buys overpriced shoes. Starts saying things he doesn't believe. His old guitar lies in the corner, dusty. His sketchbook hasn’t been opened in weeks. Football with friends? Not cool enough.

He's not alone. Look around in a café, a park, even a classroom. Everyone’s staring at a screen, becoming copies of copies of copies. We don’t even know what we really like anymore. We just like what everyone else seems to like. A trend starts in one country and becomes a fashion statement in another. A person dances in one video, and suddenly, thousands are copying the same steps, the same expressions, the same filters.

Even when he's alone, he's not. There's always a voice in his head, comparing him to someone he's never met. Someone edited. Someone filtered. The worst part? He starts feeling like he's not enough. Not rich enough. Not strong enough. Not cool enough. He spends hours scrolling through lives that aren’t even real. But they feel real. Real enough to make him doubt his own.

One day, while watching yet another "motivational" reel, he stops. Not because the words were powerful. But because he suddenly remembers his own dream. The one he had before all this began. It wasn’t about cars or fame. It was about storytelling. About drawing. About creating.

He picks up his sketchbook, hesitates, then opens it. The pages are blank, but something inside him isn’t. For the first time in a long while, he isn’t looking outside for approval. He’s looking inward for meaning.

When did we forget how to think? How to be still? How to be... us?

We copy trends without asking why. We believe anything if it's said with confidence and background music. And worst of all, we start shaping our lives around people who don’t even know we exist.

And slowly, we forget what makes us, us.

We follow because it's easier than pausing. But where are we even going?

This isn’t about hating social media. It’s about waking up.

It’s not bad to scroll, but it is dangerous to lose yourself while doing it. Trends will come and go. Filters will change. But your originality? Once it’s gone, it’s hard to get back.

So next time you pick up your phone, ask yourself: Am I just watching someone else's dream? Or am I building my own?

Think. Reflect. Choose.

Before the scroll becomes your only story.

"Don’t trade your authenticity for approval." – Unknown

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." – Oscar Wilde