Social media ruined my life. Unjust world deprived me so many opportunities. My surroundings ruined my self-esteem. Everyone should be ashamed for my ruined life. That's the way my mindset used to be back then. But the thing is, the only person who is responsible for all what happened in my life is me. Only me and nobody else. I had a habit to blame anyone or anything but me, no matter what was going on. I fully realized all the damage I can cause to myself by repeating the same mistakes, but constant search of justifications for my actions turned out to be quite effective, as I thought that time. Everyone can tell you something is bad for you, but you won't take it seriously until you go through it yourself. It's just hilarious that there are people who try to warn you about the devastating effect social media have on your life inside that social net. As time passed, my addiction to digital reality only grew. The more I scrolled the feed, the harder it became to stop. The main problem of any social media is a perfect cover. A lifestyle which is imposed on us as the only right one. I started to compare myself with other people all the time. I felt guilty for not being skinny, intelligent and successful enough. I faced FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) for the first time in my life. It fueled anxiety, difficulty focusing, sleep disturbances and even lowered my self-esteem. But social media was the only solution when it came to escapism. I wanted to hide from upcoming changes in my life related to graduation and moving to a big city. I did my best to escape the reality. The place of my safety was the place that was slowly distracting my personality. I lost my internal “me” while chasing a beautiful picture. To try to fix the situation I decided to set out on a journey to Asia. Particularly I chose Thailand for that trip – a place which is considered to be a magnet for tourists from the whole world. I still clearly remember how I was walking along the coast in the evening and taking some pictures of the stunning sunset, when I heard someone called for me. Later I saw a guy who looked at me and then approached. It turned out that he just wanted to tell me I'm beautiful. Since small talks have never been a part of the mentality of my country's culture, I couldn't hold back a smile, but the thing is, I didn't need to. I felt free to talk to foreigners. I didn't think about possible cons people can see in me, I didn't feel guilty or ashamed for not being good enough (not even knowing how that very “good” should be estimated, and who exactly should do this). It's just hard to describe the feeling when you realize the walls of your convictions and fears start distracting and you finally feel free. I only managed to realize it when I started travelling and make friends all around the world, having alive talks and understanding that that perfect cover I was constantly striving to basically doesn't exist. The true beauty was in that very imperfection, but it was the life itself. The real talks and smiles – all those things literally opened my eyes. I came to conclusion that I feel free when I travel and have people around me. You only realize how minor your problems are, when you see how huge our gorgeous planet is. This event did spark substantial personal growth which led me to Japan. I managed to overcome my fears and win the contest among thousands of participants from the whole world. I made friends and represented my country worldwide, what made me feel proud of myself. My new vision was – I actually matter.