FOMO or JOMO?
Friday morning, rushing through my morning routine, I threw together an overnight bag for a girls’ night weekend getaway to Green Bay with one of my dearest friends, Jocelyn. Our trip was centered on going away for a Beth Moore live event, and we thought it would be a great reason to get away from the normal day-to-day for some girl time. We had our loose plans for the weekend and had a great amount of anticipation!
We started on our travels a little after 8, stopping along the way for gourmet donuts and coffee. Then we took our time making our way up with a few more stops along the way, including lunch with some family. We arrived at our destination with plenty of time in the evening to spare. Parking the car, I asked Google to remember where I parked, and we started walking. We meandered our way along the Fox River, which surprised us as they ALSO had a Fox River as we have one near us. We found the coolest benches they have built to sit or lay next to the water, watching the boats come and go. We kept walking and talking, and found ourselves in an industrial park, then turned back. Then we decided to pull up on one of these neat benches and chat.
We chatted about all sorts of things, enjoying the rays of the sun shining down on us. There was a live band setting up, and the crowds gathered, so we stayed and listened to this local piano group sing us some tunes. We grabbed dinner on the patio of a local restaurant. We happened upon a cute little dessert place with Scriptures on the walls. We checked into our Airbnb comfortably. You could say the evening was blissful.
So….where’s the FOMO Lisa?
The next morning we woke, and we made our way to the event after a quick coffee run. We make our way in, grab our seats, and wait excitedly for the event to start. Only we realized it had already started. LAST NIGHT! I was disappointed in myself that I had misread the website. I didn’t take the time to search it properly. I didn’t ask the right questions. As I heard the speakers talk about the conversations the night before and the fun they had, I started to experience the biggest episode of FOMO!
“FO•MO /ˈfōmō/ noun
anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere
Acronym: Fear Of Missing Out”
I didn’t like that I was so concerned with what I had missed out on. The overwhelming shame I immediately went to in my mind provided me with a knot in my stomach and a disappointment of what I had missed. I felt insignificant in my abilities, and I wasn’t the only one who missed out! My lack of attention caused my friend to miss out too. These were the spirals spinning everywhere in my mind. Shame. Inept. Missing out. One step behind…again. Affirming all the things I’ve believed for so long.
In enters Beth Moore. I try to push aside the knot in my stomach and the stupidity I feel. I work through telling myself of the great time we had and just try to be at peace with it. At the beginning of her teaching for the day post-recap, she says we need to “think a new thought about an old thing.” I wrote it down eagerly, ready for the next bit of wisdom. She continues with authority and authenticity all at once, honest about our seeking for approval. She walks us through 1 Thessalonians, 1 Peter, and Philippians. She teaches us greek so simply, and it seems as if I’ve known it for my life. We sang and we danced and some of us even cried as His power was made so evident over this brief window. Through all the insights and wisdom shared, I resonated that day to think new despite something old. In enters JOMO.
“JO•MO /ˈjōmō/ noun
gratifying feeling when you break away and spend time doing exactly what you most want to do
Acronym: Joy Of Missing Out”
Through the morning, I wrestled through the feeling of what we had missed out on the previous day. The words of wisdom. The life-changing perspective. The inspired worship. Then I would think about the lovely time in the sun, enjoying local fare and God-given moments of conversation. I wrestled because there was nothing I could do to go back and change what we had missed. I contended we could have had both! As the morning wore on until its conclusion, we continued on our journey to lunch. I watched this internal struggle battle inside me: FOMO vs. JOMO. Think a new thing about something old.
A blunder is not a cause for regret.
A faux pas does not require shame to follow.
Enjoy what was entrusted to you.
Embrace the lovely moments you enjoyed.
Trust God to give you what you need.
Be thankful for friendship.
Instead of pondering my blunder and allowing the shame spiral to continue, I had to think something new about an old mindset. I let go of FOMO and embraced JOMO. For this, I am grateful as I have a full weekend of sweet memories and zero regrets or shame as souvenirs.
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