Fear Of Missing Out

"Fear Of Missing Out". Has happened to me, has happened or is happening to most of them in my generation. What is FOMO?

I don't think the generation before has faced it or it might have rarely happened to them.

What is this FOMO? Is it a new trend or has it come to light only in the recent times and has been there for centuries?

My interpretation for this question is this. People in the older times were more outward and social. These days everything has become online. Even the "social interaction" through "social media".  In the older times, people got to know about the things happening around them, with their friends and family and used to be happy about it because they had a social life and know that they will keep meeting people.

But now the situations have changed. Competition has increased. Everyone is competing more than interacting. People keep on thinking about the events happening with their friends whom they have either forgotten or are unable to meet frequently. This is where this social disease of FOMO has come into picture.

Now since I have spread the layout of my interpretation behind the reason of FOMO, allow me to tell you about the situations we face or create in the fear of FOMO.

And the time line begins....

FIRST STOP, SCHOOL DAYS.

Let me breakdown this stop.

First sub-stop, 1st - 5th class.

Everyone in their school days have had a large group of friends, as big as 50. Now, we have made friends, some who we like, some who unexpectedly became our friends and some who are the friends of your friends. At that age, we were unaware of the competition, more active and vibrant and less of the thoughts kind of people. We didn't get thoughts as to what others would think or does he/she hate me, like me, etc, etc, etc. So FOMO in this sub-stop is nowhere to exist, let alone be seen.

Next sub-stop, 6th-10th.

Teenage Rush. Everyone wants to be in the limelight. Everyone goes out of the way to prove themselves. Friends change. Personalities change. Everyone wants to befriend the popular gang or be the most popular one. This is when a bit of FOMO enters into our lives. The people who do not enter into these groups are the people who are more into FOMO. They basically have FOMO; but, this is just the beginning. There are two effects of this. Either this person completely changes in order to not have FOMO (but can have at a future point of time) or the person gets to know his true self and starts to make friends who share their thoughts and get rid of FOMO once and for all.

Next stop, College.

The time where everybody have phones and know what is happening with other people. This is when FOMO becomes intense. People forget what they are doing and keep on thinking of what is happening with other people. Social Media being the main reason for this. People tag each other while going to places and the other people who are not there with them and see these pictures are jealous. FOMO at its best.

Now comes the next stop, LIFE.

People come out of their colleges, their comfort zone to say. People become more competitive. Now is the time they have to outrun each other. Now is the time to grab the spotlight and have it for a long time. Now is the time people have their eyes on others. This is when people start missing out on things which are really important. FOMO at its peak.

Fear of Missing Out can become disease rather than a disorder for people who overthink, who always want to be first in the race and who want to push others out. In way of pushing others out, FOMO comes into picture.

This is the history, geography, physics of FOMO. FOMO from being an abbreviation of the millennial has turned into a regular disorder. People must stop stressing out, stop overthinking and definitely stop pushing others out of competition. No one is ahead or behind... Everyone is running their own RACE... FOMO is a great disorder that may turn into a disease. So stop fearing and start enjoying.