JOMO is the “Joy of Missing Out” and is the polar opposite of FOMO, the “Fear of Missing Out”.
JOMO is intense feeling of delight derived from centering your life on what is truly important and letting go of the should’s in life, the demand to conform to superficial social norms and the expectations of others that do not align with your true desires. When you embrace the Joy of Missing Out, you know that you’ve gotten good at pacing, at setting boundaries and at turning your back on social media marketing hype, on living, or appearing to live, an “Instagram worthy lifestyle”.
A large component of FOMO is based upon insecurity and an endless cycle of wanting more, buying more, more, more. If our lives lack a center, a purpose, then it is all too easy to get trapped on a “stimulation” rollercoaster; always seeking and thinking we need an ever-greater level of pleasure, of possession, of titillation to replace the inevitable fading of the previous.
Find your center, your purpose, learn to live there. Journal, read widely, focus on self-care: exercise, healthy eating, positive inner voice, find friends who share your highest values, who support and call out to the best in you.
Closing Quotes:
“You will never stop wanting more until you allow yourself to have what you already have.” – Geneen Roth
“Having more does not keep you from wanting more. And if you always want more, you are missing the bigger picture and I can tell you from experience, happiness will never come.” – Mitch Albom, ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’
“The world I am desperately trying to understand is the one in which men think they want one thing and then, upon getting it, find out to their dismay that they didn’t really want it as much as they thought or didn’t want it all and that something else is what they want.” – Albert Otto Hirschman, “Shifting Involvements,” 1915 – 2012, economist
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier