If you drilled a hole into every roof of every home in America, I think you would see a vastly different picture than what you had imagined.

Recently, I heard a great observation about our social media sites. While they are useful, sometimes they aren’t always the best place to hang out for one’s self-esteem or security.

While you read all the great things about other people, places they are going, exciting things they are doing and blessings they are enjoying, you’re at home, living your everyday life, which is sometimes absent of any shred of excitement. In essence, you’re comparing your mundane life to everyone else’s “highlight reel.”

I’m not saying we should post all of our day-to-day negative minutia on Facebook to make others feel better about their ordinary lives, but what I am saying is we need to take it all with a grain of salt – and remember, you too are living a blessed life.

Social media isn’t the only place we see these highlight reels. Last week there were thousands of people celebrating the dairy industry in Harrisburg, Pa., at the All-American Dairy Show. Filled with contests for kids, dairy enthusiasts from farms all across the country donned their whites and entered the show ring with their animals. They looked like a picture of perfection as they paraded through the ring with their perfectly clipped cattle.

This will continue next week in Madison, Wis., at World Dairy Expo, then in November at the North American International Livestock Exhibition in Louisville, Ky. – and then at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. The picture exhibitors put forth for the public is one of wholesomeness and happiness. We like this, we want to be a part of it; it makes us feel good.

But while some are enjoying these high-profile shows, most aren’t. Just one look at West Coast dairy farmers who are drowning in debt, filing for bankruptcy and wondering what their future holds paints an entirely different picture.

I love livestock exhibitions as much as the next addicted show junkie; they are a great diversion from reality. They get you off the farm, provide social interaction for otherwise isolated farmers and can give you the boost you need to continue to fight for your livelihood.

But as we stroll the aisles at the major shows and admire the beautiful cows and glitzy displays, let’s remember these are the highlight reels. When they load up to head back to the farm at the end of the show, remember, they aren’t all heading home to a perfect situation. They too will face insurmountable circumstances, busted skid steers and gates that don’t swing on hinges.

We all face struggles, and we need to support and encourage each other no matter what the circumstances.

Enjoy the shows this fall, but when you drive back into the driveway and the lawn isn’t mowed just right, the mower is sitting in the backyard in the rain – broken – the milk house isn’t as clean as you’d like it and the gate to the pasture is bent in half from your hired help running it over with the skid steer, chasing a fresh cow up from the pasture who now has milk fever … enjoy knowing that while it may not be perfect in your own little corner of the world, you still have your own little piece of heaven that you can call home.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.