Are We All Just Pretending to be Happy?

My Take

The idea of happiness consumes society; we’re under so much pressure to be happy and enjoy the present moment, which sometimes is the hardest thing to do. I struggled a lot with anxiety in high school (and still do) and was constantly on edge, which led to me feeling mentally drained most of the time. I felt like I had no time to just be; my brain was constantly running through every possible bad thing that could happen, preventing me from seeing the good. Through therapy and self-reflection, I was able to get to a place of personal growth where I can take each moment as it is and appreciate each feeling that comes. I feel like mental health is a hard thing to talk about for many reasons.

1) you never know what someone else is going through

2) no one wants to be the first to admit that they are struggling

Over the past few years mental health has become more normalized, but there is still a huge hesitation around the topic. I feel like as a society we started drawing awareness to mental struggles but still continue to skirt around the subject. No one wants to be the one to admit that they’re struggling, but the secret is, everyone is struggling. I can’t remember the last time I had a genuine conversation with someone who told me that they were feeling 100% and had zero complaints or anything weighing on their mind; this is because NO ONE is 100% all of the time. I believe that happiness and struggles work together. You are allowed to be happy and anxious at the same time; you are allowed to be happy and sad at the same time; you are allowed to be just happy, and you are allowed to be just sad. Human feelings have no rulebook, and you can feel multiple things at once. Happiness and sadness are not mutually exclusive. I’ve been in numerous situations where I’ve felt happy but was also still struggling with something mentally. I started learning to accept each feeling as they come instead of pushing them down. This honestly comes with growth, I believe. Growing and recognizing feelings for what they are instead of trying to make everything seem picture perfect is the first step.

for anyone who needs to vent :)