Once Upon A Time…
Have you seen this situation? A group of people commenting on another person, “she’s too happy, it makes me sick.” The others nod in agreement. One may be happy, but not too happy, because it makes the others annoyed. Perhaps those who are on the brink of anger are actually juggling with unhappiness themselves and to see another person genuinely content makes them feel worse that they are not at that point.
Illusion
Many unhappy people who are judgmental of those who are happy have a common misconception: “Jane Doe’s life must be perfect.” Far from so. Some of the happiest people I have personally met in my life are those who have had some sort of major obstacles to overcome. Often times their happiness is perceived acting “fake” or seeking an impossible perfection. Again, far from it. Many people who are happy have had hard lives. They may have just overcome their adversities. Those who are happy have lost loved ones, been through a divorce, or suffered financial ruin. Yet they hold a secret that others fail to grasp. Life is short, and sometimes you cannot get over a situation but you certainly can get through it.
There are exceptions to every rule. Some people do try to be happy on the outside when they’re hurting on the inside. In my humble experience, ridicule and judgment never helped someone get over pain. Idle gossip is a funny thing. It may be “idle” because its message is not at all useful, but it certainly spreads like wildfire. Wouldn’t it be better to befriend the hurting person so that they can finally be themselves?
A genuinely happy person is like a rare bird in the Amazon, when we see it; we want to behold its beauty. Instead of suppressing the few rare people who are happy and learn from their secrets, we often times put them down, out of jealousy or anger that we too have not achieved their contentment.
Happily Ever After?
Beyond money, cars, success and overall material things, happiness is free. Family, friends, love, those are things that even wealthy people have a hard time buying genuine relics of. Those who are truly happy are people we need to surround ourselves with. Or at least, those who are striving to be happy. Feed off each other’s positivity and be sure to be the person to hold someone up when they are down. Address problems head on and seek good people to help you solve them. Remember, happiness does not need to be so rare.
