You are neither lazy nor egocentric. You are a person. And every person sometimes experiences pain, attacks of dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Sometimes there is a reason for that, and sometimes not. But all you need to remember is that you are a human being and you are not wrong to feel that way.
It’s so exhausting, isn’t it? Like a dark gas that fills your whole body and makes you wonder if you will ever feel normal again. Sometimes it takes a day. Sometimes, two. Sometimes it’s a bad month or a bad year.
Sometimes it’s because someone has broken your heart. Sometimes it’s just because it’s winter and it’s dark all the time.
Sometimes it’s because your friend has just been promoted at work or has experienced incredible success in some way, and you still just stand in the same place and want to be happy for him, but instead, you panic and have an even worse opinion of yourself, because what kind of person are you if you can’t even be happy about your friend’s happiness?
But whether it’s because of your friend’s success or because of your own broken heart or because you miss the long and hot days of summer or simply for no reason – and whether it lasts a day or three days or 246 days, you’re not the first person to it feels that way and you won’t be the last.
I wish I could write you a list. A guide to what exactly needs to be done to stop being unhappy. But I can’t do that, because that’s not the principle on which disaster works.
There are certain things you can do to try to brighten up your days a bit – you can make your home more comfortable and do things that will make you feel less alone and find ways to help keep your head above water until you get out of this hole.
But there are no tricks that will simply save you from accidents, like wet fingers that extinguish a candle flame in an instant.
You’re just a human being, don’t be so hard on yourself
But in the meantime, what you can do – you can be kind to yourself. And being kind to yourself means a lot of different things. It means being gentle with yourself and doing everything in your power to make you feel comfortable and healthy – get enough sleep, rest, go for walks, eat right, and rely on loved ones when things get really hard.
But being good to yourself, especially when you are unhappy, can also mean being strict with yourself. Refuse to wallow in misery. Get out of bed and get ready for work, no matter how cold or dark it is outside or how sad you feel inside.
Forcing yourself to exercise, even if it’s the last thing you want to do, even if it means walking outdoors for at least twelve minutes.
Accept an offer from a friend to spend time with them, even if you just want to cover yourself with a blanket and be alone – because you know, deep down, no matter how you feel, what you really need is the company of people who love you.
You have to do all these things, these harder things, when you are unhappy. You have to be strong, you have to take care of yourself. You have to tell yourself that you are strong, many times, every day, even if you don’t believe it. You have to keep moving forward, you have to keep going.
The people who managed to get out of those dark times were no better than you or stronger than you or less burdened than you. They felt weak and sad – just like you. BUT, they kept going forward.
It’s okay not to be okay
You are not wrong if you are unhappy. You are not a freak or a mistake. You are not lazy or egocentric. You are a person. And every person sometimes experiences pain, attacks of dissatisfaction, and unhappiness. Sometimes there is a reason for that, and sometimes not.
But all you need to remember is that you are a human being and you are not wrong to feel that way.
You have to be good to yourself, you have to be good enough to be strict with yourself. And most of all, you have to remember that you are not alone, you are never alone – and that is exactly what connects you to every person in this world.
P.S. Thank you for being here. I love you and I am so proud of you all 🙂
Mischievous Words by Marta 