First off, I want to preface this with a few things. First off, this is probably going to end up being one long ass fucking post so don’t even read this. Secondly, I am in no way trying to be anti-happy in this post or whatever you want to call it, I’m just being anti-“happy all the time” if you will. Anyway, I’ll get on with it.
Also, before I begin [again], I’ll reveal the first thing to prompt this boo hooing on my part. Yesterday at work my [I’m a cashier] friend rung this guy up and had a little small talk with him. She commented on how happy he was and he responded with the mentality of that’s how you’re supposed to be. To wake up every day with a smile and be thankful for the life you have and to greet the day with a good attitude. Naturally being the kind of person she is [I’m not saying this in a negative way], she agreed with him. I did my best not to comment on it because I knew I’d get into a long rant about it like I’m doing right now.
Anyway, I’m going to pick apart the happiness mentality and give it my own spin on how my stupid head views things. I don’t care if you read this and I certainly don’t care if you agree with this or not, it’s not even for you to read [even though secretly it is], I just want to say it where maybe someone will read it and have the possibility for any sort of feedback, whether negative or positive. [Did I just greatly contradict myself?]
OK, so, fucking finally I can begin. I don’t like or agree in any way with the entire mindset of always needing to be happy, and in some cases, ever needing to be happy. It goes without saying that not everyone is going to be happy all the time and sometimes you just have a bad day, but honestly I think it goes a bit deeper than that. People seem to view happiness along the same as they view life. They think they, as well as everyone else has to have it. Well, in my [obvious] opinion, I don’t buy that. Why should anyone be happy? That’s the basis for this whole thing. Happiness is not a default position, happiness is something that manifests itself inside you from the energy from other things. Of course it goes the other way as well for being angry or sad. However people seem to think that you can’t just be neutral. You can’t be indifferent and you can’t just be sad sometimes. Anyone who is sad needs to be cheered up because obviously happiness is so clearly preferable to being sad. Well, you know, sometimes, being depressed [not chronically], or being angry, or being sad, or just not being anything at all is what people want. If I’m pissed about something, and I don’t have any reason to be happy for a while, then let me be pissed. Sometimes, and I’m sure you know that feeling, you actually want to wallow in your self pity or hatred for things. To do otherwise is to bottle those emotions inside of you which can then release itself in other forms or worse later on when it builds up too much.
I’ve heard that I should just be happy and have a positive outlook on things and they’ll get better. I should be happy because I am blessed to be alive. Bullshit. Now let me say, I’m, in my own way, a very positive person. Granted I have a hobby of hating on things, but when it comes to life, and science, and the universe, and philosophy, and just thinking, I’m incredibly positive and happy. Now, just because I said regarding life I have a positive attitude and am happy does not mean I’m saying it’s the best thing ever. Also, it’s all completely relative. Sometimes happiness just doesn’t come to people, or simply just doesn’t work for people. Sometimes a person cannot handle life in the same way some people can, and most of the time, when that happens, they kill themselves. I know, boo hoo blah blah blah. I’m being incredibly insensitive. Talking about suicide becomes a very touchy subject, there are a lot of details to take into account to make it ok, and naturally, all the people affected by it will tell you that it wasn’t ok. Everyone will tell you it was a selfish thing to do and there were other options. However, it doesn’t necessarily feel that way to the person who killed themselves…which might allude to the fact that, oh I don’t know, that they killed themselves. Now, I’m not going to get into my justifications on why I think it’s ok in some situations for someone to commit suicide, but I will say that for some people life is too hard to handle. For some people life is an unbearable pain, and just because you didn’t kill yourself, and just because you can find a reason for living, does not mean they can. So in reality, it’s selfish of you to tell them that they can’t kill themselves. A person’s life is their property and theirs alone. It’s entirely their right to take it if they desire, but like I said, the conditions in which I think it is ok are an argument in themselves that have no place here.
The reason you’ll be told you can’t kill yourself is because no one understands death. Death is viewed as a highly negative thing because when someone dies, the living have to deal with sadness, and as we’ve been seeing, people hate being sad. As far as I’m concerned, the incessant feeling to be happy is absurd. Now, let me tell you, I have absolutely no problem with someone who has the whole “happiness all the time” outlook, I may not agree with the outlook, but I don’t have a problem with it. Just like I don’t agree with religious people, doesn’t mean I have a problem with them or their ideas. It’s not hurting me, so why should I care?
Now, granted, people who believe happiness is all there is will argue that “oh durr well the sad people who think it’s ok to be sad will bring our moods down and some might kill other people”, well, you’re blurring the lines between sadness, indifference, and depression, with anger, jealousy, and mental disorders. Also, I’m not an advocate of bringing others’ moods down. Yes, if you’re in a crappy mood, there is no reason to bring someone else’s mood down to your level, unless you hate that person, then it’s ok.
I feel like I left a lot out, but I saved this as a draft and worked on it later, so I think my train of thought derailed, I’ll edit it if I can come back with anything.
