"When you feel happy, really happy, it somehow seems that you've always been happy and that you'll always be happy. The same is often true when you feel sad, or lonely, or depressed, or broke, or sick, or scared. Something, perhaps, to remember." - Nietzsche
I'm sure you have heard the phrase "it's okay to not be okay", and you know what? They're right. It is 100% okay to not be okay.
In the world today, with such an intense presence of social media, everyone is showing the highlight reel of their life on every social media platform known to man. Snapchat, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, you name it. We are surrounded by pictures of our friends, acquaintances, that girl across the hall you don't really like and that guy you met once at a party. When you see these pictures, it is hard to wonder why everyone seems to be having the best time while you're not. But I promise you, they are not all as wonderful as they may seem on social media. Why would anyone post their lows for the world to see? That's not how society works.
We have been conditioned to feel that we have to be 'happy' all the time. In philosophy, happiness is considered the end goal of man. However, that doesn't mean that we are going to be happy all the time. In fact, we're probably going to be unhappy more often than not when trying to attain happiness. When we start asking ourselves "am I happy?" we may become a little doubtful, which can lead into thoughts like "what if I'm not actually happy" or maybe "why am I not happy? Everyone else is". Unhappiness is a natural part of life, and sometimes it may seem like you have no idea what you're doing and you're never going to be happy. Remember, no one really has any idea what they're doing. No one chooses to exist, they just do. You are going to figure it out, you are going to be okay.
By looking at everyone else's "highlights", we can begin to notice how we are not as happy as they look. We become aware of our negative thoughts and become self-loathing. Our depressed and anxious thoughts become louder as we wonder if it this feeling will last forever. However, I think these feelings are not only normal but important for human growth and understanding. Often times, these feelings come from our consciences and can point to a discordance in your life and moral values. At some point, in order to grow, one must break apart completely and almost rise from the ashes to become a stronger person.
When you're feeling anxious, depressed, overwhelmed, sad, or any other negative feeling remember that no one feeling lasts forever. Although you may feel this way now one day you will feel so happy you will forget you ever even felt negatively. An important key to happiness is admitting that you are in fact not okay. Everyone is going to go through trials and that is just a fact of life. Although someone may be going through something that you can not relate to at all, this does not mean that their feelings are any less valid than yours.
Sometimes you are going to run into struggles and problems that make you break and that is okay, you do not have to be strong all the time. To some people, admitting that you are not okay may have negative connotations, implying defeat, giving up, failing to rise to the challenges of life, becoming lethargic and so on. But asking for help means that you are not passively putting up with whatever situation you find yourself in. It does not mean that you have to stop making plans and positive steps. Admitting that you are not okay is nothing other than the profound wisdom that you can not make it through life alone. I promise you every person on this planet has at one point felt pain and sadness.
There is nothing wrong with not being okay.
