"I don't know what it is. I have motivation, I have a job that I enjoy, I have friends and family. So why don't I feel happy? Why do I feel unsatisfied and unfulfilled? What is going on? What is wrong with me?"
Life is tricky.
It has great moments filled with love and laughter and yet in those higher moments we can find ourselves feeling very low and with little understanding as to why.
There isn't one absolute cure. Even when you are doing what you love or volunteering for something that you have a passion for or on fire for God, this feeling of emptiness and confusion can still creep into your world.
We can focus on doing physical things that are positive for our minds and bodies. We can do things that can build us up spiritually such as reading our Bibles, praying, and going to church; however, in order for any of that to take effect you HAVE to be honest with yourself first. You're asking God to make you happy. You're asking why nothing is working, but have you been brutally honest with yourself?
I always tell kids who complain about not having their favorite fruit snack that there are always people out there who always have it worse. While that is very true and is a very valuable lesson to hold onto, that idea can only do good if you can find gratefulness in that conclusion. If you can't feel happy then it's time to put aside that childhood lesson for a bit and allow yourself to be selfish. Just for a bit, take a break.
Being brutally honest with yourself includes making decisions that are hard. Maybe it's taking a break from a relationship and allowing yourself to be alone and find yourself. Maybe it's removing negative influences from your life. Cleanse your social media, delete people who are constantly negative, maybe even break up with social media completely! Maybe you're finding that the workload and emotional toll of the job is negatively affecting your work, talk to someone about it, open yourself up to these emotions for a while and allow yourself to be a human.
Being brutally honest doesn't mean be brutal towards others. It means making decisions that benefit you but can feel brutal. It can be hard to allow yourself to be selfish just for a moment especially if you're a people-pleaser like myself, but in order to best serve others, you must take care of your heart, mind, and soul first.
I hope you're still following along, dear reader, because here is a very important part of being honest with yourself, are you ready? Put away the idea that something must be wrong with you, that you'll never be happy. What's the point? Coming from someone who has been in that mindset before, listen: you are human. You are allowed to have feelings. You are allowed to be confused at times about it all. You are, and always will be, loved immensely and will always have someone on your side. You are valued and you are important.
If you are unhappy or feel unfulfilled, don't give up. You can totally do this! Don't compare your journey to someone else's, just take it day by day. You can get through this!
"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble an fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:30-31 (ESV)
