No matter how hard you try, no matter how much work you put into it, no matter how far you go out of your way to help others, no matter what you do, now matter how much effort you put into it, no matter how many phone calls you make, text messages you send, emails you shoot into cyberspace, or what you do, it doesn't matter.

Because you can't make everybody happy.

In the life that you lead, you go out of our way at times to maintain friendships, to keep relationships going, and to get along with our co-workers. You do extra things on the job, you make extra calls to our friends, you reach out and send a text message, even if you haven't heard from them for days, weeks or months, and you do anything we can to stop things from falling apart. But eventually, there comes a time when you need to decide who matters and who doesn't.

Because you can't make everybody happy.

Life is a frustrating game of politics. It is a frustrating checkerboard. It is a difficult corn maze to navigate. It is a difficult road to drive through the middle of the night with no street lights. It is a winding yellow brick road with no direction, and with no satellite service on your GPS. It is difficult from day one to the end of your days until you take your last dying breath. And no matter how hard you try, what you do, or where you go, it never seems to matter.

Because you can't make everybody happy.

Have you ever looked at your cell phone, and gone back to see when the last time you received a call from a certain person was? Have you looked at your email box to see when you last got a message from someone that you call a friend? Have you looked at your text message history or whatever else you use for communication and seen the last time you heard from someone that you have tried to maintain a friendship or relationship with? How about that co-worker who you call a friend?

When is the last time that you've heard from them? When is the last time they called you, texted you, emailed you, or stopped by your house? Eventually, you stop and think about it. And you get frustrated. And you get angry. And you feel disappointed. And then you realize when the truth hits you. It doesn't matter how hard you try.

Because you can't make everybody happy.

The purpose of this article isn't to drag you down, depress you, make you angry, or get you upset. The purpose of this article is to point out one simple truth. You can't make everybody happy.

There comes a time when you need to make a decision about who matters and who doesn't. You need to make a choice on who you call a friend and who you don't. You need to decide who you text, call, email or message and who you don't.

You need to decide who you make an effort with and who you don't. You need to decide if it's worth knocking on a coworkers door to say hello, or if it's worth the drive across town to see a family member you haven't talked to in a year. It's about making the decision on whether to continue a long-distance relationship or not, or to cut off contact with "friends" that you only keep up with on social media. The purpose of this article isn't to point out the negative things. It's to simply make a statement that you should make wise choices about what you do, and who you make an effort with.

Because you can't make everybody happy.

When you get bored, and you reach out to pick up your phone, go for your laptop, or you think about contacting someone you haven't spoken to in awhile, look at your history. Look at your phone. Go through your email and find out when the last time you heard from that person was. See if you had to initiate contact with them, or they actually reached out to you. And decide if that friendship is worth maintaining, if that relationship is worth keeping, or that coworker is still worth having around outside of work.

Ask yourself a question. Is it worth the time? Is it worth the effort? Do you need to be that ambitious to talk to someone that doesn't seem to care as much about you?

Because you can't make everybody happy.

The moral of this story is simple. There are a lot of good people in the world. There are a lot of bad people in this world. And then there are a lot of people in this world. You have to decide whether you want to do something or not. You have to decide who is worth it and who isn't. You have to decide who to keep and who to let go. And you have to decide who matters and who doesn't. But the most important decision you need to make is for you.

Make you happy. Do you. Live for you. Take the steps toward your happiness. Find you. Because you can make you happy. It's simple. Happiness is a skill. Learn it. In the end, your happiness matters.

Because you can't make everybody happy. Except YOU.

And that's all.