"Can you be happy for 100 days in a row?” is the question posed by the 100 Happy Days challenge. The premise is incredibly simple: find something in your ordinary, everyday life that brings you happiness, post it on social media, caption it, and use #100happydays. According to the website, 71 percent of people who have tried this challenge failed. Time was identified as the leading cause of why those failures occurred.
I tried the challenge. I failed the challenge. I disagree that time was the cause. I spend every waking moment of my life glued to some sort of technology. I have the time to snap a picture and upload it. I think many other millennials would agree with me. So, what was the cause for me?
In the words of DJ Khaled, “They don’t want you to be happy.” It was around Day 10 in my own challenge that I began to notice a decrease in my likes. By Day 20, I was hitting minimum like-potential. As each day went on, I found myself dreading a post because they began to get repetitive and unoriginal. I was so incredibly focused on what others were thinking about my own happiness that I completely forgot the whole purpose of 100 Happy Days: to find happiness for yourself and no one else.
With a stream of likes and comments coming in 24/7, it is no wonder that I (and I imagine many others) feel uncomfortable constantly spamming feeds with my happiness. When I gave up on the challenge, I did not miss it initially. However, a few months down the road, I longed for something that challenged me to share my happiness. Facebook is drowning in debates and negativity and Instagram is sometimes the only saving grace for positivity. There’s a stigma that comes with over-posting on social media, though. We worry about what others will think of us if we post back-to-back selfies, too many baby pictures, or too many couple pictures. We fear that others will not approve of our own happiness.
Here’s the catch: this extends far beyond the world of social media. How often do you find yourself comforting an upset friend or engaged in a discussion over depression? There is an immense amount of sadness in the world, and, unfortunately, it overrules the desire to be happy. I promise I am not arguing that depression and sadness are unjustified. Simply, I am focusing on the fact that there is a societal pressure to be sad because it is what makes us human. Tears and heartbreak tend to run deep through us, and it makes sense that happiness is the lesser emotion. But why can’t happiness make us human the same way that sadness can? Why can’t we boast about our incredible happiness with our friends and family the same way it is so easy to pour out our sadness?
I don’t have the answer. My only thoughts are that whatever state of mind you are experiencing, you should be allowed to share. You should feel just as comfortable showcasing your happiness as you do your sadness. We are, by our very existence, human, and our emotions do not make us any less.
So, what are you going to do? I know DJ Khaled would say, “they don’t want you to be happy, so be happier.” I challenge you to take the 100 Happy Days challenge. I plan to try again. This time, I intend to ignore my fears that I am boasting about my happiness, and, instead, focus on the purpose of the challenge—being happy.
Do you think you can be happy for 100 days in a row?
