“I think I'm afraid of being happy because whenever I get too happy, something bad always happens.”
- Charles M. Schulz
To The One Who Is Afraid Of Happiness,
I’m writing to you because I’ve been there. Being afraid to be happy is one of the strongest fears we can have. We all long for happiness, bliss, delight -- call it whatever you would like. Some of us are afraid to find that state of mind, though. Why? Well, many fear this for different reasons. Maybe you’ve had your heart broken one too many times, you lost a loved one who always put a smile on your face or you’re stressed because of school. I’ve been in all of these situations before, and I know what it’s like to be in a happy state of mind, only to lose that happiness.
When you’ve "lost" happiness time after time, you begin to think that maybe you just aren’t meant to be happy. You become afraid because every time you are happy, something bad comes along and changes that emotion. I’m here to tell you, you don't have to be afraid.
Yes, happiness is an amazing feeling. But we wouldn’t know what happiness was if we didn’t know sadness. This is something that took me a long time to realize. We get in the mindset that life needs to be perfect and we need to always be walking through a field of daisies. But this isn’t true. Life isn’t always going to be full of daises and sunshine, but sometimes monsters and thunderstorms. But this is the time when we must check under our beds and get out our umbrellas, and embrace life for what it is. Knowing we are unhappy and knowing the cause of it just shows us what we need to do to change that; to find that happiness again.
Don’t let someone be the cause for your unhappiness. I’m not going to say don’t let a person be your happiness either (which I know some people say), because I’ve turned to others for my happiness. And yes, some of those people ended up causing the fear of happiness, but at one point, they put a smile on my face. What I’m going to say to you, though, is that, no matter how many dark clouds are above your head at this very moment, there are brighter days in the future.
Many people fail to realize we have equal control over our sadness as we do our happiness. Is someone or something making you unhappy? Let whatever that may be go. I know, it may be one of the most difficult things you have to do, but you can do it. Don’t let it stop you from finding happiness again, though. Don’t let it keep you from smiling.
I’ve been that person to sit on my bed and sulk in my sadness, unsure if I was ever truly happy to begin with. And then I began to wonder, Will I ever find happiness again? Do I want to find happiness again? I’m too scared to find happiness again. And that moment I realized: I control my happiness. So no, I won’t be afraid to find happiness again after I become sad. In fact, I can find happiness in my favorite song, my favorite food, my best friend’s laughter; I don’t need to hold on to something that, in the end, only weighed me down.
Smile, sunshine. You deserve happiness.
The One Who Believes In Your Happiness
