Does great happiness come with great guilt?

The world is a strange place. It’s filled with contradictions. It’s filled with murkiness. It’s filled with unclear lines, so you don’t ever really know what’s going on.

Basically, there’s a bunch of weird shit going on in the world (and there always has been). It’s hard not to let it get to you. It’s hard to be happy.

But what if you finally get to that point of happiness, no matter how fleeting it may be? A few weeks ago, I was taking a nice, little stroll through the city. I was walking to a concert. It was a beautiful, warm night. Just a bit of a breeze. I was listening to a great album with my headphones in. (Probably The Early November, but I can’t be sure.) I looked around at my beautiful surroundings – for a moment it felt like I was in this giant, momentous place with tall buildings all around. I felt totally relaxed and happy.

Then I passed someone sleeping on a bench at the bus stop and it hit me. It honestly seemed pretty fucking selfish to be walking around thinking how awesome everything is when there are people going through shit that forces them to sleep outside. No one seemingly doing much to try to fix whatever situation caused this person to be here.

Since then, I keep coming back to the same question: Is it okay to feel happy in a world where there are so many people who are underprivileged? That might sound stupid but think about it for a second. It can seem kind of selfish to feel really good about your life when you know other people don’t have the same opportunities or position to be happy. Then we get back to those strange contradictions that like to pop up in our lives.

If you’re lucky enough to have opportunities that make you happy, what do you do with them? As I’ve been struggling with this idea, I keep coming back to a few things, but I’m not sure if they’re actually what I think, or if they just make the days easier to get through. The main one is that being miserable doesn’t really help anyone. If you’re unhappy, you’re probably not going to be going out trying to make the world a better place. You’ll be at home, curled up with a cup of hot chocolate, a blanket, and hours into a Netflix binge of a show you’re not even sure you like. You can’t really start a revolution when you’re not even inspired to get off the couch. You being sad doesn’t give anyone else any additional advantages.

I guess what I’m getting at (or at least trying to convince myself of) is that it’s okay to be happy, but it’s not okay to be happy and complacent. Appreciate what you have (also a good step to not being greedy) and realize that you’re in a position to do some good and help people out. Make an effort to be kind to people. Make an effort to lend someone a hand. Lend an ear to someone who needs someone to listen to them. Offer some support to someone who may need some help pulling themselves up. Volunteer. Stand up for what’s right. Being happy isn’t the problem. The problem is if you think you’re better than the people who aren’t. You’re in the position to take a hit for someone who may not be able to get up as quickly.

Be happy. Be involved. Be a good person. And if you have some free time, maybe try to start a revolution to wake up the people who think they’re better just because they have more resources to make themselves happy.