It's Okay to be Unhappy

I'm in a high school debate class. Today, I lost my second debate. This means that, although we get to debate one last time, my debate partner and I will not qualify for the final debates, and will not win the prize.

Darn.

Maybe I was overreacting, but this seriously made me feel horrible. I wanted to go cry about it to my mom - and was headed there, in fact - when I remembered one of my friends, who is currently living in a third-world country. He said in one of his emails that living in America is like living in a paradise.

I've been thinking about that lately. That I live in a paradise. I've come to the conclusion that my problems are insignificant. Seriously, I am so lucky to live here. Not only is my environment clean and roomy, but I have a wonderful home and I have plenty of money and food. I just keep wondering to myself...how dare I complain? How dare I pretend to have problems?

So I chose not to tell my mom I was upset. But, as I said before, I was already heading to my parent's room, so I didn't change my course. I was sure I wouldn't say anything, but when I came in and started talking to my mom, I was crying just a bit, even though I didn't want to. Then, when she asked me what happened, I just couldn't help myself, and I started crying.

But here's the thing. First, I told her what had happened. Then I told her that I felt like a hypocrite. After all, compared to other people, my problems are nothing. Well, after that, she said to me, "I understand how you're feeling, but it's not wrong to be unhappy."

It's not wrong to be unhappy. Do you hear that? No, you shouldn't be unhappy all the time, and you shouldn't complain about everything bad that happens. But when something happens that makes you really, really sad, don't think you always have to smile. Because it's not wrong to be unhappy.

But after you have your time of unhappiness, be productive. Do something. And smile. Because you can be unhappy - but mostly happy!

Have A Smiley Day!