See Steinmetz Star reporters’ blog posts at https://steinmetzjournalism.wordpress.com/

Featured post:

Mission Happiness

By McKenzie Lacefield 

It makes me really, really sad and kind of disappointed how normalized sadness is to us. We’re more used to someone being upset and stressed out than someone who is genuinely happy. Someone who is happy is looked at with more disdain than someone who is sad. Why aren’t we content with being happy? Why are we so okay with being sad? Why do we want to stay in the dark forever? Why aren’t we taught that it’s okay to be happy? Why aren’t we taught that we can see happiness and inspiration and motivation in literally everything? We feed the bad in our world and sensationalize it but when it comes to happiness and the good in our world, we downsize it. There’s so much good in this world that we don’t even hear about on the news, or even pay attention to when it’s right in front of our faces. We’re so wrapped up in worrying about everything that most of us can’t even see the positive things.

I can say, in the least conceited way possible, that I am truly, genuinely happy. And don’t get me wrong; it took me forever and a half to be whom I am. But I’m so glad I did. I can find happiness in dancing in the rain, or seeing a dog on the street. I’m so glad I am the way I am because I am motivated by anything, whether it’s cloudy skies or blank pages. I know that I can do anything I aspire to do. The world is mine. It hurts that most people would rather look down at the ground instead of looking up at the sky and trees and buildings and everything the world has to offer. And I was really depressed for a long time. It sucks, having something stand in your way and not knowing how to get help. But I did. I reached out to a close friend and he told me something that sticks to me. You have to let yourself be happy if you want to truly be happy. That’s completely true. You have to want to be happy. You have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and do the things that you aren’t used to doing. We’ve turned sadness into something so normal that nobody thinks twice about it. No one bothers to help because “it’s too much work” or “you have to do it on your own.” And yeah, you have to decide to be happy. No one wakes up and immediately wants to change the world .You need to be inspired, you have to let yourself be motivated.

And I really, really, truly hope that one day, even if it’s so far off in the future that I won’t get to see it, being happy is normal. That being happy isn’t looked at as something foreign and rare. It shouldn’t be. We are all on this earth with every opportunity imaginable for us. I want happy to be normal. I want my kids to grow up in a place where being happy isn’t rare or fleeting. I want people to look at the colours of the trees and smile. I want people to be happy when they see a pet. I want people to be happy enough to share it with others. I want you to be able to look at a flower and have your day be brightened. I want you to be happy. Even if I can’t do it for everyone, I want to show a few, or even one person that we can be happy. I want you to see that the world is for us. The world is for me. The whole world is for you. It’s all I ever would want. Just to be able to show you that nothing- absolutely nothing, can stand in our way. We aren’t meant to be sad.