I just came to say that THIS has been my year. I have a partner, a good job I love, and I feel inspired every day by travel, art, and music. I love the city I live in, have many friend groups and feel well connected. Sometimes I feel guilty for being so happy while everything around me is crumbling. I also feel a bit upset that this this is the best year of my life except for who’s in office. Wondering if anyone else can relate at all? ( and if this year isn’t the best year for you genuinely sorry, I’m just trying to articulate these intense feelings I’ve been having).
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Yay for you for having such a great year!! I hope you make time to truly slow down and appreciate all the wonderful things around you đź©·
The world might be going to hell in a hand basket, but we need to keep focusing on loving the best life we possibly can despite it all.
Happy for you!
Don’t feel guilty for finding happiness amongst the chaos!! Were you raised catholic ?
don’t let the bastards steal your joy on top of everything else! life can still be beautiful.
So far, the year has been good to me too! My divorce was finalized in January. I just bought a home, and I’m turning 40 this summer and renting a beach house for my friends and family. I have a loving partner, great friends, a stable job.
I had about 5 rough years before this. I’m soaking up all the goodness while it’s here. I deserve it.
It is okay to enjoy your life and celebrate the good things happening to you.
I had a great 2021 when people were still reeling from Covid (and actually my 2020 was fine too)
you hold on to that god damn happiness and don’t let anyone “must be nice” you!!
Run with that feeling and never let go!
I love this for you, soak it up!
My daughter was born this year. It was a very difficult delivery and by all accounts I’m lucky to be alive. My house was put back together after getting destroyed in a natural disaster and we just moved back in. Knowing that I was granted more time and get to raise my daughter in our house is leaving my cup full even though the house of cards in control is crumbling. Those in power, and who support the madness, cannot and will not break my spirit!
I’m genuinely glad to hear it. Im loving being a single mom in a new community with a beautiful toddler. Despite the rage I feel every day when I read the news.
Yes! This is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. Love my job, my friends, financially better off than ever before, lost 100 lbs in the last 6 years, so ready for this next chapter and to put myself out there and finally meet my person. Happy and free and loving life… All while watching as our government collapses and the world gets ravaged by climate change and cascading crises. I think all we can do is practice gratitude for what we have now and focus on what we can control. I have hope that they’re going to fuck things up so bad that people will wake up and we can rebuild something better from the ashes.
Hey this is great! I’m glad there is good in your life. Here’s to much more of that for you
Girl, I’m really happy for you…and for the rest of us, at least we know it possible now!
That’s awesome to see and know that this is one of the best years for you!! Amazing to see such a nice positive happy post!! Don’t feel guilty about it, continue enjoying it!
You are not obligated to be miserable just so that other people might decide that making yourself miserable means that you’re a good enough person for them to not badger you.Â
I’m in the best relationship I’ve had in years, just received an inheritance so finally have a good chunk of money in the bank, and feel nothing but good things about my own life. I’m taking a hiatus from the news in hopes of preserving this peace
That’s great you can focus on the positives in your life! Keep it up lady!!
While I’m not as panicked about current events as the majority of Reddit, I can relate to the sentiment of being at my pique in life, with the exception of the socioeconomic turmoil surrounding us.Â
Happy for you and I just try to avoid watching the news it’s just too stressful.
I am in my 40s and finally feeling my best ever!
I wrote this poem to remind myself that I overcame many difficult years, and I will not feel guilty for being happy now. I’m hoping we all feel at peace one day.
IT’S POSSIBLE
My happiness doesn’t fit in this room,
my grin turns up and surpasses the height of the moon,
my laughter shakes you like a maraca
played by a Latin lover in your sheets at noon,
and I have fought like hell to get to this mood.
You throw negative energy at me
like a blanket put over a bird in a cage to make us sleep,
but I’ll never forget the days
no one knew I cried myself to sleep.
if I could sleep,
if I didn’t curse the sun when it began to peek.
So I will not shrink my joy,
I want this jubilant feeling for every girl and boy,
looking down from cloud nine is a hobby of mine,
I’m reaching out with a helping hand so everyone can climb.
If the words that I write ease their strain,
make them feel heard or help them escape,
then, I was able to channel my pain,
release lines from the dark constraint of my ribcage
to give them hope that joy is possible again.
Please be happy unapologetically and thank you for sharing your happiness. I am getting sick of hearing all craps all the time. Even if we are complete strangers, I am glad that things are working for you and I wish you the best.
Naw girl, go get it.
You’ll be happy about it eventually
I’m definitely experiencing joy and gratitude this year along with all of the alarm and fear about what’s happening. I’ve been volunteering/donating/sharing information as I’m able. It’s important to enjoy all the good things too
I felt emotional for everyone else in 2020 lockdowns BUT I was LOVED not slow life. I was thriving while many people seemed blindsided and lost. Share your joy!
Oh I feel this deeply! I’m getting married to someone I love and adore, I’m feeling solid in my career, and we moved into a home that we plan to start a family in. I feel so guilty for planning a joyful wedding celebration in these dark time. Perhaps we can find comfort in the words “joy is an act of resistance”.
I’m having the exact same year you are :/
It’s normal to feel a bit of a “survival guilt” but how about insisting on that happiness and harnessing that guilt to do something good for the community? So many of us are burnt out right now so if some of us are lucky enough to find some happiness, why don’t we put it to good use?
Don’t let the bastards grind you down ✊
Girl, same. I know someone who was laid off, someone who was swept up in a RTO requirement despite their position not being in office previously, someone else whose work burned down, and a couple of people in the hospital.
Meanwhile I’m happier than ever with good things happening.
I’m low-key worried that my fortune this year is tipping the balance and somehow hurting others and the state of the US.
Honestly really truly this is how we fight it. They want us to be miserable and tired and disconnected. Having so much love and community and joy and meaning in your life is a form of resistance. Keep finding joy everywhere you can ❤️
Congratulations!!!! That is amazing. Ride that high sister!
Do you have any advice you can share on how you got to this incredible place in your life?
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My therapist told me today that I’m doing better than most of his clients, who go in all doom n gloom all the time. It helps to have goals to work towards and fun things to look forward to. Work is definitely a source of stress for me though, as I’m at a nonprofit that historically has relied too much on federal funding. But we’re trying to change that! đź’ŞÂ
I’m planning my honeymoon right now. We got married in 2022 and last year decided that fall 2025 would be the year. So I’m over here booking 300CFH night hotels like, welp, hope that conversion rate holds. It’s really bizarre. But I also think if I didn’t have this to look forward to right now things would feel heavier.
Don’t relate.
Same actually. Bought a house, got into a new relationship, starting some new hobbies, and picking up my new dog today.
I can absolutely relate and I refuse to let them steal my joy. Going on a very belated (5.5 years!) dream honeymoon in a few weeks, my business is doing amazingly well so I work for myself full-time now, I’ve accomplished goals that I thought were going to take me another 5-10 years to accomplish in my career, I have an amazing partner and wonderful friends.
I am actually having the same experience as you!
Don’t feel guilty! Embrace and enjoy it. We have to make the most of the good in these incredibly trying times.
Life isn’t always going to be just good or just bad, it’s a mix of good and bad and exciting and scary and boring and terrifying and depressing and amazing. Celebrate and appreciate all the good that you have going on, despite the clown in office.Â
Joy is an act of resistance.Â
I got married, had a baby, completed my graduate degree and went through multiple promotions. It’s been a good few years for me but again, everything has been chaos and suffering around me for the most part. I’m also a social worker so I see it up front and personal. It’s hard to balance the severity of all that is going on with personal gratitude.
Your happiness helps others. Keep going!
Great! Use that privilege to help others who are less fortunate!
Same here.
My marriage is wonderful. My cat is the best. I actually like my job for the first time in my life. I have more friends than I’ve ever had. I love town we bought our cute townhouse in. My husband even won some money in a lottery and is buying me my dream car.
I also feel so angry and hate everything that is happening in the world. It’s been a weird rollercoaster that’s exhausting
Same and honestly it feels weird as hell
I felt that way during the pandemic, and again in the last year. It’s possible to hold two realities. It made me even more grateful for my life, while driving me to find small consistent ways to give back to my local community.
I know, girl, me too, but no worries; it’s okay to celebrate your life and your happiness. Don’t let the bastards take that away from you.
Good for you. Not the case for me, but I’m glad someone is having a good year!
My life is very good. I have a great career, a wonderful husband and kid and own a house in an awesome neighborhood. I’m relatively healthy and we have enough money to pay for food, retirement, the kids’ college funds and an occasional vacation.
The way I see it is this: if life is good, just let it be good. Ultimately, none of it is guaranteed and your luck can change in an instant. So be grateful for whatever you have!
I can 100% relate . I am both personally optimistic and excited about myself and then simultaneously terrified about the country / world. It’s so, so strange and bizarre.
Same thing happened to me in 2017, with the orange one’s first term.
Do what’s right for you – we control so little and life will always vacillate from good to bad. Knowing it’ll come down, try to savor the good that happens at a personal level and enjoy the ride .
Thank you for posting this! I’ve been feeling so mixed about the exact same thing. I’ve been having a really good year so far and feeling guilty about it but at the same time mad that this is my adulthood.
I was also given the advice to not give the assholes wrecking havoc the power to dampen the good fortune I have and it’s hard to remember that sometimes.
Since I have some semblance of stability, I am trying to do what I can to help (e.g. calling my senators and congressmen every week and trying to show up for my community).