Should You Always Be Happy?
Look at all these beautiful happy people online. Complex human emotions reduced to 3-word slogans: “good vibes only,” or “manifest it.”
No one’s posting about the day they wore sweatpants for 16 hours and ate peanut butter straight from the jar. But that’s life too.
Social media whispers that if you’re not “glowing, grinding, or grateful” 24/7, you’re somehow failing. Then the guilt sets in. Maybe if we just bought the right scented candle…
The truth? Life will sometimes feel absolutely soul crushing. We cannot avoid it. But we can accept it. We can ride the wave. The worst feelings pass — that is the one thing we can count on.
Sitting with these feelings — as painful and inconvenient as they are — can be the source of growth. Some of the most beautiful works of art, music, or film came from angst.
Angst isn’t just dead weight. It’s often a signal — a stubborn reminder that something in life isn’t working. Paying attention to that discomfort, instead of numbing it, is how people find the motivation to change careers, leave toxic relationships, or simply grow. Angst can be fuel.
Sometimes what you or your teen need is not a vision board, but simply a safe space to sulk.
If you or your teen seem always like a ray of sunshine, it’s actually worth asking what’s being hidden.
The trick isn’t erasing negative feelings. It’s trusting they pass — and learning to use the space in between. Name them. Notice them. Sometimes they’re like that one awkward friend: annoying, but occasionally the only one who tells you the truth.