What’s the deal with attempting to bring down someone else’s happiness? Why is it so common to criticize others’ happiness? Is it trendy nowadays?
It happens everywhere. We see it every day on social media. We witness it in real life conversations. It’s a shame, really, that this behavior has become so common in today’s world, that we become accustomed to scrolling past it on the Internet or ignoring it in live conversations.
Sure, this topic can be easily applied to many discussions. However, I was recently the victim of someone else's attacking of what makes me happy. Twice. On the same day. Mere hours apart.
It was a typical Wednesday in the nail salon, where I work as the receptionist. With my position, it’s crucial and necessary to converse with clients throughout the day. And, let’s face it, chatting with clients helps move the day along. But on this particular day, a couple of my clients were clearly on edge.
It started with a long-time client who was asking me how I spent my summer. I told her that I spent much of it at my lake house with my family. She was genuinely shocked that I chose to spend time with my family, calling it “weird” and “strange” that I desired to live out my summer days with my parents, aunt, and cousins whom I love more than anyone.
Of course, she proceeded to tell me that in her youth, she spent all of her time with friends. I should’ve told her how sorry I was that she lacked the clearly lacked a close family growing up, but given that I was in a professional setting, I bit my tongue.
Later that day, I had another client ask me if I had studied abroad yet in my college career. I happily told her that I spent a chunk of last summer studying in London – it was one of the best experiences of my life, and I’ll talk about it to anyone who asks. This client wasn’t too impressed.
“But London is easy,” she said. “They speak English! I studied in Germany when I was in college, and I didn’t know a word of German when I went.” Could you imagine saying those words to someone? Especially to someone who genuinely wanted to share stories from her study abroad experience, someone who is majoring in English (hence, studying in London), and someone who is just plain passionate and chatty.
In both of these situations, I hate that I had to defend myself for two experiences that have brought me so much happiness – spending time with my family and studying abroad. That being said, these situations are just a lens to other sources of happiness that humans must defend.
If I’ve learned anything this summer, it’s to simply allow others to be happy. Everyone is different, we’re not forced to follow the same paths in life, so we must embrace each other and embrace decisions ranging from who you spend your summer days with and where you study abroad to career paths and personal life choices. So, if criticizing happiness is becoming trendy, let’s break the trend. Promote happiness. Now that is trendy.
