I have been thinking a lot lately about the concept of personal happiness. Why can’t people just be happy? I’m not talking about being ignorant to the injustices in the world, or anything. I’m talking about actual opinions. I love Starbucks, for example. I love the last four months of the year because the seasonal coffees and cocoas come out. Every year I see a bunch of posts on social media that complain about fall and pumpkin spice. Why can’t someone be excited about fall?

 Do you look at people’s vacation photos and say “My vacation was better.”? No, at least I hope not. I love cocoa. I could drink cocoa every day all year round regardless of the weather. You don’t hear me saying that cocoa is the best beverage. I just love it, and it makes me happy. I love it so much that the Starbucks inside my student center ordered extra salt so that I could have my salted caramel hot chocolate for a few months after it normally would have been out of season. 

My love language is also gift giving so small gestures like that mean the world to me. However, if someone said they don’t like cocoa, I wouldn’t be offended. They may have gotten dumped over a cup of cocoa, and it isn’t my place to judge them. Do whatever makes you happy as long as you don’t hurt yourself or others I don’t think anyone has the right to say anything.  This trend to be a hipster where you are only happy if you don’t like anything that is mainstream doesn’t make sense to me. 

A friend told me a few weeks ago when I was upset about a lot of posts on social media that the unfollow button is your friend. Social media breaks are okay. Reading a book, and turning off your phone is okay.  Sometimes if I feel offended by a Facebook post I scroll down the page, and I think about the phrase” hit dogs holler.”

 Did the post say something directly about me, or did it just resonate with me? Does it address an aspect of my personality that I don’t like? Do I need to comment? The answer to the last question is usually always no. I typically don’t comment on a serious status unless I feel like it is disrespectful, or ignorant. Sometimes if I see numerous posts that offend me I’ll post a status of my own about that topic if I can’t focus on anything else.  The world revolves around the sun, not me.  I’m responsible for my happiness, not anyone else. Never let anyone else have the power to ruin your day. I promise you, they most likely do not think about you as much you do them.