I May Not Be Happy Now, But I Give Them Happiness (& I Don’t Regret It)

What I’m about to share will make you understand that even though you’re not happy at the moment, you can still influence someone’s life (and that will make you happy).

So howdy, fellow readers, how’s your day? You know, it always makes me smile when I see writers supporting me (especially the OG ones).

Here’s a big hug to y’all. ^-^

I am always thankful when you support me, and as someone who supports others, I know how most of you are feeling. Yes, I read your stories.

Most of you share painful stories about people who don’t understand you, dealing with many problems in life, and many other unfortunate events.

As someone who truly wants to support you, I really wish you the best and hope all your pain will end soon.

Back to the topic, here’s what I learned

After turning 17, I started to be aware that where I was in life was not good enough. Of course, we should always be grateful, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t ask for goodness.

I still remember that before turning 17, life was so much fun back then; I didn’t have many responsibilities, school life was going pretty well (sure, it could have gone better), and the town where I used to live was also not bad, and mostly, I was busy with video games, yay.

After realizing I was slightly behind in life, I began looking for solutions.

A path that would take me more than three years. Something that I did not expect…

When you have no idea what to expect, you think fixing a problem is pretty simple. I mean, what could go wrong, right?

Am I sad? Yes, be happy!

I don’t have money? Yes, get a job!

I don’t have good friends? Yes, I can be friends with anyone!

Heh, a classic rookie, yeah?

As I grew older, I realized that it was going to take more than just fixing a simple problem. The huge sacrifices, the pain, and the hard work — I needed them all to fix my problems.

And believe me, they may sound normal and obvious to you, but for a kid, that’s a lot of work to do, man. After this reality check, I started to panic and have doubts about myself, wondering if all of these were worth it.

I mean, hard work pays off at the end of the day, right? well….

From there, I began to not smile again

Either I’m getting back to normal life without improving anything and continue to waste my time, or I’ll make hard sacrifices for a better life. Without thinking twice, I chose the second path. Of course, who wouldn’t want to improve their life after all, right?

So my journey to improve everything began.

I started to change my mindset, from wasting my time to using my time and being productive (which sounds easy, but I can guarantee you it is not).

I started to make huge sacrifices. I still remember that day when I was so excited to change everything and become happy, only to realize it was going to be a long, sad, and dark path that I had to walk alone for a long time.

Since then, I have become a lonely wolf who’s sad but still has high hopes for everything.

And what happens when you stay unhappy?

Frankly, a lot of things happen; however, I’ll focus more on what happens to people you care about.

When you’re unhappy and have the mindset of “I have to do this no matter what,” you ignore everything and everyone because all you care about is improving yourself (and this is exactly what happened to me).

I was so focused on my goals that I didn’t really care what was happening around me. I wouldn’t give extra time to my loved ones, wouldn’t hang out with them, and wouldn’t talk much.

Sometimes, they would come at me with tickets for a vacation, and I would tell them, “Sorry guys, I gotta improve myself first.” Sure, they would be really sad, but they understood what I was doing.

There weren’t any issues between us in the first place; they knew that I didn’t want to live the same life they lived and that I wanted some changes, so they gave me my personal space.

But little did I know, I was missing so much that even money couldn’t buy it.

After a long time, I knew there needed to be some changes.

After years went by, as much as I wanted to keep everything like this, I knew that things needed to be changed.

I knew I couldn’t just be a zombie staring at my monitor, looking for solutions. I knew I couldn’t ignore my loved ones, and most importantly, I needed to take a break.

So after three years, I finally started to slowly leave my rabbit hole and started to feel life.

I started to give time to my family and loved ones, temporarily enjoying the sunset view every day and checking everything to see how far I had come with life. I was happy because at least as a person, I’ve changed a lot.

And it was at this moment that I knew I missed a lot

The truth was, yes, I was moving ahead with my progress, but so was my old life. I realized I was missing a lot, and I couldn’t really ignore it. So I started with my family (of course, the people you care about more than anyone else).

Let’s just say we’re not big fans of healthy food (so lots of sweets, burgers, french fries, and other junk foods).

For someone young, well, these foods are “ok,” but if your family members are over 40, welp, Yikes.

At first, I didn’t care what they were eating because I thought it wasn’t a big deal, but after some scary research (because they started to have symptoms), I realized either I was losing tasty food or someone whom I cared about sooner.

At night (around 9 p.m.), we all sat together and talked about the scary consequences of not starting a healthy diet and that we needed to change as fast as possible. After a long (and painful) conversation, we agreed to change our diet.

I needed to keep in mind that these people were not as mentally strong as mine, so I had to be completely transparent with them. I told them that it would be extremely hard for them, but it would be worth it.

So we all slowly quit junk foods and started to eat healthy ones. Yes, it was painful as hell & we all wanted to quit. But after seeing that they were getting healthier, happier, and energetic, AIN’T NO WAY I’M LETTING THEM GO BACK TO THEIR OLD LIFE.

AH HELL NAHHHH.

Yeah, they beat me with their shoes 😂, but seeing them be healthier made my day. It was a pain seeing some of them get weaker, and they would say it was because we were not healthy.

While they were partially true, they didn’t know they could achieve a lot with some simple steps.

I started to go out with them and visit amazing places. Seeing them enjoying the view and laughing filled my heart, and I was also smiling.

Then I told them that my perspective on life had changed a lot and that I had become a mature man, and guess what? They started to learn from me.

Yes, I know, it’s typical family stuff, but it meant a lot.

Not gonna lie, hearing compliments not only from your family but also from other people feels extremely good (especially when you’ve been pursuing a dream for years).

Harsh lessons that I learned

I think I mentioned in one of my articles that despite believing that we know ourselves, we still have many things to learn about ourselves, and this story is an example. I’m just a guy who’s learning and improving himself.

Now, I give more time to people I care about, and most importantly (very important), I’m moving forward. So here’s what I learned:

- The price of a better life is difficulty, darkness, and loneliness, but it’s totally worth it (especially talking from the present).

- I’m a strong believer in improving life; however, sometimes it is okay to take small breaks to reflect.

- You shouldn’t ignore what or who you have (you never know when they’ll leave this world).

- When you become someone important, you can influence others.

- If you decide to be unhappy, you’ll stay unhappy.

- Seeing someone happy will make you happy.

In conclusion

If you’re a parent, son, or the oldest sibling, remember you have more responsibilities than you think.

While we must improve ourselves, we also need to be aware of our little ones (even older ones).

Remember, they admire us, we inspire them, and they see us as their hero, so be one.

Until next time, see ya, champs!