I’ve grown tired of people chastising others for being upset over matters they deem trivial. I can recall multiple times in my life when I’ve been venting about a personal problem and someone responded with, “There are starving kids in Africa and you’re complaining about X, Y and Z?” These statements do nothing to lessen someone’s suffering and only aid in guilting someone for being a human with emotions.
It seems that every February a particular meme circulates stating, “You don’t have a valentine on Valentine’s Day? Some people don’t have a mother on Mother’s Day or a father on Father’s Day. So shut the **** up.” I’m not arguing that everyday problems are anywhere close to as devastating as starvation or losing a parent, but does that mean that nobody else is entitled to feel pain?
Venting about setbacks is a legitimate way to process one’s feelings, but I’ve noticed that people are quick to turn these talks into a sadness competition; “You think that’s bad, you should hear about the day I had!” Of course there are differing levels of pain, but one person’s misery does not override the right of others to feel sorrow for the minor issues occurring in their lives.
I’m aware that there are children dying of starvation. I’m aware that there are people mourning the loss of loved ones. I’m aware that I am privileged and there are many people in this world whose suffering far passes mine. However, the fact of the matter is that it doesn’t make me feel any less bummed out about doing badly on a test or having a cute guy stop texting and I refuse to apologize for that. Everyone is going through their own personal issues and while some may be more grave than others, that doesn’t lessen someone’s plight or make their feelings any less legitimate.
