They Call the Wind Mariah

June 28, 2003 : 9:39 a.m.
It's All Relative

There is something that is really pissing me off right now, so I'm going to post about it, forget it, and then post something more positive. Because I'm really in quite a good mood today. But I need to get this off my chest in order to have a fully productive and fun day!

People that think depression is a choice, they piss me off.

I just wanted to say how I feel about the whole thing. I *know* there are people out there 'worse off' than me. I have been worse off than I am right now. It sucks.

I know there are parents right now who are crying, worrying, and wondering if their newborn baby will make it through the night. I have been there.

I know there are mothers who cry every night because it was just another night they had to feed their baby cereal for supper because they couldn't afford groceries. I have been there.

I know there are families right now watching a close loved one whither away before their eyes, not looking anything like the memories they have of them. I have been there.

Where haven't I been? I haven't been huddled over my child in tears and terror in a dark corner while outside bullets and bombs are exploding.

I haven't been a wife who is waiting every day to hear when her husband is coming home from war.

I haven't been living in a cardboard box on the streets of LA or Miami, reduced to begging strangers for help.

I haven't been those places - but I have sympathy for them. I cry for them. I pray for them. I don't tell them to buck up, because even in THOSE horrible situations, there are people in worse situations than theirs.

Life is not all rainbows and sparkles. But, I don't ask you not to be happy. If your view of the world is that you have a choice to be happy or sad, tell that to the doctors who prescribe their patients Prozac because they just can't 'get happy'. We don't begrudge you your happiness, don't begrudge us our tears.