Believe me, I started suffering from depression about five years ago, and it's
horrible. It's run in my family since at least the late '70s, so yeah, it really sucks. Not only that, I also have OCD and anxiety, which suck too. However, these disorders aren't things I can remove from myself.
And yes, a lot of **** happens in the real world, but what can we do about it? Homophobia/biphobia is something that strongly bothers me, especially because it exists in my family (my parents are extremely conservative in more ways than just politically) and I'm bisexual, but at the end of the day, I can't change their opinions and views, and I can't let the thoughts of others bother me. I can only live my life the way it was meant for me and I can't just do everything that others want. This is
my life, not the life of anyone else. I don't mean to sound selfish either, but I've gradually made that realization since when I was in middle school (all three years I was in it were rough, but the early part of it in 2011 and especially 2012, when I was in 6th grade on into starting 7th, was particularly rough).
Middle school here in Mississippi was
extremely conformist-if you didn't "fit in" to what was expected, you were ostracized by almost everyone. And believe me, I wasn't the only one that had to deal with this either-plenty of my friends did too (in fact, that's how I met them, we were all sort of loners together and we bonded, although quite a few of these friendships wouldn't last into high school). Soon enough, I realized that this whole social structure that came with Southern middle school was BS and I realized I could do what I want, whether people like it or not, or if they like me or not. That's when I realized I was a rebel at heart.
While I know I did get off topic here, I will connect this to the points you brought up: during that same time in middle school starting in 2012 to 2014, people constantly made fun of me for being "gay" (they didn't even know what my sexual orientation really was, they just made assumptions) just because I hung out with some of my best friends who were other guys a lot of the time. That was when I noticed that there are just a lot of people out there full of ****.
At the end of the day,
love trumps hate. I know Hillary Clinton may have not won the presidential election, but I personally believe there is more love and hope in this world than hate and destruction. However I am guilty of focusing on the bad more than the good a lot of the time-while I have never come out about my sexuality to any of my family members, pretty much all of my friends IRL know (along with plenty here on the Internet, of course) and while most responded well, not all did. It bothered me that one friend I've had since 2007 didn't respond well at all and appeared extremely unhappy about my bisexuality, but at the end of the day, why should I care? It's my life, not his.
I know this ended up being a wall of text, but I feel it needs to be said.
- - - Post Merge - - -
You should have faith in the fact that someone, you, were able to step aside and notice that something is up. So many people are just "used to it" and carry on as if they saw nothing.
Right now, it shouldn't matter to you whether the state of the world will improve or not. It will be sometime before any changes come around. You need to find confidence in yourself first, so you can get through anything. That might be easier said than done, but sometimes unravelling it helps. Something bothers you and makes you feel negative. First, what is it that bothers you? Then ask yourself, well why do I need to feel negative about this? The secret to being happy is finding ways to fight emotion and instinctual behaviours that are in our species. That might sound a bit crazy and its late where I am so being tired doesn't help, but it's how I am where I am right now. I don't ignore what is happening around me but it doesn't get me down.
Exactly. If the main thing you want is for the world to be a better place, you have a good heart.