A while back I saw an ad showing a very happy woman on her way to work. The messaging is that more people are working now than in the past 5 years. When I first saw that ad, I was experiencing some burnout, and I felt a little bitter at the idea of this happy person on public transport. Surely, this was not my experience on the train or subway, nor anyone else I was seeing. I considered when I was younger, with less responsibility and more freedom to do what I want. Was I more happy then, or was I just so disconnected from the reality of the daily grind that I was living in some fantasy world.
After I healed some of my burnout through time adjustments and applying more faith, and then seeing this ad again, I realized that I had bought into some twisted narrative that I ought to be miserable and full of contempt for the way of the world. I realized that I had been made to feel foolish or guilty for thinking that I could be happy; I had succumbed to a pervasive pressure in our culture that states it is inappropriate to be happy. That is a lie from the depths of hell itself.
Maybe it's the power of the Eastertide season, but I can see things a lot more clearly now, and not only that, I can recognize that these pressures are as old as time. I recall the stories of Elijah defeating the false prophets of Baal, or David overcoming Goliath, or the culmination of those epic stories: the empty tomb, Jesus' ultimate triumph over death, and I realize that for every seemingly impossible situation, for every chaotic and evil circumstance we face, there is a victory story to match and overcome it. It is my birthright to be happy, because I am a child of the Most High.
Life happens. It is full of misfortune, grief, and deceit, but those things are not the end. I am learning to be happy despite hardship and trauma, and instead of asking God for what I want now, I thank him for already granting it to me, because I am confident that he is a good father, and that I am seeking in accordance to his will. I don't need to wait to be happy. This is the day the Lord has made, and for that, I am glad.