The only perspective

04 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment

by pant0mime in books, philosophy, random thoughts and crazy wonderings Tags: perks of being a wallflower

I hate it when people post pictures of disabled people doing extraordinary stuff and put captions like, “you think things are going bad for you? Well, fuck you and your misery because a lot of people have it worse so quit your whining.” Not exactly in those words, but more subtle and kinder.

It’s not right when others belittle your loneliness and pain by comparing it to world hunger or a national catastrophe. I know there are much worse things happening in the world, but it doesn’t change the fact that you feel like shit. And sometimes, when people point out how the rest of the world is in brouhaha, it doesn’t make you feel better. It only makes things worse, because now you feel bad about feeling bad.

I wish people—for once—could tell you it’s okay to feel bad and feel certain things about your situation, because it’s not being selfish at all. It’s being honest with yourself and acknowledging the fact that there is something wrong with you. And the first step to becoming better is identifying the problem.

I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won’t tell them that people are starving in China or anything like that because it wouldn’t change the fact that they were upset. And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn’t really change the fact that you have what you have. Good and bad. Maybe it’s good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. Like Sam said. Because it’s okay to feel things. And be who you are about them.”

—Charlie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower ‎