[Death by Mirrors]

Uh, agree and disagree at the same time. True, if you want the world to change, you need to be persistent. Even if that means to push some boundaries. Even if your opinion stands against the majority. And yes, sometimes exactly the small things can be the ones that make a big difference. A compliment to a person who feels down. A helping hand during tough days. A cheap little gift that comes unexpected.

But I'm wary whenever people talk about "forcing others to be happy". Just because a particular activity or thought feels right for you, it doesn't have to be like that for everyone. Person A might need a long, hot bubble bath to feel better. Person B is at their happiest when dancing the night away in a club with loud music and flickering stroboscope lights. Person C maybe has a really hard time dealing with other people, and their idea of the perfect recreation is a cabin in the woods where they knit in solitude and return to the hectic world once they have finished their handmade scarf. If bubble baths make C's skin itch due to allergies, B thinks of knitting as the worst imaginable punishment, and A wouldn't be seen dead in a disco, it doesn't mean any of these activities are invalid. They're just not right for the person in question, and being forced to do them anyway because their friend insists it's the path to happiness will lead nowhere.

Plus as strange as it sounds, I believe it is also possible to kill a person with kindness. People with low self esteem may start feeling they don't deserve your friendship or can't ever properly repay you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying a nice gesture requires service in return. But if a person starts thinking along the lines of 'my friend is always so super nice and does so much for me, and I can't even pull myself together enough to smile' it adds pressure. And each time they "fail" at being happy, pressure increases. After a while the person might even resort to a fake "everything is alright" attitude just to get a break, while at the same time feeling even more disconnected to the world and people who apparently don't have to pretend.

Our modern society very much revolves around vitality, physical attraction, happiness and a seize the day mentality. People sometimes forget it's okay to also be sad occasionally, and that you wouldn't be able to recognize felicity if blissful days were all you've ever known.