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Joy
Andrian Velkov 1-1
September 28, 2021
Happiness is a very hard emotion to define. On a personal level joyfulness can be described
differently depending on the person. In everyday life, everyone is seeking happiness. We work
so hard, we sacrifice so much, just so that we can have the opportunity to be so called “Happy”.
To me the best way to describe happiness is temporary. From what I’ve seen, and from what I
have experienced, moments are very temporary. The on-going battle for joy is very short seen.
Day to day only a very small portion of people can truthfully admit that they are in fact happy.
Fortunately, that doesn’t have to a bad thing, life requires balance, for a moment to be happy, the
opposite feeling must be reached first. There are plus’ and there are minus’ to life. Many
complain that they are unhappy and are never able to reach their joy in life. Perhaps those people
struggle to see the little things in life, or furthermore, do not want to endure the harder times, but
are in turn always waiting for the good times. A very empowering quote written by an unknown
author said, “Everyone wants happiness nobody wants pain, but to make a rainbow you need a
little rain”. The more you think about the more it seems to make sense. People are very
accustomed to waiting for the easy things in life instead of working hard towards the happiness
they seek. Naturally that is not always the case, there are people whom from no fault of their
own, are struggling. We are very fortunate as a community to have so many choices, we can do
what we will in life, and with a little bit of effort and plenty of resilience, you can become the
person you want to be.
After the second world war began, many of the disenfranchised were stripped from their
choices, and their ability to have the life they wanted. While the millions of people sent to
Auschwitz were fighting to keep their lives, the privileged were ruling over the minorities and
making their life decisions for them. In this day in age being able to choose is what makes us
human, and having your fundamental rights taken from you, for no reason other than what you
believe in, what you look like, and your sexual orientation is incredibly unjust. During Hitlers
rein the only things remembered were the anguish, the pain, the suffering and many are still
scarred from that horrid time. Back in those days, joy was not something you work towards but
instead a very rare privilege to the few who were able to save themselves. For the millions that
were tortured joy was not a feeling they could even imagine. The men and women living in
Hitler’s concentration camps were in agony, going to bed hungry, sleeping in tight and crowded
spots, with very minimal clothing or protection from the terrible temperatures the different
seasons had to offer. For most, they had forgotten what joy was; even the ones who were able to
survive had trouble experiencing any emotion at all after what they had endured.
Happiness is a privilege, to many it has become a given, wanting everything handed out
without any real sacrifice. Today we have adapted to living in peace, with running water, with a
roof over our heads, and a delicious hot meal in front of us every day. By no means is this a bad
thing, in fact it shows how fortunate we are. The problem rises, when many people have begun
taking their fortune for granted. We should have the rights and the opportunity’s we have now,
but we should never forget our roots, where we came from, and on who’s back all our success
was built. We today can be happy, can be joyful, and the best way to repay those who have not
had the same opportunity’s as us, is to live life to its fullest extent and live life for those who
have sacrificed.