Your Troubles are not Unique

Your troubles are not unique. You are not unique (well you are, it's the great philosophical dualism) and here’s why that's so great. Whenever I tend to bring this topic up, usually  I hear much criticism on this matter (not true, I don't have any friends). It may seem like I’m trying to tell you that your troubles are not important or that you should grow up but you are not getting me right. Like many things that look pessimistic on the surface, sometimes statements like these could really be eye-opening. Like Buddhism concentrating on death or Nietzsche saying god is dead, it may all seem very pessimistic on the surface but it's really not. 

Your troubles are not unique might automatically make you think you are not unique, but you are and your problems do have their own brand to them. But somehow accepting that you’re not unique (you are)  and neither are your problems will help set you free from your troubles. Let me give an example that might give you more context, it's always easier to explain with an example. As a kid, my thighs used to chaff a lot. (they still do) And I would often walk weird, as walking would hurt when my legs. So for a long time (in my childhood), this saddened me and I used to think - God! Why does this happen to me? Every day that I’m out, my thighs chafe and I have problems walking, why does this only happen to poor old me? 

A few years later I discovered an advert for this ‘Chafing powder’, a powder made especially for this. And I thought to myself, hold on! There is a powder for this? So Everyone's thigh's chafe? Even the thin ones? Apparently yes! It's a common problem! 

Everyone is sad, everyone is stressed, a lot of people are hurt, a lot of people have had emotional trauma in their past, many people are abused, many people are getting treated wrongly by their partners and on & on & on. I’m certainly not asking you to celebrate this but use it to liberate yourself, our sufferings as human beings bring us closer to one another and make us empathize with other people more, it also gives you character depth. Explain to yourself - it's okay, everyone is sad. (This reminds me of how school kids cope with scoring bad marks, checking their friends' marks! Somehow it always feels better if other people are failing as well, it's okay! We all are)  

A lot of troubled people (everyone is troubled honestly) still function normally and do wonders. You are not alone (really, you're not). There are highly functional depressed people all around you, hell! some are even comedians. So remind yourself from time to time - Hey! This is okay, everyone is going through this. You can and should, of course, seek help and do something fruitful about it but knowing we are all in the same fight sometimes will give you courage. I guess my main point is that you shouldn't give them much weight in your life. Don't let them drown you, talk to people - we are all on the same boat :)  Maybe one day you'll realize that your best friend who is always chirpy is also going through a lot and you both could try figuring out how to deal with your problems and help each other. Only when you make your troubles so big do they overcome you. 

P.S. Find out why Nietzsche said - God is dead, like the real reason, not the popularised version :)