Pessimism, nihilism, and despair do no one any good. I choose to live in hope, because it's easier for me than giving into despair. Believe me, I've come very close to giving up on life. I've spent years in the Bad Place. I could have stayed there and stayed miserable, and blamed my misery on others, or I could take responsibility for my own happiness, because, quite frankly, I'm the only one who can take that responsibility for myself.

I had to make some hard choices, I had to move on from people who seemed hell-bent on dragging me down again and again and again. As I've gotten older, my tolerance for selfish, self-absorbed, my-misery-must-be-everyone-else's-problem type people, has waned to nothing.

It costs nothing to be kind. It costs nothing to stop for a moment before lashing out. It costs nothing to try to be understanding of others.

The need to vent about directly experiencing injustice, and about the state of the world, I get that. If it is not followed by plans of action to change your situation and change the world, then it is self-pity. Needless despair and needless cruelty and feeding other people's despair makes you part of the problem.