Do not use your troubles or your hardships as…
Do not use your troubles or your hardships as an excuse for not having a good time. You do not have to take life seriously. Nobody is forcing you not relax when things are going tough.
— from Enjoy the Flight (Living/Balance/Happiness/Passion) · Second Mountain by David Brooks
In the book
Happiness and unhappiness are twins that grow together — try to minimize the one and you stunt the other; for joy to grow tall, you have to let its sister live too. And don't let your troubles become a standing excuse: nobody is forcing you to take life so grimly that you can't relax even when things are hard. The taker's trap. Finally, beware of becoming a taker, because takers are forever dependent on someone else for their happiness — on praise, on possessions, on pleasures — and without the next hit they feel like nothing. […] So decide — actually decide — that you intend to be happy, and then recognize and appreciate the staggering gifts you've been handed, without ever sliding into the entitlement of thinking you were simply owed them. Do not use your hardships as a reason to refuse yourself a good time; no one is making you carry the weight every hour. Keep your life simple enough to enjoy it. — Enjoy the Flight (Living/Balance/Happiness/Passion)