We can do everything in our power to be happy and actually find joy in our hearts. But then, we meet “the looters” as Ms. Rand calls them. These are those people in this world who despise seeing happiness in other people. Some of these people don’t even realize that they do this, and they would be dismayed to learn that they are. These people, though, are a true evil in our world.
These people will systematically remove all sources of happiness from our lives. If fishing makes you happy, they will complain until you stop. If dancing gives you joy, they will either criticize you until you don’t want to do it anymore, or they will just refuse to let you dance. If watching sports on TV is a source of pleasure to you, these people will whine until you stop. Slowly, cunningly, these people will separate you from all that makes you smile – your family, your children, pets, friends, religion, sex, even certain foods. It is the most insidious of all forms of abuse. If someone hits you, you are obviously abused. But most victims of this type of torture probably don’t even know what is going on. They just can’t seem to get happy, especially children whose parents do this to them.
There is a sister to this sort of abuse by removal. It is the abuse by adding things that make you unhappy. The perpetrators of this are the people who make you do things that they know remove your happiness. There is a sadism in this type of abuse. These are the people who say lots of “Sorry”’s, and “It can’t be helped.” These are the people who take their kids or pets into the doctor for unnecessary visits and tests –just to torture them. The employer or spouse who makes you do jobs they know you don’t like, just to see you suffer. Subtle. Sneaky.
And unfortunately, I think women are the more guilty of this theft of happiness than men. How many wives nag their husbands about golf, sports, fishing, even working late?
Once these thieves have separated you from what makes you happy, they will tell you how bad that thing is (“Your family is so low class…”). So, not only do they steal your happiness, but then they make you feel guilty for ever having enjoyed dancing (for example) in the first place.
I don’t know why these people do this. I know some who do this that had perfectly happy childhoods, trauma-less lives. Maybe they just can’t stand to see someone else happy. Maybe it’s some sort of envy or misplaced competitiveness.
Whenever I’ve seen this sort of vile abuse, it has usually been between a couple in a relationship or between parents and children. There are even those who abuse their pets, denying the animal the freedom to choose what makes them happy (all in the guise of “It’s for their own good.”). Luckily, I escaped such a relationship, but only after some serious, slap-me-in-the-face divine intervention.
I urge you now. Look at yourself. Look at your partner. Is she/he stealing all that makes you happy?
RUN! Run now!!
Run before you are sucked dry of all that gives you life, of all that makes you smile.
Are you the one doing this to someone else – your partner, your child, your pet? Stop. You are a monster. You don’t think that you are a monster, but you are. Figure out why you are doing this. Fix yourself; don’t break everyone around you.
If someone is stealing your happiness, just remember that you deserve to be happy, everyone does. Don’t fall for that load of crap that we all deserve to suffer. Just read a little Ayn Rand – you’ll see. And eat that piece of cake if it makes you happy. Don’t let anyone deprive you of that small slice of contentment.
