There are two kinds of trouble in people:  That you see and that you don’t.  Poverty, sickness,  unemployment, divorce…these are evident.  But they may have little to do with what someone is carrying around inside.  Emptiness, confusion, meaninglessness, despair, melancholy…these you may only see if you care enough to look.

We too often think, “What does he (or she) have to be unhappy about?  He’s got a job, decent money, a nice home and family, new car…”  Or worse, we think the same of ourselves.  Instead of accepting and questioning our negative emotions, we deny them…or believe we have no right to feel them.

But emotions are what they are, and we should own them.  If internal discontent is getting in the way of a fulfilled life, then we have not only a right but a duty to ourselves to question it.  Objective self-examination, however hard, is the first step to self-understanding…and self-understanding is the only avenue to change.