I don't understand why being sad is such a taboo subject.

I don't understand why most people are wearing all these fake smiles and pretend that life is great and that they're so grateful for everything they have. No, life is not always great. Life is a learning curve. That means it has its ups and downs. And sometimes life isn't great, in fact sometimes life actually sucks and that's okay.

The danger with this is the fact that young people, like me, grow up in a society in which people always seem happy. And when everybody around you is happy but you, you feel like you're the only one. You feel like there is something wrong with you because you are not happy, and you feel like you're not grateful and deserving of your life.

All my teenage years I was depressed and anxious and confused and what I thought back then was that I was the only one, that there must be something wrong with me for not enjoying life, that because I am sometimes depressed I am not deserving of life. I was pretty lonely because I didn't build deep connections with people.

That being said what can we do to help? First of all, we need to realise within ourselves that sometimes we are pretty sad or mad at life and that is okay. Sometimes things don't go our way and we are bummed out. Stop associating guilt with negative emotions. Stop telling yourself 'Others would kill to be in my shoes'.

Something else that we can do? Talk about it, open a conversation with your daughter, sister, nephew who are already apart of the fake social media, and tell them that sometimes in life they will be pretty sad and lonely and that everybody goes through that, and that is perfectly normal. Next time you are having coffee with your friends, tell them how you really feel and what's bothering you. Not only it will help you if you talk about it but it will also help them. If someone else from the group goes through a hardship, they will identify with you. They will realise that they're not the only ones and if they see you endure and overcome it, it will give them the strength and confidence to carry on.

So I will start: This week I've been pretty sad. I'm not enjoying as much the things that used to bring me joy; I don't feel that I am doing important work anymore and I'm not sure what it is that I'm supposed to do with my life. But I will not beat myself up for feeling like this. Maybe I need to search for new hobbies, maybe I need to change my career path, or maybe I just need time and everything will make sense again next week.

What about you?