I know this sounds so messed up, like I’m a terrible person, but I was on my phone scrolling TikTok this morning, waiting for the bus, and I saw this old guy, like really old, probably 70s? And he was just walking this field, like a farm or something, super early, and the caption was about how he’s a widower and he still walks his land every morning even though his wife isn’t there for his check-ins anymore. And I just thought… like, I know it’s sad for him and everything, obviously, but my first thought wasn’t even about that. It was about how he just… kept going. Like his whole routine is probably totally messed up, and he’s probably super lonely, but he’s still out there walking his farm. And I just kept thinking about that, like, WOW. And then I just felt this HUGE wave of shame, like, WHO thinks that? Who sees someone’s heartbreak and thinks about themselves? But I couldn’t stop thinking about it all day, like, I’m 16 and my life isn’t even that hard, not like his, and I just wanna like, quit everything sometimes. Like school, my stupid part-time job at the smoothie place, even just trying to keep up with everyone on social media feels like a full-time job and my parents are always on my case about getting good grades so I can get into a good college and then get a good job because EVERYTHING costs so much money here, you know? And I just feel like I’m drowning all the time, just totally overwhelmed by everything. And then I think about that old dude, out there in the cold probably, still doing his thing, just walking, and it just makes me feel like such a… a BABY. Like I should just suck it up and stop complaining because what even are my problems compared to someone who lost their whole partner? But then I just feel even worse for thinking it, because it’s like, not a competition, right? But I still just feel like I should be able to handle things better than I am, and I just… I don’t know. I just wanted to get it out there, how messed up it is that I even thought that.