People assume I haven’t suffered because I’m optimistic
Whenever the topic comes up and I mention that I'm pretty naive and trusting and tend to see the good in people, someone eventually says, "Well, then you probably haven't been through much bad stuff yet." "You‘re lucky then.“ "So you‘ve never met the wrong people.“ Or, "You're lucky, then." Or, "So you've never met the wrong people."
Every time I hear that, I start questioning myself. Part of me thinks, maybe they're right and I haven't been through that much. Another part thinks, maybe I have been through bad things and just never learned from them, so I'm simply stupid. I've experienced bullying, abuse, and mental health struggles. I don‘t feel lucky.
What frustrates me is that people often judge me immediately and assume I'm shallow or don’t know anything just because I try to stay optimistic. I also keep hearing stories about people who become stronger after traumatic experiences or who lose their ability to trust others completely. Meanwhile, I seem to keep falling for the same kinds of people over and over again because I never really learn from it. Sometimes that makes me wonder whether there's something wrong with me.
I mostly just wanted to vent, but it would be nice to know whether anyone else feels this way. Comments like that make me incredibly insecure and leave me wondering if there's something wrong with me for still wanting to be happy or believing that people can be good. Can anyone relate?