More Happy Than Not

by Adam Silvera

I have to push ahead with the people who don’t take the easy way out, who love me enough to stay alive even when life sucks.

Memories: some can be sucker punching, others carry you forward; some stay with you forever, others you forget on your own. You can’t really know which ones you’ll survive if you don’t stay on the battlefield, bad times shooting at you like bullets. But if you’re lucky, you’ll have plenty of good times to shield you.

“Remember when we had trouble beating the last few levels of Zelda? We pooled our allowances and bought the walk-through guide to help us out.” He softly adds, “You should’ve asked for help before cheating.”

If the blind can find joy in music, and the deaf can discover it with colors, I will do my best to always find the sun in the darkness because my life isn’t one sad ending—it’s a series of endless happy beginnings.

This is how I’m going to win—not from running away from the memories, but from confronting them dead-on.