Do you think at times that your friends and other people are just running around living these amazing lives, all happy and energetic and enjoying life to the fullest? While you may be coping with your own mental health issues such as depression or anxiety, feeling sluggish and tired, unmotivated, a bit burned out and not exactly thrilled about anything on your horizon;  it is easy to imagine that everyone else on your social media accounts, or your friends and family and  neighbors are all just livin the dream. I know for sure that is not true. I know for sure because I am a counselor and have heard the stories of people’s lives behind the scenes, behind their front doors, and I am a witness that absolutely no one’s life is fabulous day after day. I was recently reminded of this on my walk yesterday through my neighborhood.  Admiring all the different pretty homes and yards and wondering who lives there, and what their lives are like. When I would pass an especially expensive beautiful home, I would imagine that their lives were especially better than mine. While I know that is absolutely not true, that anyone who is human will struggle with life at some time, if not daily. Everyone is coping with something, whether it is finances, marriage problems, going through a divorce or losing someone they love, a scary diagnosis, loss of a job, problems and worries about their kids, estranged or challenging relationships with relatives, battling weight, aging, and appearance issues, and simply feeling stuck in a life that they simply do not want to live in anymore. The Buddha said, “To Live is To Suffer” and that we can only find peace, contentment and joy by realizing our own suffering and knowing that everyone else has their own suffering. When we accept that we are all in the same boat, sharing the same human experience this should move us towards compassion towards everyone we meet and come in contact with and of course those we love. Everyone could use more compassion. So when you are driving,  walking or running by them remember that each one of those homes has some pain, and some joy and hundreds of stories