People build their own crosses - erecting them in their minds from fears, regrets, guilt, and imagined obligations. Instead of accepting life as it is, with all its joys, simple moments, and unexpected gifts, they construct elaborate structures of suffering and carry them as proof of their worth. Mistaking pain for meaning, they close their eyes to the fact that the world itself is already full of color, light, and warmth - needing no martyrdom to be lived and loved.