Are you happy?

[Peelee]

Yeah, I am. I got to spend time with a really cool guy today, and afterwards he told me I'm a fun person.

The rest of my life's pretty alright, don't get me wrong, but right now, he's the thing making me grin like an idiot.

Man, that's a great feeling. Cheers to you!

[nooblade]

I'm 27 but I still feel rather young. I think some Greek philosopher (Aristotle? I don't actually study classics much) said that happiness was something that was decided about your life after you had lived the entire thing. Sounds about right to me. I like having learned about some things and it seems like there are a few hidden worlds ahead.

Not all is well but nothing unbearable. I'm most concerned about not having many friends. Seems like the other people in my life are mostly struggling or getting old or already gone. The few who are following some dreams are really neat, though.

[Florian]

Hm.. Yes, I'm pretty much happy. Part of it may be that I accepted that my expectations on life were pretty much BS, dropped them and stopped worrying. If I was a big fat panda, I'd say "inner peace".

On the other hand, my house is paid off. I quit a six-figure salary job last year, allowed me to take the time for all the mental wounds to heal while enjoying the opportunity to dig into the whole greek and roman classics and with the start of the next year, I'll open my own business and give that a try.

[danzibr]

No matter how dry a period you're going through right now, tale comfort in the fact that it won't last forever.

Here are the flowers currently growing in the world's driest desert:

That is utterly stunning.

[Lentrax]

No matter how dry a period you're going through right now, tale comfort in the fact that it won't last forever.

Here are the flowers currently growing in the world's driest desert:

Amazing. Doesn't change anything in my life though. Doesn't make anything better, or give me hope that people can change.

[Spanish_Paladin]

No, i am not. Perhaps someday

[Pendulous]

I work at Wal-Mart, and am a 31-year-old single male. I'm pretty sure I've uttered the words "I wish I was dead" multiple times a week.

[AlHazred]

Two years ago, I would have said I was happy. I didn't really date much anymore, since I'd had bad luck in that regard; nevertheless, I've got great friends, a decent job, and own my own home. I was happy.

Last year, I met a girl who aggressively pursued a relationship with me, despite the distance. We officially got into a relationship around Christmas last year, and next year she's moving up here to live with me. Now I know what happy can be, and realize two years ago, I was merely content.

It's amazing what the right relationship can do to your perspective.

[Monkplayer]

More than I've ever been.

[Insane Trystane]

Two years ago, I would have said I was happy. I didn't really date much anymore, since I'd had bad luck in that regard; nevertheless, I've got great friends, a decent job, and own my own home. I was happy.

Last year, I met a girl who aggressively pursued a relationship with me, despite the distance. We officially got into a relationship around Christmas last year, and next year she's moving up here to live with me. Now I know what happy can be, and realize two years ago, I was merely content.

It's amazing what the right relationship can do to your perspective.

As someone who was once capital-h Happy in a relationship, I know that now I'm merely content--but for now, content is good. Given the rough patch I was in recently, I'd prefer being content to being happy with risk of heartbreak.

I know that's not really related to what you had to say, I just wanted to put my two copper in that second place ain't bad, in my opinion. But 100% congrats that things are going well for you!

[Drynwyn]

Fallout 4 hasn't come out yet, so no. I'm not happy.

[Blackhawk748]

Im honestly not sure, i have an ok job (it pays my bills and gives me extra money to spend, plus its usually a 4 day work week), my dog is adorable, i own my car, and i should have my house paid off in about 7 years. However i am single and have been for 6 years, and i think its legitimately starting to depress me, and i think my mind is stuck in the "What the F*** is the point???" loop and that is not good either. I guess i would say im "meh" with occasional "sad" which gets overridden with "happy" when im at session.

[flat_footed]

There are ups and downs, but yeah. I'd say I am happy.

[Skeppio]

People that are happy are nothing more than smug fools who love to lord their good fortune over those spat on by fate, and mistakenly attribute good luck and genetics to their own hard work and effort.
So no, I'm not happy, and I eagerly await the day I finally get to die.

[Eldariel]

People that are happy are nothing more than smug fools who love to lord their good fortune over those spat on by fate, and mistakenly attribute good luck and genetics to their own hard work and effort.

Would you like to discuss this topic, or is this perhaps more of a vent?

[Skeppio]

Would you like to discuss this topic, or is this perhaps more of a vent?

I would, but none of you want to.

[AvatarVecna]

I would, but none of you want to.

I want to, or I wouldn't be following your Personal Woes thread as much as I am.

[HalfTangible]

More than I was. The anxiety i've felt every semester has faded over the last few weeks... and two days ago i got 4000 words written in 3 hours worth of work.

[Eldariel]

I would, but none of you want to.

This discussion would probably warrant a separate thread, but if you're still interested come next week, I'll gladly trade my few cents for yours, and hopefully we can both learn something interesting of the world. I find a fresh perspective always welcome, especially if it's outside my understanding.

[TechnOkami]

This discussion would probably warrant a separate thread, but if you're still interested come next week, I'll gladly trade my few cents for yours, and hopefully we can both learn something interesting of the world. I find a fresh perspective always welcome, especially if it's outside my understanding.

She's actually come to a much better mental state and is taking lots of good actions towards a healthier being. Granted she still might want to chat in general about that, but it's up to her, not me.

[The Fury]

In short, no. In long, I feel like maybe I could be happy with my lot in life but enough of my family members seem to think that I should be unhappy so I am. All the while I get confused when confronted with the questions, "What do I want from life? What would make me happy?" I honestly have no clue.

Then there's the fact that I'm going to need to move before next Summer. I live in an area where rent keeps going up, so even if I find a place that's livable there's a good chance that I'll get evicted after a year. I guess I have the option of quitting my job and moving in with my parents in the small town they live in, though there's not really a lot of opportunity there. So I feel like in the near future I'll have to choose between being jobless and being homeless.

Sorry, I'm probably making this out to be a bigger catastrophe than it actually is.

[Bulldog Psion]

It's amazing how much a perspective-altering event caused me to be happier.

About 2 months ago, I badly dislocated my left kneecap while trying to move a box spring solo. Fortunately, my wife, taking a shower, heard my yowls of agony and headed for the phone, so it didn't go long without treatment.

Nevertheless, for weeks, I was staggering around pretty much one-legged, on crutches. Despite physical therapy, etc., it was just impossible to get my leg to start bending again. Nobody could figure out why, there was no damage visible on x-rays and it theoretically should have been bending, but it wasn't.

Then, one day, I massaged my knee and felt something small and softish pop back into place.

Now, about a month after that happened, I can walk 95% normally again. I'm still a little slow going up stairs, but I can hike around at speed, kneel down to get stuff, sit down on the floor and stand up again, etc. For a couple of weeks, I was afraid some weird permanent damage had been done and I wouldn't be able to walk properly; I absolutely love walking outdoors, it's one of my biggest pleasures.

So, with my leg pretty much functional again, I've been in a state of nearly manic optimism for about 2 weeks now. It feels so great just to be back to normal that the problems previously oppressing me now seem relatively trivial and I'm much happier, at least temporarily!

[Bobbybobby99]

By my definition, happiness is just good luck, in sum total through your life. Hmm...

. I'm not starving, am intelligent enough to have over a 4.0 GPA, am reasonably attractive by the words of those I've met, have a wonderful dog, and no dire health problems. I'm also underweight, which is often seen as a good thing.

. My father died recently, I've never met my mother, I probably have schizoaffective disorder, and, while my father was alive, he was a druggie and alcoholic.

Soo... Moderately happy, then?

[Drynwyn]

By my definition, happiness is just good luck, in sum total through your life.

An old term for "good luck" is actually the root of the word "happiness".

[Coidzor]

I'm even less happy than I was last time I posted. Watching someone you care about die will do that though, so that's to be expected here.

Let the record show: Cancer sucks.

[Spider_Jerusalem]

It's strange how having a different native language makes you think about this sort of question whenever they appear, especially if it's a language that separates the verb be in two (one permanent "be", as in "I am a human being" and one related to current state, as in "I am tired").

That said, I wouldn't say I'm happy at the moment, but I'm not especially sad either. Things have been a bit tough during the last couple of years, but hey, I'm still up and going, you know.

You know when people ask you "where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

Well, I'd probably never guess the answer to that. During the last years I worked as a teacher in some small schools, entered a philosophy course at the university, dropped out, played in quite a few local bands, worked as a clown and as a waiter, went back to the university to study linguistics, started learning how to play the guitar, banjo, fiddle, harmonica and tin whistle. I was employed by a big school and got a decent pay, then I felt it was costing my time and my soul (and my happiness), so I quit. I moved and moved back after it didn't go well, saw some riots, became unemployed, wrote a book and somehow managed to keep DMing a decade-long D&D game with some close friends.

It may sound like a lot of stuff, but, then again, I didn't finish anything, most probably due to the lack of focusing on one thing. There's no phrase that says so much to me as "jack of all trades, master of none".

Being a Factotum sounds really nice on paper, and yeah, it made me learn a lot about life and collect lots of good stories, which I think are really something to treasure, but boy, sure it's exhausting when you're out of those inspiration points. I feel... absent, maybe.

[Eldariel]

It's strange how having a different native language makes you think about this sort of question whenever they appear, especially if it's a language that separates the verb be in two (one permanent "be", as in "I am a human being" and one related to current state, as in "I am tired").

It's even more interesting when you're bilingual (especially an early and/or simultaneous bilingual) and can approach it from the perspective of either type of a language (or even better if you're trilingual or more; I'm endlessly jealous of a friend of mine who's learned Finnish, Hungarian and German in childhood). "Switch" to thinking through the other language and suddenly the question seems entirely different. This works for a surprisingly large pool of problems.

An old term for "good luck" is actually the root of the word "happiness".

"Hap" isn't really even archaic. While that particular incarnation has a relatively low frequency and it's certainly not used in the speech act of wishing someone luck (we should collectively start wishing people "Hap to you!" and see if it caught on), the word appears in the expression "mishap" fairly often, and "hap" itself does see some use especially in literature - though also in the context of "happenstance".

[Recaiden]

I am happy.

Currently happy, persistently happy, the state of happiness.

[8BitNinja]

I am very happy

tow people put a comment I made in their signature

[Lentrax]

I feel an intense desire to revise my earlier statement about happiness.

Hell no, I'm not.

Right now I fluctuating rapidly between severely depressed and extremely angry.

Both of which send me further into depression.

So... yay.