# Do you live a happy life? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834 "2015-10-16T18:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/1 "2015-10-16T18:57:07Z")
In general how satisfactory is your life? Did you achieve most of your goals? ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/2 "2015-10-16T19:10:46Z")
I am really curious on how most people live – people who do not have Autism and Depression and are independent. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/3 "2015-10-16T19:13:01Z")
Here we go again. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/4 "2015-10-16T19:14:23Z")
Your OP and your poll question are different. My life is very satisfactory, I have exceeded most of my goals, but I am always very unhappy. I’m just built that way. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/5 "2015-10-16T19:15:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Your OP and your poll question are different. My life is very satisfactory, I have exceeded most of my goals, but I am always very unhappy. I’m just built that way. I also suffer Depression. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/6 "2015-10-16T19:25:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Your OP and your poll question are different. My life is very satisfactory, I have exceeded most of my goals, but I am always very unhappy. I’m just built that way. And I’m the opposite. I mean, my life is satisfactory, but it’s been a lot different than I planned, and certainly some dreams will never happen now, and it’s had its share of ups and downs. But I’m happy. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/7 "2015-10-16T19:29:55Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > In general how satisfactory is your life? Did you achieve most of your goals? My life is more than satisfactory. I have achieved most of my goals. I also have depression and anxiety, and yet, I am happy. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/8 "2015-10-16T19:34:34Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > My life is more than satisfactory. I have achieved most of my goals. I also have depression and anxiety, and yet, I am happy. I did not achieve anything. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/9 "2015-10-16T19:57:35Z")
None of us will achieve anything. We give birth astride a grave. Can there be misery…(yawns)…loftier than mine? – Thanx and a tip o’ the hat to Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett! ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/10 "2015-10-16T20:12:26Z")
I just had one of the happiest summers of my life, and while I’ve had one major disaster and several setbacks in life, and I ended up in a profession I never would have guessed I’d be in, it has worked out well for me professionally and I’ll leave quite a legacy in my wake. My default mood is happy, so that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/11 "2015-10-16T20:26:49Z")
I’ve accomplished everything on my bucket list that I can, without winning the lottery. I’m miserable. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/12 "2015-10-16T20:36:00Z")
> [@bup](#): > > And I’m the opposite. I mean, my life is satisfactory, but it’s been a lot different than I planned, and certainly some dreams will never happen now, and it’s had its share of ups and downs. > > But I’m happy. At least I’m happy for you… > [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > My life is more than satisfactory. I have achieved most of my goals. I also have depression and anxiety, and yet, I am happy. and very happy for you. ---
**Author:** ![Whitney\_Harper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@Whitney\_Harper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitney_Harper)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/13 "2015-10-16T20:52:43Z")
I’ve lived an OK life, and have had some highs and lows as most people have experienced. Things could have been worse, but things could have been better. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/14 "2015-10-16T20:53:25Z")
I think it’s funny that you have three levels of unhappiness, all the way down to “extremely unhappy,” but the happiest you can possibly be is “very happy.” Anyway, that’s me. I’m very happy with just about every aspect of my life. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/15 "2015-10-16T20:56:16Z")
> [@Whitney\_Harper](#): > > I’ve lived an OK life, and have had some highs and lows as most people have experienced. Things could have been worse, but things could have been better. My life could have been much worse. Thank G-d I am not homeless, nor a drug addict. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/16 "2015-10-16T20:56:52Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > I did not achieve anything. Aren’t you the guy with the PhD in math? That’s an achievement, even if you don’t like math. Didn’t you have to publish some original research to obtain that degree? You expanded the frontier of human knowledge, in however small a way. I mean, I’m depressed too, and I voted “unhappy” in the poll. But I recognize I have achieved some things in my life. I have an honorable discharge from the military, I got an engineering degree and a decent job as an engineer. I bought a house. I have a great wife and kid. I’m still depressed and unhappy at this point in my life, but I’m not going to fool myself into thinking I’m worthless. It’s just chemicals sloshing around in my head the wrong way. Sometimes trying to look at your life objectively, or from the point of view of an outsider, takes the sting out of depression. I’m depressed and unhappy, and certainly have made a lot of bad decisions in life, and I’m not where I want to be, but I’m not worthless; and my life has had some ups as well as downs, even if I could only recognize the ups in hindsight, at a distance. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt. Nobody is as bad as depressed people think they are. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/17 "2015-10-16T20:57:16Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > I think it’s funny that you have three levels of unhappiness, all the way down to “extremely unhappy,” but the happiest you can possibly be is “very happy.” Anyway, that’s me. I’m very happy with just about every aspect of my life. There is more depth to unhappiness then to happiness. I am very unhappy, but not extremely unhappy. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/18 "2015-10-16T20:58:31Z")
Very happy. Doesn’t stop me from complaining. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/19 "2015-10-16T20:58:32Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Aren’t you the guy with the PhD in math? That’s an achievement, even if you don’t like math. Didn’t you have to publish some original research to obtain that degree? You expanded the frontier of human knowledge, in however small a way. Given that I hate Math with passion it is not an achievement. I did not want that degree. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/20 "2015-10-16T21:09:45Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > There is more depth to unhappiness then to happiness. I am very unhappy, but not extremely unhappy. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834.md?page=2)