# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/41 "2015-10-17T05:47:56Z")
I’m happy. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/42 "2015-10-17T05:51:25Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Happiness is bullshit. > > I mean, sure, there are times where I’m extremely happy or unhappy; two extremes. That’s just life. > > I think the real question should be: Are you satisfied? +1. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/43 "2015-10-17T06:38:08Z")
Overall, pretty damn happy. I do have depression and anxiety, and these last couple of years have had a lot of stressful awful things, but the end result has been a much stronger relationship with my husband, I finally started getting treatment for depression, and I’m most of the way through a big career change (I’m actually going to HAVE a career, instead of just jobs. It’s a very strange change for me). So yeah… life is still hard, I still have a lot of stress, but I’m making my way through the tough parts with my best friend by my side. Our situation is continually improving because of our efforts. It’s hard to not be satisfied with that. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/44 "2015-10-17T06:45:19Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m much happier when I don’t read threads like this one, where the OP thinks life sucks ass. Why don’t you just start a thread for people who are depressed and be done with it? A plurality of respondents are very happy, but I guess we’re embarrassed to post in here and bring up the thread. ---
**Author:** ![TheSpeculationElucidation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@TheSpeculationElucidation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSpeculationElucidation)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/45 "2015-10-17T11:05:15Z")
**CCitizen** I get the feeling that this post is more about you than about actually being curious about the rest of us - which is fine. Schopenhaur said that “Life presents itself first and foremost as a task: a task of maintaining itself… If this task is accomplished what it has gained is a burden, and then there appears the second task: That of doing something to ward off the boredom, which hovers over every secure life like a bird of prey. Thus the first task is to gain something and the second task is to be unconscious of what has been gained, which is otherwise a burden.” (Or… Something like that. Don’t quote me.) I think relative happiness is when the majority of one’s problems are gone, they are effectively distracted from boredom, and they are only rarely bothered by minor discomforts. We are creatures of growth and desire. If we feel deprived of something, then when we satiate that deprivation, we feel very happy for a while. People can can meet a long lasting state of contentment, but that contentment does not equate to bliss; in my opinion it’s a state between happiness and sadness. As for joy - immense happiness - it is fleeting. Joy is a reaction to the temporary cessation of need, it cannot be self sustaining. People who are searching for constant bliss will typically only be met with a life of disappointment. It is important to find the distractions that will ward off the boredom. You mentioned goals, so I’m guessing this makes sense to you. If you’re constantly unhappy, find new distractions because the ones you’re attempting aren’t working. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/46 "2015-10-17T12:50:56Z")
“The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time. There ain’t nothin’ to it, any fool can do it.” (James Taylor) If you want to change your life, change the words that follow, “I am…” Saying, “I suck at math!” Will cause a different future to manifest than saying, “I wish I was better at math!” The Buddhists are right when they say we create our reality. Just something to think about! ---
**Author:** ![northporlarbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@northporlarbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/northporlarbear)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/47 "2015-10-17T12:59:01Z")
I am extremely unhappy enough to consider suicide as my option this coming February. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/48 "2015-10-17T13:10:36Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > A plurality of respondents are very happy, but I guess we’re embarrassed to post in here and bring up the thread. I was loath post to this thread. Telling the OP that I’m not as miserable as he seems kind of cruel. But then I realized that I often revisit my own posts, just to see what my state of mind was “back in the old days”. It is good for future me to remember that in Oct 2015, I was doing pretty good. There are other posts where I am miserable, and I need those reminders too sometimes. I picture the OP as a human version of [Depressed Cat](http://www.funelf.net/photos/Poor-Depressed-Cat.jpg). This keeps me from wanting to throttle him. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/49 "2015-10-17T16:55:38Z")
I have a double handful of dissatisfactions (unfinished business, failed endeavors, etc) in my life but I’m fundamentally happy and cheerful. The most important personal stuff all worked out and I like my day to day existence very much. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/50 "2015-10-17T17:33:07Z")
I’m miserable [beyond my wildest dreams](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/cc/d4/30/ccd430f8f33f3d1914450a9027fa12bf.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/51 "2015-10-17T17:42:32Z")
I’ve dealt with arthritis for going on 30 years. I’ve had several failed marriages. My career is not really what I wanted to do with my life and I have been earning less, rather than more, the last couple contracts. I had a stroke a couple years ago and some of the effects still linger. Even so, I recognize that I still live better thanpeople in whole great swaths of the world. Not much has been how I wanted it, but it is still better than most people got. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/52 "2015-10-17T19:22:52Z")
> [@northporlarbear](#): > > I am extremely unhappy enough to consider suicide as my option this coming February. Any particular reason you are waiting until Feb? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/53 "2015-10-17T19:38:47Z")
Having gone from being seriously injured and disabled to holding down a job I enjoy, I can say I am happy. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/54 "2015-10-17T20:14:43Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > A plurality of respondents are very happy, but I guess we’re embarrassed to post in here and bring up the thread. We’re just not as deep. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/55 "2015-10-17T20:35:22Z")
I live in a very small world where I am king, and yes I am happy. As far as accomplishing my goals go, I never had any until I was about 50, so I guess I could say I surpassed most of them. My only real goal was to have a wife and family and live happily ever after. Still have a family all grown up, no wife, most of my money was lost but for some reason I remain happy and content. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/56 "2015-10-17T21:02:36Z")
I said so-so. I’m not unhappy but I’m not happy either. I think I’m just not built to be a happy person, although I’d like to be. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/57 "2015-10-17T23:04:01Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m much happier when I don’t read threads like this one, where the OP thinks life sucks ass. I am asking for psychic energy – not demanding it. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/58 "2015-10-17T23:06:39Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > \>\> There is more depth to unhappiness then to happiness. I am very unhappy, but not extremely unhappy. > > How would you know? You’ve never been happy. I have seen lives of people in a nursing home. Likewise life of prisoners in USA – especially Supermax prisoners. I could never imagine their suffering or level of unhappiness. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/59 "2015-10-17T23:08:42Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > The paranoia and drug abuse followed, I went through major bouts in my late teens, then my early twenties, and then my late twenties where I consumed enormous quantities of drugs, and alcohol, seeking out groups of enablers who were also escaping their own problems or - when they were a lot younger than me - just having fun. I had a lot of abusive relationships, and was accepting of them because I’d had such a ‘privileged’ upbringing. It took a long time - many years - to realise that my upbringing had not been as privileged as I thought, and the negative thoughts I was experiencing every day were just me being too hard on myself. Thank you for sharing. I hope everything gets better. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834/60 "2015-10-17T23:12:17Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > \>\> I did not achieve anything. > > Nothing that you are proud of, at least. You certainly have achieved things many people haven’t. You should at least give yourself that acknowledgement. Thank you. I am not proud of being too weak to resist parents pressuring me to achieve their goals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-a-happy-life/734834.md?page=4)