Are You Happy?

My 15 year old dog died over a year ago and I’m still sad. So no.

Oh, hell no. When I describe my life and my feelings to ChatGPT it keeps telling me to "dial 988 and talk to someone right now"

No. I'm about to be homeless, despite working 16 hour days for the past 6 months to avoid it. I can't provide for my family. My past mistakes will never go away. I don't want to be homeless again. It's so difficult to sleep in your car when it's 80 degrees outside at night. And then you're groggy all day and get sick easier due to lack of sleep. And then there's the constant feeling that everyone at the gym is suspicious of you, maybe they know you're only working out so you can shower and have a place to be indoors during the cold winter months. It's too much. It's all too much. But God knows I'm trying my best to do what's right.

Answering a question with a question: is "happy" something that should be aimed at as a baseline, or is that setting humanity up to fail?

I'm currently sitting on the hospital bed next to my daughter who's in for an eating disorder, so I wouldn't say I'm "happy".

We're often in situations that are outside of our control that we'd prefer not to be in, therefore unlikely to be classified as "happy".

And maybe this is the mode I'm having to rationalise myself into given my current situation, but I'm currently "getting it done", "doing what I need to do", "moving forwards, slowly, but still forwards", "not letting it get on top of me".

Any of the above.

Happy, by my definition, is fleeting. I was "happy" last night when my daughter was joking around like her normal self. I was "happy" chatting to a colleague yesterday about things that don't matter, but are funny.

Maybe just the the ability (or frame of mind) to have those moments of happiness scattered throughout a day could be a secondary definition of happy? I'm which case, yes I am.

Despite the declining state of the world and my daughter's current situation, I can still notice and enjoy the few flakes of gold scattered throughout a day.

Am I happy? I don't know. But I'm not scared of or intimidated by the idea of the future; I'm an optimist. Maybe I am "happy", but, despite this essay, it's not something I spend a lot of time thinking about, I just move forwards - as slowly as that is sometimes.

Reading some of the other answers here I feel horribly privileged. I hope people are able to sort themselves out, they deserve to be able to sort themselves out.

https://desiderata.com/desiderata.html

https://www.rxjourney.net/are-you-happy

Happiness is fleeting. Does building a new computer or buying a new car make me happy? Yes, but the feeling wears off and often requires greater and greater investment to attain. Instead, I optimize for contentment. Am I content with the life I've built for myself in the place and time that I live? Absolutely.

No, and the tools to fix this properly are currently out of reach or they haven't been invented yet. My inability to focus and be able to work through the things I most care about leaves me quite unhappy.

Are you?

I live my life in a way that encourages opportunities for happiness. Every day above ground is a gift.

No. But I think I'll be much more relaxed after being laid off.

Much more so since retiring