Are you....?

[Bertylicious]

So its almost like I'm in this position where I basically have to start my life over, which mostly scares me.

Do you mean like, retraining for a different career or are you talking about rebuilding your personality?

A bit of both? Mostly a shift in my social life. I don't really have a career yet, just a casual position somewhere. I'm in that phase of moving from the whole high school/university phase of my life into my career, but my the people in my life apart from my family are slipping behind me as well. So it kinda feels like entering a different world and I feel like I don't have the skills or foresight to know where to go from here, when it feels like I'm supposed to.

If I have only learned one thing in my life it is that everyone is basically just making it up as they go along. So just do the best you can and go for a career with a little prestige. You'll be fine.

Also, not sure if it's relevant, one of the issues I've had in my life is that I am utterly self-centred, but I lived in denial of this fact for many years. Being self-centred isn't the same as being selfish of course but it plays in to my earlier comment about certain people not being able to find the same kind of happiness. The OP has the white picket fence, ideal wife and a child he likes because it doesn't make much noise but I'm sure there is an ugly side to it all that we've not been told about.

Maybe in 16 years when his sister in law is trying to get him to sponser yet another of her husband's doomed-to-fail quick cash scheme and his parents start falling down all the time and going to bits then it won't look so rosey. You'll be there living a life that is good for you but with entirely different problems.

 

[Shockolate]

Nope.

Depression is a ***** like that.

I am lucky for what I have.

I don't have anything else because I'm an idiot and a failure.

 

[Snowbell]

I'm not particularly happy, I don't enjoy life, I'm not very good at it, if it were a game I'd be ranked pretty low on the leaderboard. I'm also up to my ears in body issues (I'm pretty certain that my ears are actually the only part of me I like) so all in all, I'm not enjoying this whole 'living' thing.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Happiness is a bad metric for measuring one's sense of self. What people are really looking for (or rather, should be looking for) is contentment. Happiness is subject to change based on random occurrences that pass during the day. Contentment is a much better thing to have because it means no matter how your day goes, you'll still be able to wake up the next morning without feeling like shit.

This.

So....am I content?

More or less.

A summer job to get the money coming in would be nice. Oh, and my provincial government is cracking down on the student protests with BS laws that they're abusing, which is bothering me due to how badly this could blow up in everyone's faces.

Aside from that, I have no complaints. I have good girlfriend, I'm helping write a game story, I'm taking an easy peasy summer course, and I'm going to Anime North this weekend. So I'm doing pretty well.

 

[Guffe]

Yeah I am happy.
I got a job, got friends, work out pretty much, trying to get into school (police) and generally healthy.
Nothing to complain about

 

[phyrexian]

Short answer: no.

I wish I could say I was, but I'm really not. It doesn't help that I refuse to talk to people about specifics, even when they claim to be there for me, no matter what (I'm especially awkward, suspicious and untrusting towards those I love).

I have social phobia, which limits how many people are actually in my life, and BPD, which makes most of my interpersonal relationships quite difficult. I wish I could open up to people - even my therapists, with their fancy degrees and anti-depressants, have difficulty getting anything out of me - but I just can't. I get defensive and angry really quickly whenever I try because I hate being so vulnerable like that. But I'm so miserable that it's gotten to the point where I'm physically hurting myself again, as well as mentally.

I think I tried to talk to my boyfriend about how I was feeling. But he doesn't believe in personality disorders, and said I was just hormonal. Yep, never doing that again.

Oddly enough, it's easy for me to post this on a site full of strangers, but to tell this to my friends and family? I'd rather run screaming down the street. Naked. On fire.

 

[xWestie]

I've never actually sat down to think about it... but.. I'm half and half, really.
Theres been alot of upset for me the last few years, involving my family and friends. I've been betrayed alot by my own parents, and alot of people don't seem to say in my life long. I don't know if thats me; if I'm a horrible person, or I'm too trusting and get stomped all over. My own mother is no longer in my life because she has betrayed my family in so many disgusting ways that I can't even bare to look at her anymore. I don't get along well with my father, but for the moment, I suppose he's here for me. My boyfriend I was completely in love with, and I still am, but as I've said in another thread, these last few weeks I feel quite betrayed by him and it's confusing me what he wants and what I should do. I don't want him out of my life too, he's been the most important person in my life for the last 3 years nearly, and we've been very close friends even longer than that.

Job wise... I'm not particularly happy with the job I'm doing.. it's boring and very long hours for 4 days, but on the plus side I 4 days off afterwards, and I get twice as much as I did in my old job. I love the people there and I'm making some quite good friends there now I'm getting to know everyone better.

As for where I'm living (and I don't know whats going to happen to that at the moment, given the circumstances with my bf), I'm happy with. I'm finally living away from my controlling parents and have money I can do what I want with. I've time to myself and can do things on my own. It's not a big place, but its home and I'm happy with it. I've got two good neighbours living in bedsits in the rooms above my flat, and a good neighbour a couple of doors away, so I've always someone to talk to it I need it.

Capcha: Finger lickin good
orly?

 

[bojackx]

Yep, I'd say I'm happy. I got money, a nice home, nice family and lots of friends. The only thing absent from making my life really great is a girlfriend, and decent social skills.

With the exams being so close, I'm a bit stressed about it, but it's certainly not making me unhappy.

 

[AstylahAthrys]

Hahaha. Nope. Too much family drama right now for me to be happy. It's overwhelming. I was happy a few nights ago when I drank with my best friend out of plastic Avengers cups, she did my make-up drunk and we partied just the two of us, but those nights are rare. I'm better than I used to be, though. I've had clinical depression for 5 years and I'm certainly better off than I was back then. So I may not be happy, but I guess I'm alright.

 

[likalaruku]

My grandmother just died, so I'm miserable. I was her caretaker for a living, so on top of everything reminding me of her & having to live with her crying children (my elderly mother & uncle), I'm also out of a job & have to look for a new one. I've also reverted into a sort of hermit & a night-person while being a caretaker, so I'm not looking forward being outside during daylight hours.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Normally I could answer the question with a very simple, yes! Lately not so much, I'm kinda in a bad place.

I'm an optimist however, always have been, screw pessimism. My optimism keeps me going. I've realized that every single problem I have with my life (there's a lot of little things) can be fixed by A) sorting out my insomnia, and B) getting a job, any job really. If I have those two things, everything else will fall into place, fix itself or be fixed soon after, and I'll be the happiest I've ever been. THAT is what drives me. Figuring out exactly what I have to do to improve things, and working on them.

So I'm seeking out the best doctors right now to help with my insomnia. I'm also going to basically make looking for a job BE my job. I'll get into a routine where I spend 4 hours a day applying for jobs online, making little excel spreadsheets of every job I've applied for, information on it, and contact numbers (which I can call up later to express my interest personally and show that initiative etc) as well as handing out my resumes at places I know are hiring.

That's how you sort out problems in life, you find the root of the problem, and attack it with all you've got. Generally I find that even if you have a lot of problems, they can be fixed with just a few steps, you've just got to think about exactly what you need, and not be lazy about doing it.

 

[Don Savik]

No. I have my good moods and bad moods, but I can't look at myself as a whole and go "that's a competent member of society who is achieving something". I've been stuck in a depression rut for the longest time with no help, and its only been causing my self esteem to reach critical low. Eventually I am going to be forced out to get a job and go to school, but I can't see myself doing anything but a shitty retail job with a tech school edjucation for bullshit, no girlfriend and maybe a shitty apartment for the rest of my life. I have no redeeming qualities or skills that benefit a job or profession, and no interest in any particular field. I'm terrible with conversation and extremely shy. I have zero clue on what to start with, and its just making me feel lost.

 

[Don Savik]

2. Been an introvert for over 10 years, very few friends, never went out, my general personality puts me at odds with practically everyone. A deist, PC gamer, likes warhammer, has very strange humor, etc. Basically, I have nothing in common with the majority of the real world. It was worse at the school I attended, which was a waste of time. They put more stock into socialization than actual learning. It got so bad that I had to go to an alternative independent study program, right before the school got into legal trouble. Basically, I had extremely few friends in my entire student "career." My future is pretty bleak, considering the economy will saddle me with debt and lack of college funds due to my Aunt sucking the money out of my family. I also got a notice from the government saying I am not eligible for grants for college because they misplaced my credentials.

I feel for ya man I really do. Your school life sounds exactly like what I dread is going to happen to me when and if I start working. And this is coming from a severely shy introvert, atheist, pc gamer, likes warhammer 40k, strange sense of humor person. At least you have a family that you seem to connect with, mine just treats me like the fifth wheel no matter how much they say they care. I don't want to exchange sob stories here, just trying to make a connection to help understand my situation because nobody I tell seems to take what I say seriously.

captcha: face the music

I don't wanna :C

 

[Aetera]

I'm not happy. I'm mentally ill. Mood/personality disorders. My last visit to the psych ward even got me diagnosed with, on top of my other stuff, dysthymia, which is more or less the long-term inability to be happy. My new medication also has awful side effects.

Go me!

Also, failed out of college, unemployed, single, etc. etc. etc.

Not exactly a happy camper at the moment.

 

[bobajob]

I was in the same sitch 2 months back, got laid off outta nowhere then caught flu & was struggling to get back into that line of work due to lack of experience, all fairly good reasons for being unhappy, no? So I started Microsoft MCDST cert & found an employer in London(bit of a commute)who will hire me provided I pass the exam. Fuck this moping around being poor. I miss alcohol!
Bloody skint & I will have to get a loan to pay for the feckin' train season ticket at first but my family will thank me & I will be in a job I love. Then maybe I can work towards getting a goddamn driving license.

 

[neoontime]

Well other than the constant depression.... I"m FINALLLY graduating so FUCK YEAH!!

 

[piinyouri]

I'm happy enough.
And certainly overall happier than I was 5-6 years ago.