Is it me or does everyone seem to be very unhappy?

I quit my job two days ago (without another job lined up but thankfully a company I interviewed with offered me a job that same afternoon). I was only there for a few months and even though I was making very good money, I was extremely unhappy there. Actually, I've been making good money, I bought my dream car two years ago, I have enough money saved up to go without an income for a few years yet none of it made me happy. My mistake was accumulating wealth and buying nice stuff instead of pursuing my dreams.

I've noticed that it's not just me, I live in a major metropolitan area with high median ncomes but terrible traffic, overcrowding, stressful jobs and everyone around me does not seem to be happy. Just about everyone I know hate their jobs, make good money but have very high debt, have personal issues like broken marriages or impending divorces, the list goes on. No wonder alcoholism, opioid abuse, divorce rates are all on the rise.

So are you all happy and I'm the outlier?

I like my job but continuing it as I'd like seems to go against the advice of others. Funny, that.

Life is a bitch.

Not me. I'm happy. Of course, if a loved one died, it's a different story. Otherwise, I'm happy with my lot in life.

I'm working my dream job, married to my dream woman... the only thing that could improve is our living arrangements, but we make do till we can afford more. Happiness is about finding a job doing what you love. Getting up every morning, looking forward to going into work is the greatest feeling in the world.

Anytime I think about or am confronted with any of the realities of my life I get pretty sad. For example, I was getting x-rays done yesterday and as the pretty radiologist or whatever she was was adjusting and lining up my hips for the shot I realized this was the closest to being intimately touched by cute girl my age I've ever been. This was quite depressing. I realize how absurd and pathetic this sounds but I'm being serious.

Also, one month waiting period for physiotherapy, ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.....................

@GalvatronType_R: Consider now, if you say you have enough money saved to go a few years without income, then I am assuming you do not have debt as opposed to the people you know who do have debt. day night difference there. most of those miserable people you are referring to would die to be in your shoes with no debt.

Yes and we have social media to blame for it.

I don't really blame social media or any particular group for unhappiness. I think that's just how life would have been for me no matter what.

People don't like anyone who is a tiny bit different, or who doesn't conform to the norm. They are all kind of selfish and are all kind of hypocrites, and don't really empathize or try to see things from other points of view. They fall into the habit of blaming the convenient scapegoat and cycling through the same old arguments time and time again, without getting down to the real issues. Likewise, they fail to question their own thoughts and don't seriously think about whether their solution will cause more issues.

Nobody is friendly anymore, they're all kind of weird and cautious anymore...not that I can blame them since you hear about murders and attacks and other screwed up things frequently in the news. It's difficult to find friends and to lead a normal life in society, and oftentimes people who seem like friends will just grow apart from you or use you for things and then come and go as they please. Women complain about wanting equality, but perpetuate the primal instinct for inequality by being much more selective and judgmental than men who are actually willing to compromise.

You'll get it from the right, you'll get it from the left, you'll get it from what sometimes seems like just about everyone in the world and you'll feel alone in your beliefs and values. And they'll either argue with you about why you're supposedly wrong, or support you but go well beyond your point and hold some hateful, extremist view on the subject that really just kind of makes it harder for your voice to be heard. No other person in this world will ever understand the world through your eyes.

Everything comes down to money, location, health and success. And if you don't have it, you'll be wallowing in your despair for many years to come.

@GalvatronType_R:

I'm content. Does that count as happy? Y'know, things are fine but they definitely could be better.

Idgaf about money, getting married, driving a nice car, etc

I just focus on producing music, enjoying my hobbies, etc because that's all that really matters in the long run

Nah, I hate my life.

People get it very easy these days but act like they're are getting bombed in Syria or something.

Generally dislike those kind of folk.

I'd say that -you- certainly seem unhappy.

-Byshop

So, here's the thing. I wager that a LOT of people are unhappy, but I honestly sort of doubt that that's really anything new. Throughout much of human history, poverty has been rampant, infant mortality was through the roof, and there was always the lingering notion that you'd starve to death. So yeah...I'd wager that most people aren't happy with their jobs. So what?

Which brings me to the notion that we're SUPPOSED to be "happy". Which is also a weird notion because "happiness" is so poorly defined. I have constant access to air conditioning and heating, enough access to food to ensure that my family is always fed, in addition to the money to give my kids a great education. But...but...I don't like my job. So I'm gonna throw that away so that I can do something that I can enjoy.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, as long as you have the luxury of making that kind of life change. But that kind of brings me to another point. Sure, a lot of people are "unhappy" with their jobs and careers, but I just hope you realize how privileged one has to be to throw away that kind of security in the pursuit of happiness. By all means, RESPONSIBLY pursue a job that makes you happy. But please be aware that for the VAST majority of people who ever lived, the very notion of doing such a thing was absolutely insane. Don't lose sight of what you already have. The very fact that you're ABLE to do this ought to indicate that things aren't really THAT bad. For most of humanity, there simply hasn't ever been the OPTION of dropping everything in order to try to be happy.

Well 90% of everything is shit. Music, movies etc. but also life.

90% of people have lives that 90% consists of shit. If we didn't have survival instinct or cared so much about the people close to us, most of us would've committed suicide long time ago, cause life just isn't worth living.

I have a great marriage, a great kid, don't love my job but it pays quite well (and I don't have a dream job so it isn't getting in the way of anything). I have no debt and the biggest stress in my life is that I don't have enough time to just chill and spend time with my family but that can't really be helped so I'd say I'm quite happy....unless someone wants to pay me to stay home and play video games all day...then I'll be REALLY happy.

You should use the NHS, beautiful in concept, completely shit in practice.

I went through rough patch a couple months ago, but this has been one of the happiest years for me. I def agree with you. Working towards goals you are passionate about is much better then following the herd

I'm not miserable, but I'm not happy either. Mostly to do with the fact that at 39 I'm fairly lonely. I've never been in any serious relationship with a woman nor ever been in love. My sexual experiences date back to my teens and that life is non-existent currently and I'm frustrated in that sense. Mostly this is all socially related, I've an incredibly difficult time connecting to others. I think something about me just gives off a hostile vibe but I can't seem to fix it.

I'm working towards a degree to get out on my own though so I'm going to wait to see if that improves anything, but even being in college doesn't seem to help so I don't have my hopes up very high.

@xdude85: such a short, simple comment and honest by the looks of it, yet you just made me laugh out loud with that, man. I hate my life too, buddy. Every single obstacle in my life has taken some amount of work to get past, but they were all manageable. Except one. Getting a good-paying job is the most frustrating, most infuriating, nail-biting, hair-pulling, punching the wall, smashing a keyboard, hardest obstacle in life. After all the school and the volunteer work, I can't fucking get out of retail. So I'm going into a manufacturing job tomorrow and we'll see how it goes.

But yeah, I hate my life too.

I keep reading your comment in my head with cobain's voice and he definitely said that so yeah.

eh. i get bummed w/ my position in life from time to time like anyone but i like to think i'm able to take a step back and realize how fucking incredible and comfortable my life is when compared to many many other people.

i don't think most people are happy or unhappy. i think sometimes they're happy, sometimes they're unhappy.

I live a pretty miserable life.35+ no parents,no wife,no kids, all alone.Very Hard Working Sales Job with a no excuse new manager up my ass.I feel like killing myself.Money is not a issue,The Lonliness gets me?

I heard on the radio the other day that a study from Harvard concluded money DOES in fact buy happiness. So who are you tryin' to fool?

I feel rather content at the moment.

Everyone I know has issues and aren't totally content with their lives. I keep it simple and pace myself. My life was rather miserable for 2 decades, and now that's out of the way, I don't really have any excuses to be miserable.

Just peachy..just living a simple carefree life atm...do what I want..living the way I want. My work is okay..just gotta put up with old senile boss...but that's just during work time..outside of that..its great. :)

Google a TED talk by Guy Winch on the topic of Emotional First Aid.

I recommend watching it to people in my company as part of mental health awareness fairly often. It is all around excellent and has a loneliness portion.

It is about 20mins in length. And yes I am serious.

@GalvatronType_R: When people are disconnected from nature and a good community they tend to suffer for it, especially when they settle instead of going for their dreams. I suggest leaving the city and trying to find somewhere beautiful that fits your tastes in nature.

Will check it out.Thanks man :)

I've pretty much figured out that chasing happiness as something that will occur in the future due to some supposed change is a fools errand. Your happiness meter may peg for a while but you'll always fall back to your baseline level of happiness. I suppose one has to be happy in the moment no matter what the situation. There are people like that and you know what? They seem happy. But alas I can't seem to figure out how to be content and happy where I'm at, in the here and now. Although I'm somewhat a failure at my own advice I'd suggest a deep look inside as to why you're not happy rather than chasing the next thing that will make you happy.

Hmm, I feel that people seem happier than they really are. Like I'm the odd one out. Social media will do that. I mean, I recognize that many people aren't as happy as they seem, I just don't know who exactly.

I think you would be a lot happier if help others in accomplishing their dreams. You can start by donating your car to me. lol

it´s not just you, says not happy guy

You seem very chipper to me, my son.