this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2026
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I don't mean like how happy you are today. I mean overall, are you satisfied with everything you are up until this point? For me, for an example, I have a decent job that keeps my head just above water. I have a loving family that I see every couple months or weeks. I have the freedom to do what I want, when I want. But, overall, I'm sort of lonely and exhausted from constantly working. So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'm about a 6.

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[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago
[–] Oberyn@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Not at all

If reincarnation real , want choice in the matter , be reborn as "living" doll thing can still like move around and shit but experiences neither (life|death)

Just want to exist effortlessly

[–] AskewLord@piefed.social 5 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

my life is pretty great. I love it.

What i don't love, however, is inviting people into my life only for them to tell me how crappy it is because it's not the life they want. I don't really socialize anymore because I am so sick of people telling me how wrong my life is because I don't enjoy what they enjoy or want what they want. fore example, i drive a 10 year old hatchback, and almost everyone new I meet, when they learn this, lectures me no how I should drive a 'better' car, and it should be a BMW SUV or something like that, and all it is them projecting their desires onto me. and if i dare say something like 'I'm good with what I have' I get a lecture about how I must be mentally ill or stupid. How could I possible be happy with my 'crap' car? my job, my home, my dog, etc.

I used to have lots of friends, but the past 5-10 years it's dwindled to like 3 people. Because I shut people like this out of my life once they start talking to me like this. And it's prevented me from making any new friends. I am so SICK of inviting people over to my place only to get this full on lecture about how 'offended' they are I don't live in a million dollar luxury apartment, because my place is 'shithole' if it doesn't have $5000 luxury appliances or something stupid like that.

I keep trying to meet new people, keep trying to date, etc, but this is the massive roadblock I keep running into. I am so sick of it and it makes me unhappy, so I basically don't socialize much anymore. Because I like being happy and not interacting with twats who think I need a therapist if my salary isn't 500K.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Probably about a 7. I need more time, space, and security and there are some choices that I made that were correct but cost me things I did value, but overall I have a happy marriage, good friends, a nice community, a decent career that I haven't fucked up too badly, and I don't think I've really fucked up in any of the major important choices in my life.

2024 was a particularly difficult year for me, and even then I was satisfied with a lot of my life, just struggling against it being difficult at the time.

When I have a permanent job and ideally own a small house or condo it'll probably bump up a point or two

[–] The_Almighty_Walrus@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Not great. Feels like I'm about 10 years behind where I should be.

29, living with my folks, just started being able to save some money last year. I have a 2 year degree and a half decent job but it's by no means a career. Trying to move to another state soon to be with long distance SO but can't manage to move to the next town over at the moment.

[–] Reygle@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'm at a 2.3.

I'm probably older than most here, in my late 40s. Haven't had a date or even had the guts to ask anyone for 20 years. I have hobbies but I've reached the limit for what I can justify putting in to the financially and over time the enjoyment of them has dropped.

Overall I'm dissatisfied with almost everything about my professional life. At work I'm surrounded by (at best) unthinking people and at worst, out-and-out [rule 6 no US politics] - one of whom I'm (very closely) related to. I cannot find a suitable replacement (or an even worse, but happier in life) job to replace it with. My workplace refuses to provide me with health insurance and thanks to the [rule 6 no us politics] and their cronies I've lost access to the healthcare I've had in previous years, (ACA) because the cost through it has more than quadrupled. Haven't had dental coverage for my entire adult life, and they're bad. At this point if I COULD afford to go to the dentist I already know the response. "They've got to go, we'll fit you for dentures" is the answer I'd hear.

Now on the weekends, or days off? I can forget about enough of the week to feel like more of a 5 to 7. I'm lonely but can do what I want, when I want, like OP said. Admittedly I have a fairly ok amount of money, a moderate amount of savings, and relative financial freedom, but a year or more unemployed and I'd be back to poverty.

My real life friends from school either left me behind, had kids and I can't relate to their lives, (not that it would matter, they have no time) or moved away, went bonkers, [rule 6 no us politics, but you know] and in some cases have died. The best friends I have, (A whopping 2 of them) I have never met in real life. One half-way across the country and one 2/3 of the way across the country. (US)
At this point I'm considering asking one of those 2 friends if I can leave this all behind, cram all the most important possestions I have in to the car, and pay them rent for a while, to just leave all of this behind.

I have no idea what they'd say if I asked.

[–] Cantaloupe877@lemmy.world 5 points 13 hours ago

4/10 - I am lucky to have the things I have, but my motivation is nonexistent, everything feels pointless and empty and I only watch as the world decays more day by day. Our next generation probably has either a nuclear end or an AI dystopia to inherit.

I'd like a refund.

[–] romanticremedy@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

3 or 4. Used to be around 1 last year.

There was a wave of bad events and bad decisions screwed up my life and career. I see some signs of improvement but not enough to say it has passed.

Can elaborate if anyone is interested

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Elaborate only if you want.

But I'm rooting for your success homie.

[–] romanticremedy@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 48 minutes ago* (last edited 47 minutes ago)

Thanks kind stranger! I appreciate it

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 4 points 14 hours ago

7/10. Good job, good family. Just frustrating that it took a lot of stress and worry to get here, especially financially. Finally doing well but all of that is tempered by saving as much as possible due to basically having been poor up until about a decade ago, so even though we’re doing ok it’s kinda hard to enjoy because all of it goes to catching up for not having money for so long. Really sobering to understand that most people will never have the chance to “catch up.”

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 4 points 14 hours ago

Less than I should be. I'm honestly blessed. I won the generic and familial lottery. I'm tall, and despite being pretty lazy, in fairly good shape. While not super loaded, my family is solid upper middle class. Like I didn't go to a private school, but if I'm hurting they will usually bail me out. I inherited property after graduating college. I have a fairly successful, if not inconsistent, business.

But I'm still sad most days. That might be because of the current US administration's bullshit.

Objectively, I'm a solid 9/10. But I feel like 5/6 on most days in terms of happiness.

[–] krowbear@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

8/10 Many of the things I've wanted to do I've gotten to do. I have two sweet kids, though they're more exhausting than I pictured. I've had jobs I've enjoyed and even make a little bit of money while I work towards my dream job of being a comedian. I have a girlfriend who loves me despite my chaotic life.

[–] daggermoon@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

I'm pretty unhappy ngl. Shitty job, late '20s, never kissed a girl, can't drive a car, and I still live with my parents. I'm one again working on self-improvement. I'm learning to forgive myself for past mistakes and failures. I'm told I'm overly critical of my self. I didn't think I deserved to love myself for most of my life. It's something i'm working on. I'm getting better in that regard. I don't know where to go from there.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 17 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

0/10 - Cancer surgery in 11 days.

[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 7 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Don't know if it helps, but having had cancer, it's not the worst thing out there.

I'd rank years of dialysis higher, for example.

Death of a loved one too, easily.

With the cancer, you either know you'll die fast and even get an estimate. But other stuff just slowly kills you and robs you of years of opportunity you can never get back, and you don't know if you might die next month, next week, or next year.

Getting a chance to know you're dying is a luxury, by few realize it. Heck even the foresight of it the possibility is. But the long term stuff? The slow, unsure deaths? That's... Well, like I said, I don't know if it helps, but I'll say it could be much, much, much worse. Consider you'll have time to prepare at least. It's not much, it's still a shit situation. Don't know if you had the chemo yet and yeah, that's pretty shit. But maybe realizing you have preparation time and a pretty black and white outcome can raise that 0 to a 1 or 2.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Chemo depends on the results of the surgery. Right now, it's stage 2 which is resolved with surgery. If it gets into the lymph nodes, that bumps it to stage 3 and requires chemo.

So they pull the entire sigmoid colon and the related lymph nodes and send it all off for biopsy.

[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

You should ask if maybe it's best to do a round or two anyway as a preventative measure of they think it's possible for it to hang around after the surgery. Better than waiting around for it to get worse, and while chemo is shitty 2 rounds max should be extremely tolerable.

Only thing though, is that if you do plan on having kids at any point in the future, you should look into reproductive freezing before starting chemo; especially if you're already in your late 20s or beyond. They don't necessarily tell you that - I luckily found out that's important the night before my first chemo was planned.

Then again, you might also be in the USA where that might not be an affordable option.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Maybe not affordable and I wonder to if it's like an anti-biotic. Once you start, you commit to the entire treatment.

We'll see what the docs say once, you know, I get gutted like a fish. 😉 I already got cracked open like a lobster for the open heart surgery, what's one more?

[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

We need a bone cracked club shirt too lol

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

My wife says I'm not allowed to buy her the fun shirts:

so I have to settle:

[–] ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Hopefully it all goes well! How would you rate it if it's a successful procedure and you recover completely ?

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 3 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (2 children)

Hard to say, recovery is going to be a bitch because, get this... 12 days after my diagnosis, 1 day before the CT Scan and 2 days before meeting the surgeon, my wife felt a numbness and tingling in her legs, tried to stand up and fell to the floor.

An infection she had been fighting in her foot moved to her spine and tried to paralyze her(!) She had emergency surgery on her spine that night, a lower leg amputation a few days later, and has now been in the hospital... (checks math) 14 days.

So there's a real possibility we'll both be hospitalized at the same time or, best case, in surgical recovery at the same time. She can't come home until she completes rehab for the nerve damage and amputation.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Well fuck that's a brutally rough patch

Oh man, what can I even say. What a difficult situation to be in, I feel for you both. Hopefully your wife and you recover well and quickly. Damn. 😔🙏

[–] 87Six@lemmy.zip 2 points 21 hours ago

I see the clippy

O7 hope all goes well because we can't afford to lose soldiers

[–] romanticremedy@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 14 hours ago

Remeber folks, happiness is a journey, not a destination.

[–] gigastasio@sh.itjust.works 12 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

If I had been asked this fifteen years ago, I’d have said 0/10. I was a time bomb. I quite literally wanted to die and take everyone with me. I was in a marriage with a spouse who was emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive. We had two kids I couldn’t summon the ability to be a good father to because my mental health was in the toilet. I had the career I thought I had always wanted but I dreaded going to work because I was surrounded by hostility by absolutely everyone I served. And I was not earning enough to make any of this bearable. I slogged through my waking hours filled with a rage and hate that was getting harder and harder to keep bottled up.

Eventually I did implode, and it was extremely ugly, and I ended up involuntarily institutionalized for a couple years. Spouse made it all about her and managed to convince everyone in her circle that she was the hero and I was the villain and turned everyone against me, including my kids.

I was in pretty intense therapy for a few years, and during that time I learned a lot not only about myself, but about the people in my life, and what they actually were. I put that knowledge to work once I was in a position to put my life back together.

Today I have a new home, new job, and new friends and family connections that include almost no one from my past. The hardest part is living with the regret of the damage I did to people who didn’t deserve it at the time. But today I have a new son, and while I wish I could have made my relationship with his mom work, at least we still get along and coparent well. New job is demanding of my time but I’m good at it, am respected by my coworkers, and enjoy the work. I give it a solid 7/10 and improving slowly. But man I low-crawled though Hell to get here.

[–] swab148@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 15 hours ago

Right now, things are actually looking up! Got a new job that's pretty interesting, possibly a new partner pretty soon, and a new band that's coming together pretty well! I'm diggin' it, 8/10!

[–] jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Honestly? The last few years have been like a slow motion Trainwreck. My wife developed serious chronic health issues a few years ago and I've been unemployed for almost a year and a half. We've gone from being in a very good financial position to being virtually bankrupt. It has not been a good time.

[–] pipi1234@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

Sorry to hear that.

I wish you the best for years to come.

You might want to consider meditation, it helps a lot with dealing with difficult situations.

You can try Anapana in the beginning and Vipassana later, but really any meditation will help.

The key is to start small, maybe 2-3 minutes and gradually extend it.

Try not to stress about it and test which technique works best for you.

Ping me if you want to talk some more about this or anything else ;-)

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I've gone through very similar experiences, I actually never pulled out and ended up basically losing everything. Started over a few years back.

I mean, it all fucking sucks but I think after actually facing the worst-cases and living through it, you feel far less anxious about a lot of the smaller stuff.

But if I could recommend one thing, it would be consider looking into therapy ahead of time and making time for it. Being a caregiver and having the full responsibility on your shoulders to make things work is more than traumatic, it can destroy you. PTSD is a constant presence in my life and it doesn't work like media portrays it, it's just a constant, gnawing anxiety and despair that doesn't go away even when things are fine. Your brain keeps looking for reasons for the feelings and throws you all kinds of narratives that you have to manually address and squash down every day or it will spiral in your mind and get worse and worse. Not fun. Would not recommend.

I've been seriously thinking I need to go back to therapy. Thanks for the motivation!

[–] classic@fedia.io 11 points 1 day ago

I'll finish a game that I've lost to be sportsmanlike, and that's where I'm at in general

[–] 87Six@lemmy.zip 6 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Probably 5/10

Good job, shit love life, decent family life, good friends, the rest of the world is fucked to no end

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 7 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Depressed, 3/10.

Idk how to be independent so I'm stuck with my family of origin.

Anxious all the time, hearing Cantonese being spoken triggers me.

One thing I do appreciate is somehow the universe let me out of China, so now at least I can watch Youtube videos in depression, can't imagine having to live behind the firewall. I personally didn't even have internet when I was in China.

Could be worse so... eh...

FUCK TRUMP FUCK XI FUCK PUTIN

DOWN WITH THE CCP

DEATH TO XI JINPING

Lol that feels so good, this would've been illegal to say in China xD

My mom used to be 70% love 30% abuse, now its like 20% love 80% abuse. My older brother acts so threatening.

Seriously, if I had an older sister instead, maybe it would be more peaceful. I feel like males are just so aggressive, and I'm saying this as a dude...

well I mean my mom is also aggressive so... eh... idk honestly.

2/10 now that I have talk about it and it make me more depressed and I just feel like my soul melted into a puddle of depression again.

[–] 87Six@lemmy.zip 4 points 21 hours ago

Don't be sad, you're based as fuck. You already told us a bunch about yourself and from all that you really couldn't be very happy right now.

If it helps in any way, I think you're making the most out of the things that improve your mood, because after all the shit that went on in your life, I'd score a 0/10 if I were you.

[–] you_are_dust@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

I have a job that gets me by. I'm not in a terrible financial place, but I'm not where I want to be. The stress from financial stuff is less than in the past. I have great kids. I have cats that love to piss me off as much as they love me. Sometimes I'm lonely when it's just me and the cats. 7 out of 10. C sounds about right.

[–] Ryanmiller70@lemmy.zip 2 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Anxiety, autism, depression, overweight, friends only exist online, too socially anxious to make friends locally, work an ok job that maybe could afford a studio apartment, gf lives on the other side of the country, never moved out of my parents house, most likely have added a small bit of separation anxiety to the mix.....

Probably like a 4/10

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 points 20 hours ago
[–] moonlight@fedia.io 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Really not good, maybe a 2 or 3. I'm not in debt or physically ill or anything but other than that I'm really struggling.

My life feels like it hasn't really started yet, but I'm in my late 20s already. Never been in a real relationship, never done anything meaningful in my life, I've always had friends but never really been close with anyone. I'm going back and forth between being intensely exhausted by work and just getting through the week, and then being really depressed and just trying to get through the weekend.

I feel like I've already missed out on so much of life, (living with extreme anxiety, living as the wrong gender, etc has kept me from most meaningful milestones in life) and I don't want to miss the rest of it, but I feel like that's what I'm doing every day. Part of me still believes that I can still do great things, and that I can love and be loved, but I'm too afraid and in too much pain to really change anything.

[–] LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 21 hours ago

I know these words won’t mean all that much, because you’ve probably heard the same a few times, but it’s never too late, and you are still pretty young tbh.

I was in a similar space, and finally came out and started transition in my mid 30s. My verve for life has completely turned around, I’m now starting to feel excited and happy like I remember from being when I was much younger. I want to do things again!

I’m not going to say that I dont long for a childhood or experiences that I feel I missed out on because I was the wrong gender, but at least I ca go forward now with excitement.

My life totally turned around, from a near alcoholic in an abusive relation ship on the edge of suicide, to a woman who has fun, has interesting new relationships, and a desire to find out what the future brings.

Good luck, and I hope you find what you need.

[–] Quilotoa@lemmy.ca 2 points 20 hours ago

9/10. Love it. Great country, great family, lots of freedoms, and safe. I just wish the winters weren't so long.

I'm doing pretty well, all things considered. I'm married to my best friend, we have a house, own two cars outright. We have enough land for a nice little garden, a nice garage I can work on projects in. We make over the median household income but my job isn't particularly stressful. We have decent savings, can afford to go on a couple trips every year, unexpected expenses don't totally ruin us. I have time and money to pursue my interests and treat myself to tools and books.

Sure my love could be better, but I'm pretty happy overall.

[–] biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 19 hours ago

I’d say 8/10.

No real issues honestly, just chilling after graduating high school and soon getting into uni. Been eating a lot better too, since I’ve got a ton of time to experiment with easy and dirt cheap breakfasts mainly which are barely processed. Ive also been able to experiment with my massive fixation on technology, although I don’t have many more computers I can experiment with unless I quietly snatch a surface pro 4 from the storage room or smth.

What bugs me however, is how family members don't really care when dozens of noises are occurring at once, like my dad with the tv on while also watching tiktoks, and that it seems nobody else but I get stressed and overstimulated from it. Due to this (and dozens of other things), I've suspected I’m autistic for like a year now, and I’ve been going good with cataloguing the reasons and doing official tests on it.

[–] chefdano3@lemmy.zip 2 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

2/10

if it weren't for the slight sliver of hope I still desperately cling onto that my kids still have the possibility to have a happier experience with life than I had, I would've taken the express route off this ride years ago.

I was just a few dotted I's and crossed t's into finishing a plan when I learned I was having twins. So now I stick around, trying my best to give them the best experience with life that I possibly can. I'm not great at it, my personal life isn't any better, I still hate everyone in this terrible world, but seeing them happy makes me smile. So there's that.

[–] Perspectivist@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Happiness isn't an emotion I feel all that often, but I'm hyper-aware of how much worse things could be. Objectively, everything's fine - and aside from a recent setback, the overall direction seems to be upward.

Can only wish I had someone to share it with.

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[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I'm content with my life but can never be happy.

I'm wary if "happy" people, theyre either deliberately ignorant of the world around them, or dont care. In either case, their sociopaths and/or utter cowards and I'd rather not have anything to do with them.

[–] Tywele@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago

That's a weird way to look at happy people. I feel happy with my life but that doesn't mean that I don't care or are ignorant of the world around me. It maybe just means that I recognize that I don't need to spend energy on things I can't influence and I can spend that energy on things to make my own life happy.

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