Discussion Is Life Joyful for Anybody?

[AveMori]

I wonder if there are even people out there enjoying life without gaslighting themselves. It seems to me that people are just pressured into pretending life is a net positive by their SI. They don't like having to work to keep themselves alive and somewhat free from pain, but just view non-existence as a little scarier than their miserable existence. That viewpoint is engrained in them from evolution and they hold on to it, even though viewing life's joys and struggles objectively tell a different story. A story of near constant fear and pain. The few moments that genuinely feel good are just a small drop on the burns life constantly hands to them, but they savour those little drops and pretend them to be a gigantic source of joy and bliss. Life is mostly a struggle, a struggle demanding so so much and giving back only the bare minimum to keep you scared of losing it.

 

[Mirrory Me]

Is. It really depends on the person and what they are going through.

 

[AInilam]

Some people like to say that the reason joy is so few and far-in-between is to make you appreciate life more. To feel fulfilled once you finally obtain the thing you were pursuing all along, whether it be love, wealth or happiness. Some people are tethered or bound by their loved ones and obligations. I've known people who like to pretend their fine and dandy, but I've also known people who're truly, genuinely content with life, grateful and excited for the future. There's no real way to tell though. I think a lot of people struggle to touch where those people stand, have either failed or given up on it and that in itself can be difficult to recover from.

 

[Croww]

There's some ups and downs but the downs are more emotional and worse than the ups. It also seems to be returning, this constant suffering. So I am guaranteed to suffer in the future too if I don't CTB.

 

[numbspirit]

I don't think life can be actually joyful. We can potentially numb ourselves by "giving our life a purpose", we can take drugs or just distract ourselves with hobbies, media and what not. But life itself is and will always be a burden. It should not exist and only a blurred mind could think that life is good. We can make life bearable, but that's always associated with us lying to ourselves.

 

[BlazingBob]

Yes. Certain island peoples or isolated tribes.

 

[Abyssal]

Life has joyful moments for me, but those are few now. They were more common when I was young.

I can still experience joy but I wouldn't call my life joyful.

 

[ScubaCTB]

In the Western world, the only truly "happy" people are married couples with kids, nice homes and make over $500,000 in the household. That's why it's not uncommon to see 80 year olds, holding hands in the supermarket, because they've been married for 60 years and are happy. Nearly all scientific studies show that married men and women live longer than any other demographics, and their longevity goes up as income goes up.

Loneliness is by far the leading cause of depression, and money problems (and infidelity) are the leading causes of divorce and stress. If you're happy, you take better care of yourself/health because you like this existence. You have something to look forward to everyday besides just work, so happy people are generally healthier people. And work becomes enjoyable because you know you're doing it to maintain that beautiful home life. I'm living proof. I was a perfect kid with perfect grades and no behavioral problems (and our family wasn't even rich), until my parents got divorced. I've been a steaming pile of garbage ever since.

Social media is fake. But you have a choice - join web forums like SaSu, or pretend to be happy in your wage slave life to fit in and be part of the hive.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

Of course. Just go to the downtown of your city on a weekend night.

 

[brokeandbroken]

I can't remember the last time I was happy. So joy which is extreme happiness is so far off.

 

[Celerity]

I think it actually is for some people. A lot of the happiest folks I've met do not live lives I would want to live, not by a country mile. The difference is really perspective - just as those obnoxious self-help, Law of Attraction snake oil salesmen like to say. These happy people, often without effort, focus on the positive in their lives over the negative. Where I see mostly strain and hardship, they see something that was more than "worth it".

 

[JKAC]

I feel like it depends on who you ask and when you ask them. For me a couple years ago I would have told you I was the happiest guy in the world, my life was perfect.

If you were to ask me today, I would tell you that I want to disappear and never come back. It all depends on what's happening in life.

 

[permanently tired]

Probably the oblivious

 

[ijustwishtodie]

Yeah, life is joyful for many. That said, they do acknowledge that life comes with struggles and isn't 100% enjoyable. Nonetheless, they enjoy the little amounts of ups that they get occasionally

 

[Forever Sleep]

I can still experience joy- definitely. Life isn't set up to be joyful (for me or a lot of people) for any reasonable stretch of time though. Most of us have to work to earn money to live. Most jobs- even those that we may enjoy at times have masses of negatives. They are quite often stressful, underpaid, exploitative, exhausting. Quite a few damage our health. Any time off is quite often spent recovering or simply catching up with all the other domestic work that not many people enjoy either. Life is a treadmill for a lot of people. I think a lot of people just sustain themselves with distraction with occassional bouts of joy. Clearly that's enough for a lot though- otherwise, surely more would suicide. I wonder just how many people are here out of a feeling of obligation though, rather than happiness.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I enjoyed most of my life but now I can't enjoy it anymore bc I can't make the financial means anymore to have a joyful life at least not in the way I would consider it joyful.

 

[FuneralCry]

I believe someone would have to be severely deluded to see existence as something positive, as existence is nothing more than an unnecessary harm. Existence itself is the true problem and is simply a futile process of just waiting around to die where there is endless risks and no limit as to how much one can suffer, no matter what I'd see it as preferable to not exist, I find it tragic how life even exists at all.

 

[outrider567]

Not for me

 

[Slow_Farewell]

It is. Similar to what others have said,it depends the person you ask.
I guess it's a lot like Starvation. If I can remember correctly, you can last long without food but with water, but you can't last long without water.
For them, the things they are joyful about are enough to sustain them, even if it's few and far in between.
As difficult, challenging, depressing some us of find life, i dont think it means that the opposite cant be true for other people.

 

[vitbar]

When I'm not in a depressive episode I quite like living.

 

[penguinl0v3s]

I think many people can think back to their childhood and remember pure happiness. Other children are experiencing that right now.

 

[Catch-22]

For me life is excruciating. When I wake up I feel like I'm in shock because my existence is like a nightmare or worse than any horror movie you've ever seen.

I think many people can think back to their childhood and remember pure happiness. Other children are experiencing that right now.

Unfortunately my first memories were not pleasant. I remember waking up having to use the restroom but I had special shoes on with a bar between my feet and I could not walk. I guess they are supposed to help me straighten my legs because of the slight deformity. I remember I felt trapped and decade later the feeling is only worse. Lord please let me die!