Have you had a happy life

[ElvisGrace]

On balance would you say, more good than bad?

Awful awful childhood - physically and emotionally abused.
Couldn’t wait to start adulthood and the only real ‘ambition’ I had was to have children who I would shower with the love and affection I never had.
I think I actively chose to be happy once I reached around 17/18. My parents lives were very ‘small’ so I’ve made sure to have lots of interests.
Always had jobs rather than a career and didn’t always love them but there weren’t any really awful ones.
Met my husband when I was 20 and although we’ve had tricky times over the years, on the whole, we have been very happy together for the last 37 years. i love him so much still and he loves me too. I have two amazing DC and two GC, good friends, a lovely home and my husband and I took early retirement and are having a lovely time.

@Isthisit2025 thank you- I do feel proud of myself but I have a lot of guilt and anger, and there's a lot of things that I'll never be able to do that I could have done if life had been different. But, I'm still lucky.

What a beautiful way of describing life; thanks for the poetry. I hope you get your Rembrandt.

@DreamingOfGeneHunt Please don’t let the anger and guilt overshadow the life you have created. Your DD is the light in your life. Honestly, you are incredible!

Happy and sad.
I can't imagine anyone has a completely happy life.

I had an amazing childhood. Adulthood has been one heck of a rollercoaster - I feel like I’ve had a lot to deal with over the past 15 years or so and haven’t really caught a break. My children make all
of that ok though.

YES! Ive had a wonderful time. I appreciate everything and always find time to count my blessings. I have had hard times, sad and difficult times and im sure I will have those again,but on the whole, yes, im lucky. Ive got a brilliant DH and great people around me. Ive no money, and will never have a lot of material possesions, but what i have is appreciated.

No it's been a hard life from childhood. It's not been happy at all. I didn't start finding any happiness until I was in my 40s, got rid of the ex who was abusive, got into 12 step recovery, and specialist therapy.

Life's been hard however I'm blessed to have what I have today. I try to look at the gift of each day.

I have 4 adult youngsters, all happily married, with good careers and 5 grandchildren, I help out with, and see.

I happily remarried in my 40s although my second husband passed away in 2018 I'm grateful for the years, the real love and what we had.

I've taken our experiences and use them for the good of others. I'm disabled though mobile.

I share this cos whilst it's hard, my life is also a blessing too as I have had so much more opportunities and have taken them than most do.

Real inner peace, and happiness didn't come untill my 40s

Absoulutely not. My headstone will read ‘well that was f&@king shit’

Highs and lows, disappointing actually is probably how I’d sum it up.

So far, I've had a wonderful life. Married my best friend, wonderful kids, that seem to want to spend time with us, a good group of friends. I've traveled a lot and met some interesting people. We're not rich, but we are comfortable and happy with what we do hace. I appreciate that so much can change so quickly though!

Not yet. First 27/8 years were unhappy. The 7-8 years since very, very happy. So it’s another 2 decades before it’s a happy life ‘on balance’.

Unfortunately no. I’ve had happy moments but it wasn’t an overall happy life.

I feel very blessed and fortunate health wise and my children are healthy. I think that’s the most important thing in life

My chilhood wasnt great, My confidence isn't great because of that. I married a man, I shouldnt have done.I have a good career. Parents died early.
Despite that I have a lovely daughter and my house was paid for years ago.
Financially rich...emotionally poor.

I would say overall no. I have severe social anxiety that has made my life very difficult and has meant I've been completely miserable for a lot of it. That being said I have managed to get to a place in my life where I'm reasonably happy now. Mainly because of my husband and our children who I am so grateful for. Although my anxiety still really affects me as I have no friends and can still get very lonely.

I don't think you can expect happiness all day, every day. Dark times help you appreciate the lighter times, no matter how fleeting. I try to find a little piece of happiness each day, something to be thankful for.

The past decade for me looks quite horrendous on paper and is full of instability (deaths, loss, divorce, mental illness, moving etc), but on balance I mostly feel content. Anxiety is a bit of a battle still, but mindfulness helps with that.

My life up until now has been net miserable. I did everything right. I got an education and have a career. The most appreciation and fulfilment I've ever received was when I made Christmas dinner for my family.

Now that I'm pregnant I've finally started to feel genuinely happy.

No. I've had some good times and moments of happiness and I'm generally an optimistic and positive person and try to find the good in every situation but overall the bad parts far outweigh the good

A mix. But getting better now. Awful awful childhood. Abusive marriage.
now at 55 have 2 adult kids who are my joy, and moved abroad to a lovely country in Europe which I have fallen in love with.
regret is never to have had a lovely romantic partner, but I still manage now to lead a fulfilled life without it.
bought a little flat here, have my little dog and a stressful but overall rewarding job. No real family apart from the kids but great and longstanding friends.
So overall it’s been rocky but I think ended up well

No, it's been a none stop stream of traumatic events, with a tiny number of highs, I'm surprised I'm still standing really....

I’ve been quite contented for most of my life . I have 3 adult children that I love and who love me. My husband died suddenly when he was 57 and I was 54 which was a great loss after 35 years of marriage, but that was 19 years ago and I have become used to it .
I’ve never had much money especially when the children were very young but we managed even if we couldn’t provide for all their needs/wants.
Children are all in their 50s now with adult children of their own and are all doing ok. All in all I’ve been lucky to get to 72 without too much trauma and hope to last for a few more years yet .

No definitely not. I’d say it is 75/25 and not in a good way but I am so lucky to have my DDs and my pet which give me joy. Everything else since childhood has been a huge struggle and I don’t see an improvement happening

Grew up poor. One parent died when I was 11. One partner died when we were 21. Another a couple of years later. Did a very violent job for a few years. Had a 13 year relationship with a serial cheater. Treated for depression.

That's the bad stuff, and at the bottom of each of those I wasn't happy at all.

However: I left home when I was 18 and lived in an amazing, exciting scene and met some fantastic people - an experience that gave me independence and wanderlust. I've been in love several times, mostly with great people who I still admire. I've travelled the world, usually away for several months a year. I've made a lot of money and am respected in my industry. I met the love of my life, had an amazing kid, and live in one of the most exciting cities in the world. I'm close to my sibling and mother. I could retire (I'm 55) but won't because I love what I do.

So the good outweighs the bad by a considerable margin. But that's a question of attitude I think. Even at the bottom I was always looking for a way to happiness. I never wallowed, I don't think. Attitude is the thing that has made a difference for me. I know other people who I'd say had it easier, but aren't happy because they just aren't happy people.