Are you happy with how your life is turning out?

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On a percentage scale up to 100%, how happy are you with your life overall? Do you still think that you're going to be able to achieve what you wanted to in life when you thought about your future when you were a child?

I might say about 50%. Maybe slightly less. I'm not where I thought I would be at this age, but it could be a lot worse for me.

At 32 I have no employment history, no romantic history and cannot operate a motor vehicle. On top of that, there's what I won't move on from, so while there are many many ways it could be worse, I am still not a productive member of society. Anyone is free to take from that what they will.

I'm 99% happy with my life.
I don't think there's anything I really want to achieve in the time I have left except to be with the people I love.

The 1% is a real kicker.

there's unused potential within, yet outside, there appears limited aid, guidance and opening for creating opportunity without most life spent idle in patience. happiness, is not a concern of desire.

No. When I was a kid I had big dreams, and people said I was gifted and intelligent and that even had a bright future ahead of me. I wish I could meet those same people again, and tell them the AWFUL TRUTH!!

I'm a failure at everything. I was wrong about everything. I was wrong about being open about having Asperger's and not wanting a cure and refusing to believe that I was worthless and nothing but a burden on society. Every NT in the world is wright, I am wrong and I shouldn't even be allowed any human rights. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW NTS?! I'M TELLING YOU WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR!! I AM SUB HUMAN AND I SHOULD BE KILLED JUST LIKE PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY AND JEWISH AND BLIND AND DEAF AND POOR AND UNEMPLOYED!!

Goodbye.

Wow. That's a tall drink of water you poured right there. Unfortunately, I can really relate to that. I'd say I am only about 35% content with my life. The contentment only comes from having good physical health, a few family members really care about me, and never having to have lived on the street. But I do feel though that aspergers is responsible for a great deal of my unhappiness. I don't say that to be a downer or depressing but if I say otherwise, then I'm being dishonest. Human life seems to be such a social experience. It's like, living in a civilization requires social interaction that is fundamental to your degree of success. And because this condition makes me different in every way from them on a social level, living a normal life feels impossible. One thing I wasn't expecting, was the prejudice that people have against you for having never been married or having any children. You take a person who has this disorder and they are automatically strange to everyone. Then you couple that with the lacking relationship history or friendship network and they condemn you like a criminal. Having just turned 40 recently, I am feeling particularly down. All my life I've been optimistic despite having rational reason for it. But now that this pinnacle time has passed and I am no closer to happiness or mental peace as I ever was before, I am particularly distressed. I don't mean that to sound depressing. But I hear you.

Good for you man. If you're 99% satisfied with your life, I'd say that you're one of the happiest people alive. I think very few people or that happy and people with this condition are known for depression loneliness and unhappiness. More power to you though. Cheers

I don't mean to sound like I'm trying to give you a peptalk, but I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. It's probably entirely aspergers. Some people with this condition seem to be able to find happiness but I think the majority are more like what you've described. I've been working my entire life but I'm no different. My work has never been appreciated by my coworkers or employers. I'm usually just taken advantage of by my willingness to work harder and do favors for people. No one ever interprets it as kindness or professionalism. They just find a negative connotation to attach it to, such as he just wants the overtime because he's greedy, or if I'm helping a coworker who is a lady, he'll say he's trying to get in her pants. I don't believe that we Aspies can "Be" A part of society in the same way that normal people can be. We can be a functioning part of society if we utilize our unique qualities such as hyper focusing, studying and the like. But it does often seem like we need to have a special talent or quality or level of intelligence in order to be accepted by them at all.

Nope... Maybe 10-20% satisfied, but I am trying to be positive.

i am not sure if it's only me, but i have never wanted to achieve anything in life. i mean i don't really understand the long-term goals thing.


as far as i can understand... our future is permanent death. thats why i try to enjoy the moment "im in now" as long as i am not directly or indirectly causing harm of any kind to anyone.

i honestly don't care what people think/say or believe

I understand. You have to stay positive. The mind goes to terrible places when you dwell on all the negatives. Sometimes I think that I might be even more prone to feeling disappointed because I have a highly imaginative mind. It's like I have this optimistic way of imaging all the good things that are gonna happen for me in the future despite having no rational reason for thinking this. If history be my guide, I think I'm in for a cruddy second half. But I feel like I still have to try to remain positive. At least then there's a chance for something good. If I dwell on the negative, it's pretty much a guarantee that the rest of my life is going to stink.

I'd say 45%. My employment history is chequered and cannot get a drivers license due to keratoconus in my right eye.
I'm in terrible physical shape and still live at home with my parents. Life is strange.

About a 30%
I'm happy with most things. I love living, listening to music and studying things. I love learning everything and I've always had a major interest in physics, math, and other sciences.
The reason that this whole "life' thing loses so many points for me is because of the school system. I don't really have to get more into detail, because most of you MIGHT know what I mean, but I will give a short description.
1. It's extremely boring, the work is grueling and it's easy.
2. It's extremely competitive, unnecessarily so.
3. It's ENTIRELY based on work ethic. Not so much learning when you're sitting there doing the same problems over and over again.
4. It's impossible to learn anything. The teachers don't describe it well. I have ASD so the way I like to jokingly describe it is sitting in a class full of telepaths, because that's what the little facial movements are to me.
5. It's belittling. I feel like crap, like I'm some sort of trash that the school system wants to ruin.
6. I feel like I'm not practicing what I could REALLY use, like survival techniques or arts, or philosophy. I NEED philosophy to assert my existence, while most of these other drones can go just fine without any thinking and just doing.
7. A lot of stuff we're taught is opinion based. It's all false, and based on values rather than logic.
8. Everyone tells me I'm deluded for questioning the system. They say it with honesty, like they know what they're talking about. I'll show them deluded.
I could keep going, but I'd just get more and more frustrated the more I write. The time from when I leave to when I enter (6 AM to 3 PM) are the times where I really feel happy-ish. Of course I'm happy during my lunch break because that's the only time in the day I can actually talk to anyone. My parents have built up a neurotypical (I can't listen to you because you talk too much even though I secretly KNOW you don't talk THAT much) barrier.
I'd say it's pretty good from an existential perspective. I would probably be happier if the society was more anarchic, I can't stand stress and pressure, and I feel a constant need to escape mainstream schooling. I've even considered faking something worse just to get the hell out, but I never do because I'm overwhelmed by the guilt and I know that I'm REALLY just lazy.
Sorry about venting this whole thing. I answered the question at least.

A couple months ago, I gave my therapist my monthly update on how my life was going and he was literally speechless. For context, he used to work at the VA, he's heard horror stories. My life is a nightmare. Every aspect of my life is screwed up and each issue blocks help to solve another and it's this tangled web of hell.

I am not happy about how it is turning out with the cancer, stroke, bieng on SSI, medicaid

I am happy about how I am coping with all this s**t. I would have never been able to do this had I not gotten diagnosed just before all this started. I now know what will trigger me and I am not as hard on myself as I would have been. Hanging out here, posting all the autism stories on WP has given me a purpose in life.

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