Survey: Do you feel hopeless?

Written on May 3, 2026

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Ignore the song of the day on the sign. It was a mistake putting it there. I was just trying to be silly so I put a silly song on there. But then I realized this meme song won’t hit the same today as it did 11 years ago. So it will just confuse people. And then I felt bad, like I had deceived people. So just ignore the song.

Prologue

After I woke up, I went to Planet Fitness, but wasn’t able to work out as hard for some reason. Then I went to Mass, and I kept finding my eyes closing all by themselves, and hard to reopen.

Around noon, I went to do my survey, but couldn’t think of a topic. So I bought a cigar and thought about it for a while. All sorts of interesting topics came to mind. I almost picked “what’s your favorite season?” But it just didn’t feel right for today.

So I thought of how I was feeling, and why I felt so low energy compared to the day before. And it hit me: I was feeling hopeless for some reason. And I realized it was because I feel so irreparably incompetent. And that this incompetencia sin parangón continually stands in the way of my happiness. And that feeling was growing stronger throughout the day. So I chose this topic on feeling hopeless.

First try

Initially, I put all this:

But after an hour, it had almost no results or interactions. I think it was just too busy, too many words to read. So I flipped it over and started fresh with just Yes and No.

Results

Overall, about 2/3 feel generally hopeful, and 1/3 of people feel hopeless at least sometimes. As I’m writing this, it occurs to me that that’s the same number of angels (one third) that fell from heaven. What a neat coincidence.

Conversations

I was feeling so sleepy all day that I had to take several long breaks, so I think it goes without saying that I don’t remember much of the day either. I’ll do my best to recall it right now.

Several people who say they don’t feel hopeless, said that it’s because you just have to keep moving forward. Of course, they all worded it differently, but it was the same idea.

One woman asked me if I feel hopeless, and I said Yes, and she showed such sincere interest in a conversation that I wanted to continue talking to her to see what she’d say, but someone came up ehind her and I gave the marker to the next person, and she must have thought I was motioning her to go away, because she then left. I felt really bad for accidentally potentially making her feel disrespected like that.

At least one person said they feel hopeless because they just got broken up with.

At least one person mentioned politics as part of their reasoning for hopelessness.

Someone asked my answer, and I said I felt hopeless earlier, but I just needed a nap. Even though I exaggerated and didn’t nap, the rest I got actually did help.

Someone came up to me near the end of my survey, someone who had just done my survey a few minutes prior. She said, “hey stranger, do you like KitKats?” I said “I do!” And she gave me one. And I said “for me?” in disbelief. I don’t remember anything after that, except that I ate the KitKat right away, and couldn’t stop smiling for the next few minutes straight. That small act of kindness really made my whole day.

If anyone remembers their answer and I didn’t write it here, please put it in the comments for everyone else! If I remember any more, I’ll add them to the comments, too.

Epilogue

As I was writing this article for the survey, it occurred to me that I just have a cold. That’s why I was so tired all day, and felt so low energy. And like I told someone who asked me for my answer, whenever I’m tired or sick, I get emotional, which I think is somewhat common.

It’s good to recognize that our emotions are just that: emotions. We don’t have to obey them, we don’t have to give into any thoughts that come along with them. We can sit with them and examine them and reflect on where they come from and whether they line up with our actual goals.

And so I think I’ll hit the gym bright and early tomorrow morning after a good night’s sleep.