Pendulums and Continuums

Yeah, but see that's not how the question is always framed.

I get "are you happy now?" a lot. Or "you must be so ecstatic now..." (the un-question)

Like I said in most cases I either defer to the simple answer (as you said you do) and feel like I'm not telling the whole truth OR on days when I am waxing more philosophical, I break it down.

I think because I run Bariatric Foodie and because I am so loud (in my own community and online), folks tend to ask me "THE" question, as opposed to the surface question, a lot more often.

I would love to know MM's perspective too, but when people ask ME if I'm happy, they really do mean it in the all-inclusive and existential sort of way. I know this because if I give a simple answer, they probe!

So I guess that's a matter of perspective too. But I try to answer a question the best way I know how. I try  not to infer what someone wants to know. If they get more than they want to know, most adults are perfectly capable of filtering information and I find that, more often than not, they DO! (hence the hearing what you want to hear phenomenon)

And when people ask me that, I always hear subtext of "did WLS make you have a happy life?"

The real answer to that is no. Oh, it made it possible for me to have a happy life by doing things I love rather than sitting around letting my muscles and joints deteriorate, but the surgery itself did not cause me to be happy with life.

And like the rest of us, I'm not always happy. I'm also not always unhappy - and that fits right into the pendulum/continuum thing.

Thank you so much for this post. When people ask me if i am happy, I tell them...."Yes, but let me remind you, I had surgery on my stomach, not my brain. There are days that I really want to eat something I know I shouldn't. There are days I will try to eat a little of it, and pay the price. I am happy with my weightloss, but not always happy about the restriction!"