poll = how many people are happy with their life
Follow @TIME. For our happiness issue, TIME conducted a poll to find out what Americans do to find joy. Overall, 59% of respondents said they were happy most of the time, about the same percentage of those surveyed by TIME in 2004 when 61% said they were happy. But fewer people said they considered themselves optimists in 2013, 50%, as compared to 2004 when 79% called themselves optimists.