Hey TRP. Was wondering what your thoughts were on this situation-

I only ever feel genuinely happy when I'm working out, and for the rest of the night after I workout. Everything before that is pretty miserable. I have difficulty enjoying socializing though I've certainly worked on it extensively lately, so much so that I basically am an entirely new person. I tend to overconceptualize things yada yada yada.

I have a lot of discipline in terms of training, learning, and practicing my hobbies. I'm extensively interested in nutrition and definitely am not regularly deficient in anything at all. My social life at the moment is fairly limited through out the week because I work 10 hour shifts and only have about 4 hours from when I get home to workout, eat, etc etc. However on weekends I see friends and I usually workout with one friend. I have a difficult time socializing, obviously from a terrible social life growing up and having had a somewhat dysfunctional family dynamic (lots of fighting, unhealthy lifestyles, and divorce) throughout my childhood on top of a severe porn and video game addiction.

Im wondering why I seem to only enjoy life during/after a workout. I tend to feel so alive during a workout, I get an insane pump and am energized and extremely happy to socialize, however even just ten minutes before a workout I feel fairly uncomfortable socially, and I find that in general I have a difficult time socializing at all if I'm not also actively doing something at the same time (arcade, working out, practicing hobbies, learning, etc).

How have other folks fixed this issue? I've never made a post like this but it's been severely impacting my mood lately. I don't watch porn, play games, or do anything that would fuck with my reward system. Why do I have such a difficult time feeling happy throughout the day?

I'm considering making learning and reading a much larger part of my life. I notice many of you guys read extensively on here, and I certainly notice not only a mood boost but a general conceptual awareness that unlocks a new perspective of reality that makes me feel very happy and often helps me in situations like this when reading solid content.