"How's it going" may be recognized as a query of state, either as a discrete independant event, or as a instance reflecting prior and future states (and the uncertainty of each). We must consider that the state may be a composition of emotional, physical, fiscal, and climate-based considerations. Any measurements will reflect bias by the participant and reflect non-objective consideration of the relationship to the surveyer. Based upon the participants and the environment, utility may or may not be ignored.
First answer, vague: I'm fine. Generic, convenient, and approximately meaningless based on the number of permutations for which such a statement may be triggered.
So to be more honest, we must split the answer based on the temporal divide of state query.
First, we consider the query in the context of this discrete instance. At this moment, I am of good health and of complete, sound body. I have a healthy, long-running, satisfying relationship with a person of my prefered gender. My average standard of living is high, and virtually unmatched with any previous time in history (personal and as reflected in the species). My conscience is clean. I have no external responsibilities for the wellbeing of any other living creature. I'm fine.
If we open the temporal window of the query, we see a slightly more fazed dmv. There are three weeks left of classes as an undergraduate. Then I graduate, and the number of known constraints plummets: I have a lease, and therefore the need to pay rent, a mailing address, and a place to live in Pittsburgh, until July 31. People I consider friends and relatives will remain people I consider friends and relatives.
ommkarja leaves for CA at the end of May, and will not be back. Her life, whereever it may be, resumes in July after China. So if we take the expected value of the future (stress), we can determine my mood based on relative constants. And I feel like that's how I'm living: the weighting constants keep cycling and so I live in a state of flux. Fortunately, my mellow nature allows me to repeat "Its all going to be ok" and I just don't worry.
Having the fiscal health to do so is nice. And the weather is appearing to be Spring, and Spring is my favorite season.
