I spend a lot of time and money in Starbucks. I like the hustle and bustle mixed with a calm atmosphere, the “shhshshhhshhhdhsh” sound of milk being foamed, and the already pricy iced white mocha to which I add the extra shot of espresso for flavor. And for someone named Sip and Go Girl it’s the darn near perfect place right?

It’s also one place where I realize everyone is happier than me.

One Saturday morning, I watched a man and woman waiting for their coffee drinks. They suddenly leaned in and hugged each other and hung there for a bit. The holding pattern hug. You’ve witnessed this hug before for sure.

Yes, cute couples in love. All so much happier than me.

Frankly, they’re all happier than you too.

If you go to the shopping mall, be prepared to see boisterous parents and their kids walking the aisles. Yes, they are all happier than you or I.

Go to a restaurant and get your takeout Chinese food. While you’re waiting for the fried rice, look around. See that group of people in the corner celebrating a birthday? All happier than you.

During the holidays, people are even more joyous and happier than you. When you open your mail, you will see smiling Christmas photos of partners, pets, and maybe even kids at Disneyland. The happiest place on earth. Facebook status updates are “Gingerbread cookies in the oven, Billy with Fluffy by the fireplace, hubby wrapping gifts. Life is gooooooood.”

Happy happy happy.

But why do we think everyone is happier than us?

One, we constantly underestimate how often other people have negative emotions. Plus, we overestimate how often they have positive ones. We think we’re the only one having bad feelings and that everyone else is having mostly good feelings.

Two, we feel the worst about ourselves or situations when we’re alone, not in public. The people we see in public are wearing their “happy faces.” Most people tend not to get bogged down in loneliness or sadness when they’re with a group or even with one friend or significant other.

We don’t shrink into despair, usually, in the middle of Starbucks. We save that for our living room couch.

Now, the next time you are sitting with a friend in public laughing, leaning in to each other, and sharing secrets and inside jokes only you two understand, take a quick look around the room.

Every person in the room thinks you’re happier than they are.