Part of being sad and delusional is that you typically don't realize that you're sad and delusional. So, you would probably still feel cool as fuck if you fell into that category. ;)
I have an older cousin in his mid to late 40s who is still probably out there playing horror-themed groove metal with facepaint and full pyro and monster-themed stage names. Last I heard from him, he was still convinced that they were going to "make it" like it was still 1991 ... global tours, dominating rock radio and videos on MTV Headbangers Ball. Never mind that his style of metal is hopelessly dated and rock radio is dead and MTV doesn't play any videos anymore. Never mind that his band has never left my Midwestern hometown.
He's a forty-something former carpenter and contractor with an old back injury who hasn't worked since before the 2006 housing bust. Now he's an older stay-at-home dad living off his wife's income and still dreaming about touring alongside Metallica and Rob Zombie. That shit's sad. And honestly, I've encountered more than a few old local rockers JUST like my cousin. Forty year old dudes who are thrilled to play a "ticket pre-sale" gig opening up for Michael Graves (former lead singer of Jerry Only's "Misfits").
Now, am I any better than my cousin? Maybe not. I do have a well-paid, respectable day job that I love. In fact, I probably wouldn't give up my day job even if my music inexplicably blew up and I was offered millions of dollars. I also think I'm pretty realistic about my own music "career". I realize that I'm never going to "make it". Music is an expensive hobby for me. Over the last 20+ years, I've probably spent$100,000 and 10,000 hours on my music hobby and I've probably only earned a few thousand back from paying gigs ... almost all from covers gigs.
But does that kind of self-knowledge make it any less sad when I haul $6000 worth of guitar gear and mics out to play skapunk for 10-150 people? Probably not. Maybe it makes me more pathetic, since I put so much effort into something that "I" know will never lead to anything bigger or better. But for better or worse, I don't give a fuck what other people think and playing gigs makes me feel more productive than woodshedding at home. So I keep doing it.