You ever feel really old in your 20s?

[Fatal9]

It's a bit ridiculous but I wont be 25 for another couple of years but my age already keeps me up at night. It's time to start a career soon, I have to write exams and shit for certifications, will be absolutely consumed by that, won't be in school for first time in since I can remember and friends will start to get dispersed all over the place, maybe even start getting married.

Life in the 20s just isn't how I imagined it. Having fun and all but it moves fast as hell, I can clearly recall the days when I was 17 like they were yesterday. You realize all those things you imagined doing at this age have to happen NOW because you're already there. Now I feel creepy for talking/being around girls who are 18 and feel like the partying scene might soon be behind me (what is it like in your later 20s?). If time moves like this, I'll be in my 30s before I know it, then gotta get married and have kids...just so WTF. I know based on current age it might seem far away, but looking back, high school seems like yesterday to me and considering how busy the next few years will be, it all just seems too close for comfort.

Just by taking a broad look at this path, I get to the stage where I'm wondering if building a career is really worth it. I've met so many people who live life on their own terms, don't start taking it seriously until their 30s but seem to be so much happier off for living their younger years to the fullest while everyone else is worried about advancing themselves.


Totally understand why the "happiness" chart is the way it is:



Look at that drop from the carefree youthful teens to the shit is getting real 20s (keeps going down and down to the dreaded mid life crisis).


cliffs:
- going to reach mid 20s soon, having trouble dealing with the coming lifestyle change

[El Kabong]

The only problem i've had so far being in my mid 20's is a lot of people expect me to start settling down and to be thinking of getting married and having kids, which are two things I have no interest in doing.

[IlliniFan]

I feel more or less the same way, turning 22 in a few days. Graduating this may. Not looking forward to working full time.

[KeylessEntry]

only when i am browsing ISH

[Fatal9]

Everything about age/dates/time just sticks out to me now.

Log on to ISH --> see join date --> wonder where the fukk all that time has gone
Watch a movie --> remember when it came out --> feel old
Younger cousins who were babies are now teenagers --> feel even older
In 2010s decade --> did the 2000s really pass already?

Need to get over this.

The only problem i've had so far being in my mid 20's is a lot of people expect me to start settling down and to be thinking of getting married and having kids, which are two things I have no interest in doing.

This as well. Expectations from society start creeping up on you, whether it's marriage, career, kids etc. Time to become a slave.

[ILLsmak]

It's like this dude...

The stuff you remember from back in the day was not as rosey as you think it is. That's the first thing you have to remember. Of course, if you could go back to your teens with the knowledge and freedom you have as a 25 year old, you'd be able to have a lot of fun.

Secondly, this is your prime. I think most people go through the feeling that they are 'old' sometime in their twenties. It really hit me when I realized that my hair was starting to fall out. I was like oh shit I'm finally old, it's only a matter of time before I'm pissing on myself.

But really... mid 20s to maybe mid 30s you can do anything. You can pull any girl. You're not too old or too young to do anything. Nobody is ever going to not respect you because of your age and most people who are younger are going to listen to you.

You're probably tripping out because you don't think you, as a person, have changed much from your late teens. But you know what... that's good. That means you still know how to have fun.

Peace

Edit: lol, you said a couple of years. Man, I didn't start tripping out over my age until I was 25 at least... but at nearly 28, I'm over it. I'm killing shit. Just remember that the only thing to regret is missed opportunities so do everything you want to, within reason... nothing to lose; life isn't so serious.

-Smak

[-playmaker-]

29 is the WORST AGE EVER!!!

all you think about is..."I am about to turn 30"

but once you do turn 30 it isn't a big deal..then 31-37 or so is a cake walk, who cares...(I am 34)


I dread 39...I am sure it is even worse than 29

You can get away with being somewhat imature in your 30s...like you can still go to bars and clubs easy without being "the old guy in the club"...but once you hit 40?...your life is over...lol...your "fun" life is over anyway...

[KG215]

This is going to sound cheesy, but I'm actually looking forward to getting my career started. Maybe because it's just something I've always wanted to do and got my first taste of it this year, and had a blast. I'm 23 and will graduate soon and can't imagine feeling more stressed out and overloaded with shit than I do now.

I don't know if I'd call it feeling old, but I definitely feel really stressed out quite a bit right now. Part of that is because almost all of my best friends from high school and early college, are either married, or on the verge of being married, and I'm not even in the marriage arena right now. Just got out of a serious relationship about a year ago, and since then settling down and getting married have been the furthest things from my mind.

[Loneshot]

Whew, thought I was the only one. I'm 23 but my mind already feels like I've been here so long that I'm tired of this planet, or maybe it's just this civilization. I was just talking to my lady last night about how I feel cheated. You get about a good 10-12 years of childhood, because by the time you're 16 you began making all these plans for when you become an adult at 18. And for the most part when you graduate high school you just continue that same work cycle (whether its enlightening or not, still the same, you just see it differently this time). Prior to 6 you don't remember much about how you thought as a child, so I don't even count those years.

Seems the only time you really get to stop and think about everything without having to really fear or feel responsible for it all, you just kinda live in the now and play and use your imagination is after 5 and before 15 maybe. A few of us carry that imagination into our teens and maybe adulthood but even when doing that it becomes somewhat tamed by society's new expectation of you.

And so I feel a little cheated that we spend most of our existence trying to secure comfort at the cost of comfort until you become one of the lucky few that get to retire before you've forgotten what you used to dream about. Cheated partly by our society, but mostly by evolution or genetics. If only we weren't so fragile and limited to about a 90-100 year max lifespan, and that's if you're lucky. If only the average lifespan were about 250 years, we aged a lot slower and 30 was the new 12. But hey, these are the cards we were dealt unfortunately and we either play the hand or get out the game. I wish we didn't have to play this game though.

[-playmaker-]

This is going to sound cheesy, but I'm actually looking forward to getting my career started. Maybe because it's just something I've always wanted to do and got my first taste of it this year, and had a blast. I'm 23 and will graduate soon and can't imagine feeling more stressed out and overloaded with shit than I do now.

I don't know if I'd call it feeling old, but I definitely feel really stressed out quite a bit right now. Part of that is because almost all of my best friends from high school and early college, are either married, or on the verge of being married, and I'm not even in the marriage arena right now. Just got out of a serious relationship about a year ago, and since then settling down and getting married have been the furthest things from my mind.

don't get married until you are at least 28...there is NO REASON to jump into that shit early...

you say you are stressed now from school?...yeah try getting married and having kids at an early age....you don't know stress...that can be enough stress to kill a man...

all your freinds that are married now seem happy right?...I bet that most aren't at all...it is an act, they are in prison, wondering if they made the right choice...and in 5 short years most will be divorced...

[iamgine]

Age is just a number son. Look at Charlie Sheen.

[KG215]

don't get married until you are at least 28...there is NO REASON to jump into that shit early...

you say you are stressed now from school?...yeah try getting married and having kids at an early age....you don't know stress...that can be enough stress to kill a man...

all your freinds that are married now seem happy right?...I bet that most aren't at all...it is an act, they are in prison, wondering if they made the right choice...and in 5 short years most will be divorced...

Well, the ones that are married have only been married for no more than two years, so they're still in the newlywed stages of their marriage. They seem happy but I don't think it's much of an act right now. I'm different, though, in that they didn't even date the girls they're married/engaged to for very long. By that, I mean no more than right around one year. I'm different in that I kind of want to date the girl I'm thinking about marrying for 2 or 3 years before even thinking about popping the question because I figure after 2+ years of dating I'd know if I could handle marrying her. I want kids but don't even want to imagine working full-time and then having to support a family for at least another 5+ years.

It's cool when I go visit and stay a weekend with one of my married friends but weird at the same time, because I'm just like..."dude, you're not even 25 and been married for a couple of years." The few single friends I still have, well, I can definitely tell they seemingly enjoy life more. But who knows, that could just be an act, too. For all I know they're sad and miserable on the inside despite the parties and hooking up with different chicks every weekend.

[heyhey]

I guess I will be turning 21 next year but honestly I feel like age is getting more and more irrelevant in today's world. I see people who start families in their 40s and live like teens in their 20s. It's all about how you approach everything. Especially guys, most guys don't look that different from 20 to 30 (if you take care of yourself). I was at a party with some high school kids the other day and no one thought I was in college until I told them. So i think the idea of "I'm too old" is mostly in your head.

especially once you are in the working world.

[Dolphin]

Am I the only mid-20 year old who doesn't have friends who are married or have kids?

[-playmaker-]

Well, the ones that are married have only been married for no more than two years, so they're still in the newlywed stages of their marriage. They seem happy but I don't think it's much of an act right now. I'm different, though, in that they didn't even date the girls they're married/engaged to for very long. By that, I mean no more than right around one year. I'm different in that I kind of want to date the girl I'm thinking about marrying for 2 or 3 years before even thinking about popping the question because I figure after 2+ years of dating I'd know if I could handle marrying her. I want kids but don't even want to imagine working full-time and then having to support a family for at least another 5+ years. It's cool when I go visit and stay a weekend with one of my married friends but weird at the same time, because I'm just like..."dude, you're not even 25 and been married for a couple of years." To each his own, though, I'm not here to judge.

you know what's up...

and yeah, they probably aren't acting just 2 years deep, that is true...they will be in 3 years though...OR they will just openly tell you how miserable they are like a couple of my married freinds do...