i've always felt 'old' in some sense of the way. but perhaps weary would be a better word to use.
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When did you start feeling old?
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I hear that.
Every year, though, life gets a little better. I feel a little more energy and a little more hope.
I've started feeling old pretty recently. When I found out Keira was younger than me. When most bands that came out started being younger than me. When people started publishing books younger than me.
I still feel young (26), in a way, but it's more of a "Holy crap, I have to be mature now" sort of thing. I felt young in that way a couple months after I got married ("whoa... I'm way too stupid for this"). Now it's just a day-by-day thing ("let's see if I can get through today without being childish about something" and it gets easier every day).
Some of my friends, younger than me, got married and had kids. It's weird to find girls I went to high school with -- on Facebook or whatever -- and think "hey, they're not as foxy as I remember." It's weird to be 26 and think about high school crushes and that whole scene and think about my lack of courage and self-esteem at that point of time, how much it changed me to be the only writer-type at my school. Seriously -- my high school had about 1600 kids (Sophomore through Senior) and there wasn't a single person who shared my interests. It wasn't until I went to college that I met friends who actually thought in some of the ways I did.
It's strange. I'm simultaneously fearful and excited about the idea of having kids, which will start happening in about three years or so. I know they won't listen, or fear they won't listen. I have so much to pass on to them, though. All I can hope for is that they'll be comfortable telling me what bothers them, and that they'll be happy and self-confident enough to just be themselves and beat their own paths.
I think that's most of the reason I feel immature at 26. I was afraid for a long time to explore who I really was and follow the dictates of my own mind. It's supremely wonderful to be unique, and it's a terrible thing to stifle yourself with fear and insecurity.
I'm never too old to fantasise about sassie mature British babes in white stockings. Quick, somebody pass me the lube.
:lube:
I here this also.
I think I still feel young because I have yet to do things I always wanted. Travel Japan, write poetry (I still struggle to tell people this), and of cause fall in LOVE. How hard can it be to meet some one and fall in LOVE.
When I was 42, I split up with my wife and things sort of fell apart and I suddenly felt old. Hitting 30 and 40 didn't bother me in the slightest.
LOL, I can remember when a bottle of Coke was two bob with sixpence deposit back on the bottle
LOL, I can remember when a bottle of Coke was two bob with sixpence deposit back on the bottle
I started to feel older when people refer to me as "that man" instead of "that guy."
Oh yeah.....and when of the young punks I work with called me "gramps".
I'm 36 this year.
Oh yeah.....and when of the young punks I work with called me "gramps".
I'm 36 this year.
First time I caught myself using the Retouch function in iPhoto to smooth out the bags under my eyes
yeah, i do that with every picture of myself that makes it on the internet or elsewhere. it does make me feel a bit...aged.
seriously, though...i didn't feel old when i got married last october, or even when we bought our house...
i remember when i was in 9th grade my little brother (only sibling) started kindergarten. he sat with me in the back of the bus because the kids in the front of the bus made fun of him. when i was bored during the summers and videotaped my silly little fake commercials and newscasts, he was usually my star because he was the only one there.
he went to the prom a few weeks ago, and he's a highly accomplished thespian in the local theatre. he'll be driving very soon as well. so yeah, these days, i'm starting to feel old a good bit.
I should add that I also started to feel old when rookie athletes I remember watching are about to retire. I started watching Shaq play with the Orlando Magic when Shaq was 22, and now he's an old veteran who will be in the Hall of Fame....and he's 36. DANG!
And lets not talk about my favourite hockey players....
And I'm never that drunk.
I started watching Shaq play with the Orlando Magic when Shaq was 22, and now he's an old veteran who will be in the Hall of Fame....and he's 36. DANG!And lets not talk about my favourite hockey players....
And I'm never that drunk.
When I hit forty. Little things start to happen. Within two years I had reading glasses and started school so I could begin a new career. I'm 44 now and about as happy as I've ever been. The wisdom that comes with age is fun.
I'm never too old to fantasise about sassie mature British babes in white stockings. Quick, somebody pass me the lube.
*White* stockings?
What like the things you wear on flights or during an operation? Mmmmm, sexy!
ON that note, at the start of the last football season me and the missus realised that there was only one player in our entire squad who was older than us, and that was only by a year or two. Luckily, we've taken on loads of past-it old has-beens since then so we don't feel quite as old now.I should add that I also started to feel old when rookie athletes I remember watching are about to retire.
When they start to check your prostrate...
No, its more like when they're checking your prostrate again, and you realize that this is going to be part of every 2nd or 3rd trip to the doctor.
Overall, I'd say that there's a couple of things that hit me that have made me feel old. A few have been mentioned here already, but I'll make a list:
- Seeing the current kids from your high school...how young they look
- Hearing from an old buddy that their 'baby' is heading off to college
- On your own head:
- ...seeing a photo of the back (that you don't normally see)
- ...and getting your first real sunburn on your bald spot
- ...and finally understanding your Dad's joke of: "I know its raining 5 minutes before anyone else"
- Not being able to get a good night's sleep (aches, pains)
- Going out hiking with some younger friends...dang, they walk fast!
And our latest one: the realization that YOU are that 'older, responsible adult' when an older relative or parent dies who makes all of the funeral arrangements, writes the newspaper obituary, is the exectutor of the will, gets hassled by the bank, lawyer, billpaying, etc, etc.
One of the things that I recommend is that you go to this webpage and download the 'What your Family Needs to Know' form, and give it to your parents...no matter how young they currently are. It proved itself to be very helpful for us this past year.
The dumb thing is that of the classical 'milestone' dates (18, 21, 25, 30, 40...), none of them have ever bothered me.
-hh
It's been a gradual feeling ever since my mid-20's. But I'd say reality is really hitting me hard now in my early 30's. Good thing is I act (and look) 10 years younger, so I cover it up well. If that's a good thing or not I'm not sure
The day I first truly felt old was Thursday when I heard this news.
I Just turned 25 and your fears are now my reality. I am engaged and just found out I have one on the way. I just bought a house, just got a good job with insurance. Less than 2 years ago, I was a on foot delivery boy and slept on a couch and partied every night. My friends are all still that way. Its hard even talking sometimes to them without drifting into talking about what I got at Home Depot.
You try to point yourself in the right direction, after that you just hope things turn out right. Besides that just buck-up, and do everything the best you can. Thank goodness I still have my computers.
I felt a little aged when I started talking about Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky to my freshmen class. They weren't even 10!
Also, when kids start talking about bands you've never heard of, not even slightly.
Also, when kids start talking about bands you've never heard of, not even slightly.
Wait till your 30th comes along. The death of your twenties is a shocking one... at least it is for me. (I'm turning 30 this month and rather disgruntled about it)
30 isn't a big deal as long as you try to force some other big event around the same time. I finished Grad School about 2 weeks after I turned 30. After 3.5 years of taking classes, with a full time job and a toddler at home, I was really ready for school to stop. Turning 30 was just a marker that the end was near.
today I am the oldest I've ever been!
I'm actually younger than I was tomorrow.
Well, I'm 21 tomorrow. Apparantly it's all downhill from there
No, it's all downhill after 25. From 21-25 everything was working well, partying was good. At 25 my liver decided that it would then punish me severely if I had a little too much "fun" at a party, and things have not quite been the same since then.
As for actually feeling old it only hits when I think about it. Like when I was in Grad School looking around at the very young kids I saw on campus and realizing they were in 2nd grade when I started college. Or seeing a particularly young looking driver and realizing that he was 2 years old when I got my license, or that the crop of kids getting licenses in 2 years will not have even been born when I started driving. Those are the things that make me feel old.
On the other hand oftentimes at night I will sit and wonder "when did I become an adult?" I've got the wife, mortgage, job, two kids, and I still don't think of myself as an adult most of the time.
Thanks for the hope. I am still working to convince myself I am, and should hold myself more as one