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I am now 31 and commonly look back on my late teens and early twenties with immense nostalgia. I many times find myself wondering where all the time went and how that world turned into this one.
I wouldn't want to re-live that era of my life, unless I had the ability to make different decisions. However, looking back at it, I can't help but think that everything seemed so much more exciting back then. Now everything is routine and mundane. Things like music and movies don't have the impact they used to. Even experiences, like vacations and stuff that used to be so exciting have become kind of "meh" compared to what they used to be. It's like when you are in the 18-25 demographic, you still have some of that childhood awe and wonder left that disappears as you age.
I can't be the only one who has experienced this. In fact, there is a huge market out there for nostalgia because when people get into their thirties, they have immense longing for the "simpler days" of their late teens and early adulthood.
I definitely don't want to go to the grave having lived the best of my life at age 25.
In a way you are lucky to have enjoyed those years so much, but the excitement back then just isn't an option for the later years. That's because the level of responsibility at that time was so much less, even if you had to hit the books and work summers. That special freedom was ours, and even a single adult can't experience that in the same way because that person is working full-time just to stay afloat.
I am very nostalgic for many things going back to those years, as I still prefer the way of life back then. But the teen to early-20 years were pretty miserably for me in personal ways, so there's no way that I would re-live them if I could. My best years were in my 30's.
Today, I feel much what you do but I think I'll do better after I'm retired. That's my focus right now.
In a way you are lucky to have enjoyed those years so much, but the excitement back then just isn't an option for the later years. That's because the level of responsibility at that time was so much less, even if you had to hit the books and work summers. That special freedom was ours, and even a single adult can't experience that in the same way because that person is working full-time just to stay afloat.
I am very nostalgic for many things going back to those years, as I still prefer the way of life back then. But the teen to early-20 years were pretty miserably for me in personal ways, so there's no way that I would re-live them if I could. My best years were in my 30's.
Today, I feel much what you do but I think I'll do better after I'm retired. That's my focus right now.
Good points here.
I do agree with you about the nostalgia for those days. Like you, I don't think I would relive those years until I had the ability to make different decisions to keep out of some situations. Still, the much lower responsibility of those days combined with the excitement of doing so many things for the first time is something that doesn't stay with you as you age. Just sitting out in an apartment courtyard around a fire drinking beer and smoking cigarettes with friends...at 21 that was such an amazing experience. Today, it's still fun but it's more a reason to get out of the house and alcohol doesn't quite have the same buzz it used to.
For me, once I got about 27, life started to become more ho-hum.
I also wonder how much of this is that our popular culture is so youth focused. Everything in popular culture glorifies the late teen-early twenties phase of life and once you hit 30 you are old. Still, that wouldn't explain why everything feels different.
I am now 31 and commonly look back on my late teens and early twenties with immense nostalgia. I many times find myself wondering where all the time went and how that world turned into this one.
I wouldn't want to re-live that era of my life, unless I had the ability to make different decisions. However, looking back at it, I can't help but think that everything seemed so much more exciting back then. Now everything is routine and mundane. Things like music and movies don't have the impact they used to. Even experiences, like vacations and stuff that used to be so exciting have become kind of "meh" compared to what they used to be. It's like when you are in the 18-25 demographic, you still have some of that childhood awe and wonder left that disappears as you age.
I can't be the only one who has experienced this. In fact, there is a huge market out there for nostalgia because when people get into their thirties, they have immense longing for the "simpler days" of their late teens and early adulthood.
I definitely don't want to go to the grave having lived the best of my life at age 25.
Has anybody experienced this?
Speak for yourself, OP. It never occurred to me to long for my teens and 20's. Every age, every decade, has something special. In your late teens and 20's, when traveling, for example, you're mainly a passive observer of life elsewhere. You're passing through. In your 30's and 40's, you can be a contributor to the world, you can bring about positive change, share your expertise with people, and do something to make the world a better place.
Speak for yourself, OP. It never occurred to me to long for my teens and 20's. Every age, every decade, has something special. In your late teens and 20's, when traveling, for example, you're mainly a passive observer of life elsewhere. You're passing through. In your 30's and 40's, you can be a contributor to the world, you can bring about positive change, share your expertise with people, and do something to make the world a better place.
You can do all that in your twenties. Many people do. Strange to assume young adults would mostly.be passive observers and that only with age can people truly contribute and change anything.
I too had all but lost my sense of wonder. I attribute it to having experienced so many novel things that it is difficult to come up with more. Everything got 'old' along with me.
But, I have found a way to get that feeling again at 56 years old and I think most people can probably bring back a bit of those feelings of wonder. You just have to try to find those things which are both novel and exciting to you.
I don't know. When I was in late teens - early 20s, life was pretty limited. I was still in college, had little money but didn't care, and didn't really do much other than chase women.
I've done a lot more from say 26-30 than I did 20-25.
Still, the much lower responsibility of those days combined with the excitement of doing so many things for the first time is something that doesn't stay with you as you age. .
.
And when you are that young, there is a sense that your whole life is before you. A sense of the possibilities/potential of a life as yet unlived.
You can do all that in your twenties. Many people do. Strange to assume young adults would mostly.be passive observers and that only with age can people truly contribute and change anything.
When you're in the middle of the process of getting an education, you're poorly equipped to do much contributing. You can participate in someone else's volunteer project, but it's rare that college-age people do that. After they get an education and are in a position to actually have expertise to contribute (which usually isn't acquired until after the MA level), then, from mid-20's on, options begin to open up. And after 30 or so, after gaining experience, paying one's dues, so to speak, moving into positions where one can make a meaningful difference, that's when options really open up. The period the OP is discussingis an incubation period for most people.
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