This question is on my mind. I’ve come across 25 year olds, 27, 30, 35 year olds, who feel old. Basically people who are like 20-39 years of age are saying they’re so old or that they feel so old. I don’t understand this. In my opinion, you are young if you are 30 or 35 or 25 or 37. Is it because of the way they grew up? Maybe they’re tired because of the things that happened in their life? Maybe their job drains them? Maybe it’s just a mindset that some people have?
My mom didn’t say anything about feeling “old” until she went past the forties. She even says that people who are in their twenties and thirties are still pretty young.
I’m getting close to my mid-twenties and, for me personally, I think it’s because I feel like I haven’t “done enough” for my age. In my head, I know it isn’t that old in comparison to someone who’s hitting their 50s or 60s, but it just feels miserable. I try not to compare myself to others. Still… oof… hits hard.
Thank you for your input!
I know we all have our ups and downs, but you shouldn’t be miserable for being close to your mid-twenties (this is ofc my opinion).
Ahh, one can only hope. Having depression only increases my bad feelings unfortunately, but maybe I’ll feel more settled and a little better regarding my age in a few years.
I’m 18 and my friends all love going on nights out and raves and things like that, and tbh it’s not really my thing. I feel old cause I’d prefer to have a bath, a cup of tea and read a book on Saturday night. Tbh I felt old when I was 15.
I’m 22. I don’t really feel that old, but I do sometimes compare myself to my friends, who are the same age, and feel like I’m older than them. They all went to uni to study, whereas I started working straight away, so I’ve been able to save up money and go on holidays and get my life on a path in the 4 years that they’ve spent studying. (No shame to those people who do go on to do further studying. It’s important for certain career paths!)
The only time I truly feel old is when I see something like “songs that turn 10 years old this year”. Or when the kids I babysit taught me how to dab and I just kept asking them what the point of it was? Like, is dabbing a dance move? Is it something that can be used in replacement for a wink? What is the point of a dab?
So, to answer the question in the title - Because we are old
And a little more seriously, I am 22, and I feel old, but thats probably because I am a mom to 2 years old boy, so that kinda makes me feel older
I think it’s a lot to do with how people mature and possibly how in society we see age based on how much you do.
To elaborate, maturity may come from their surroundings growing up, particular interests, or just going through a lot (breakups, toxic friendships, you name it) and learning from that. It’s basically emotional and/or mental experience. The more you experience, the more you mature.
Society might also play into “feeling old”. Usually we expect someone in their twenties to be living it up at parties in college, possibly from media portraying it that way. Reality sets in though, for some, that they might not be intrigued in the things we see age portrayed as. Maybe they relate more to the stereotype of someone in their 50s, so they feel old.
That’s my personal take away when someone says that.
I think it’s because of how fast things change nowadays. In medival times life stayed pretty much the same if it was not for a war or so. But today inventions like radio, TV, cellphones and the internet changed the way we live and see the world a lot in less than one generation of time. Most of you grew up differently than I did or your parents. I guess you get the point.
One of the big things I’m starting to notice is that it’s actually starting to take effort for me to keep my figure. That makes me feel old and I’m only 21
I feel old because I look at people 10 years younger than me, and the difference between us is startling. It’s a totally different generation in so many ways, that it just feels like there’s way more time between up then there actually is…plus I have a brother that’s 8 yrs younger, and watching him grow up has made me feel super old just because I still think of him as my little baby brother, lol.
I do feel old sometimes because the time is just passing so fast. I remember when I was a child and I couldn’t wait a school semester to end and my mum said: “believe me, time will go faster as you get older” and I was like: “Mum, please”. But she was so damn right. Nowadays I often feel like something happened a few months ago and it was actually 3 years ago… Back in high school we discussed with some of my friends that it’s just not possible that anyone was born after 2000
I can relate to Amber’s example too about songs that turn 10 years old this year. My favourite songs from my childhood are actually about 20 years old and yeah, this makes me feel pretty old. But I always remind myself that age is just a number and what really matters is that I still feel young.
I think it’s when you start saying “When I was a kid…” - you start to realise just how much has actually changed since you were a kid, thus making you realise how much time has passed.
Plus I have a kid so that makes me feel 10x older than I am.
Oof, I felt this. Kind of building off what you’re saying, I think society also expects people to hit certain milestones at certain ages and when you feel like you haven’t hit the right ones, it really leads to some grubby feelings. Like you’re young, but you’re also too old to do x thing… or at least too old to do x thing at a “normal age.” I see this in myself, in friends who were overprotected, in friends who had trauma.
This might partially be an American thing, since the culture is very independence-based and some things that might be normal elsewhere are shamed as embarrassing here. For example: adults not moving out at the earliest opportunity can be seen as odd.
I’m 31 and I feel old, because I have a kid, so I can’t go to parties, I can’t play MMORPGs, I can’t get wasted, etc. and can’t do teenager stuffs anymore (like going to the plaza to meet and flirt with some cute guys, lol - we did it a lot back then), instead I have serious responsibilities, I must work for a living, clean the flat, wash the dishes, do grocery shopping, cook, etc. and another factor is that I started to lose my ancestors a few years ago - 2 grandmas and my dad -, and it made me realised that as the time flows by, I’m never ever gonna be younger again, only older.
It’s kinda hard to define this feeling, but I hope you get what I mean. ^^
