I don’t know, I’m more and more satisfied with life the older I get
You mean it gets worse?
Submitted 2 weeks ago by Mickey7@lemmy.world to [deleted]
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Comments
zxqwas@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah other than my country falling apart my life is better at 39 than pretty much ever before. I’m genuinely happy. Again, other than the country stuff.
I damn sure wasn’t happy and confident like this at 18 or whatever. I’m hitting my stride.
Schorsch@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Back when I was in school they told me I was supposed to enjoy my youth and that it would be about the best time of my life. What they actually did was to demotivate me regarding my future. School was hell. Life is much better nowadays.
zxqwas@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah when I grew up I was a confused bag of hormones who had not yet learnt to deal with anything.
peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 2 weeks ago
I think my expectations have just gotten more realistic?
PunnyName@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Exactly. In youth, everything is important, and everything is a big fucking deal.
Over time, especially if you’re introspective (not everyone has this ability, it seems), you’ll come to temper those expectations.
DoubleDongle@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I still remember being told that in high school, and at 35 I can say with reasonable confidence that it was in fact the worst part of my life, not the best. Fuck you Mr. Ford, you were wrong, and you were an asshole, and if I can ever be arsed to locate your grave, I’ll piss on it.
saltnotsugar@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Well look on the bright side…there’s probably a bright side!
HistoryPug@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Brightside is life expectancy is on a downward trend!
piefood@feddit.online 2 weeks ago
If anyone tells you that your teenage years are the best years of your life: Smile, nod, and slowly back away. Then never talk to that person again.
snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Even it was your mommy?
Remotedeck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
Especially then
GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Anyone who says ‘These years are the best of your life’ are really just telling you that their life peaked at that age.
If you play your cards right and have a large serving of luck, this will not be true for you.
jpeps@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s rose-tinted glasses in play as well. I have many fond memories of my university days and deeply miss all the time I had with my friends that I now rarely see. I would encourage any student to cherish that aspect. There were many, many, difficult aspects of that time as well though, and a decade or so on I deeply appreciate the autonomy I have now.
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 week ago
a great part of having set down the path of self-improvement is that you can look back and go “see? i fucking knew things could get better”
exasperation@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
I interpret it to be more about the weight given to different pros and cons about different stages in life.
Some people really, really prize autonomy, and don’t get to experience that until pretty late in life. For these people, the stifling limits of adolescence, without their own money or independence from parents, can be miserable.
Some people really, really prize being free of responsibilities. To this group, sometimes adulthood comes with too many challenges and responsibilities that they find independence to be stifling.
Some care about physical health, which may correlate with younger ages.
Some love the ease of friendships in adolescence and early adulthood, and long for that dynamic when they realize that making new friends or maintaining existing friendships gets harder after 30, and even more so after 40.
Some feel very strongly about the loved ones they’ve lost since their childhood, and wish they could’ve appreciated those shared experiences more in the moment.
And we all have different experiences. I have no idea if my best years are ahead of me or behind me, but I could see an argument in either direction.
blarghly@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Right, but most of these factors can be significantly mitigated as we age, making them non-issues.
Being more free of responsibility can be achieved via life choices in career and family. Choose a career with flexibility, and prioritize flexibility when finding new jobs or negotiating promotions. Don’t have kids if you don’t want them or aren’t ready for them.
Physical health generally declines with age, but good diet, exercise, and sleep habits keep nearly all these effects at bay. Many people can become more youthful with age simply because they are in such poor health as children.
Making and keeping friends as an adult is not that hard. While it doesn’t “just happen” like it did in school, you tend to make friends with people who you actually have things in common with. Like, for example, people who value a life without needless stress, and who value their physical health.
We can certainly mourn those who have left us. But we also make new relationships as we get older. Is life better when you have a grandparent? Or when you have a grandchild?
The trend I’ve seen with people who say this to kids is that they have failed in one or more of these areas. The classic being, say, the divorced truck driver who had kids he didn’t want, and who only interactes with people at work and at the bar.
MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
There are certain unique experiences you don’t get later. There are a few places that have field trips in college, but for most people that is only during regular primary school.
rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The nature of those unique experiences varies from person to person. My field trips might have been good memories had it not been for the fact that the horrible assholes I was stuck going to school with were there.
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 week ago
there generally isn’t really that much preventing you from having field trips later in life, you just have to actually make it happen yourself rather than having it handed to you.
random_character_a@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s just shit people say, because their memory is skewed to remember some stuff.
InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
After drinking that much lead you won’t remember anything better
Katrisia@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
My experience is the opposite. Adolescence was horrible, young adulthood was hard, adulthood has been better. I am taking care of myself and I am happy with my relationships.
Washedupcynic@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
I’m glad things have improved for you and that you are doing well.
Rachelhazideas@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Fuck all the adults who say this to kids with less privileged childhoods.
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The whole “high school is the best years of your life” thing was always total bullshit. The drugs are much better in college.
FanciestPants@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I can’t remember which movie, but some basic rom-com. Girl was in a fight with her ex and trying to make him feel bad said, “I gave you the best years of my life.” And dude, utterly confused, responds, “those were your best?” The movie was forgettable, but that absolutely savage line stuck with me.
rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Kate: I wasted the best years of my life on you. Stuart: Those were your best years?
SlimeKnight@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
How i felt when i was told nobody would love me more than my parents.
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 week ago
no one will love you more than a spoiled pet
CalipherJones@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’ve never really had much of a family. The whole family bond thing seems like a farce. I love my parents because they were good parents, not simply because they were my parents.
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
No, it will get so much better. And so, so, so much worse. Sometimes in the course of like an hour.
MossyFeathers@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
My 30s will probably be the best years of my life, if not my 40s. #justtransthings
Honytawk@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
Don’t listen to people who peaked during high school.
SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Nah dawg 30s is where it’s at so far. (I’m 30s)
son_named_bort@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah the people who say that tell boring stories of glory days.
lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
You will see the positives looking back. It will look much better than it was
Drekaridill@feddit.is 2 weeks ago
Nah, I think my 30s are looking better now that I have a good job and the right meds.
Pacattack57@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I think this is just a saying that lost its meaning. Youth is the time you don’t have to worry about much and you can live without regrets because most of your decisions don’t have real consequences (aside from the obvious ones).
Obviously to young people they don’t see it that way. In hindsight I could have done a lot more as a kid but I didn’t for fear of whatever the hell I was afraid of. Definitely not the best years though.
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 week ago
it also just doesn’t work at all for many people, like what if you grew up poor and couldn’t afford to do the fun carefree things? what if you had no friends? what if things that other people consider mundane made you vomit from anxiety?
scott@lemmy.org 2 weeks ago
Fight for a better world, both young and old.
SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Most people don’t want to die for a better world.
And that’s the kind of fighting that it takes.
exasperation@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
This all or nothing thinking often just turns into an excuse for doing nothing.
I can make a better world by making things better in my immediate vicinity, without dying for it. I can help one person at a time, and it might not scale to some kind of globally noticeable improvement, but it can still a difference to each of those people, and was worth whatever effort or sacrifice involved.