all my friends are either dead or my enemies
A girl that stopped me on the street to ask directions concluded the exchange with “Thank you sir.”
Also, the waiters now automatically bring the bill to me when I have lunch with coworkers.
I don’t feel happy
I feel like this is not a part of getting older. Arent there things that are exiting to you or make you happy?
Not many. Not as much as it used to be
Time feels way faster as you get older.
It’s also pretty grim that the people you know are either dying, dead, or have a life altering illness that comes out of nowhere. I feel like there’s a funeral in my family once a month, rather than once every decade.
Hot take but I think it’s because people stop having or seeking out novel experiences. Most of people’s lives are repetitive and boring jobs with barely any time to zone out in the evening. And once your kids move out and you’re with a long term partner, hardly anything is dynamic in your life. Or fresh. Or unexpected.
I feel you, I hate it.
Male pattern baldness sucks, esp as a trans girl
Injuries take longer to heal and recovery from the gym is slower
Hangovers now take two days
Skin dries out much faster (though this might be due to E)
You don’t feel older mentally, but your body starts to betray you. I don’t mean stuff like your legs aching after getting up when sitting on the floor, or getting tired easier; it’s the subtle things that really are irritating. Like taking longer to learn something. Getting fatter even though you don’t really think your diet is bad. Taking longer to find that word you can’t think of or the name of that person, movie, place, whatever.
The irritations that add up are the ones that you don’t really expect, not just the ones you do like needing glasses.
Then there’s “time.” Fucking day goes too quick. Used to be you felt like you could get all kinds of shit done in a day. Now? Run two errands and half the day is gone. Wtf.
Also, “lasts”.
You start to realize that there are things approaching that are the last time you’ll see or do something. The last time you visit where you grew up. Last time your kid lived at home. Last car you’ll ever own.
Yeah, the lasts suck.
Also, “lasts”.
You start to realize that there are things approaching that are the last time you’ll see or do something. The last time you visit where you grew up. Last time your kid lived at home. Last car you’ll ever own.
Yeah, the lasts suck.
I remember being in college, and this Onion article gave me a little bit of an existential crisis.
Ouch
Lots of things like grey hair, moving more slowly, injuries that I would have bounced away from before instead hurting for weeks or months.
But the one that hit hardest was a breakup I had a little while back. She was the love of my life and I fully intended to marry her, and when she ended it out of nowhere I was sad, but fine. She dumped me, and it sucked, but I also needed to finish a staff report for a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting that night. So I moved on.
The thing that upset me most was that I wasn’t that upset. There was a time in my life when I would have been a mess. But as I’ve aged, my emotions have become more regulated.
I miss being capable of that level of joy and pain.
Love definitely hits different in your 20’s. Though, the plus side is when something ends I don’t obsess over it like I did as a young man.
I remember in the mid-2010’s when Guns n Roses decided to reunite and tour, and my first thought was: “Why would I want to watch Axl Rose now that he’s old and fat?” That was a sign.
Looks at a picture of a family dinner from 10 years ago. One third of the people are now dead…
It was when I tripped and fell over outside my house. The next day my neighbour said, “I hear you had a Fall.”
Yes, when you’re old you don’t fall over, you “have a Fall”. Everyone hearing about your Fall will make concerned noises. (I was perfectly fine! I’m not OLD old!)
I thought you’re gonna say a dad joke so I will!
At least you didn’t have a Winter
Well that took me a minute - oh, autumn, you’re talking about autumn! Ha ha, excellent dad joke.
Nobody mistakes me for a teenager anymore.
Kids call me “lady”
I want to go to bed at 9 PM
I get excited for new appliances
Made breakfast this morning. Now my wrist hurts.
And sneezing then having a pain in your back from it.
Waking up with a new pain and having to make it the new normal.
So very much this. Waking up now includes logging what does and does not hurt. It sucks.
Cuts and such heal WAYYYYY more slowly.
I also seem to bruise easier.
Past 25 I started to realise I couldn’t remember everything that everyone had said to me. This was also around the time I developed a social life, so it could just be that my brain had more to manage socially.
Past 30, I stopped caring about appearances so much and started working on developing mental skills. I was able to defend my beliefs better, make more on-the-spur jokes.
Past 35, I no longer care about anything. I have bouts where I’m in interested in building things, or conversing. But now? Eh, work/sleep is enough.
It takes exponentially longer to heal from physical injury. That’s it so far, except for feeling calmer - older people are exceptional at emotional regulation, which oddly enough is why they are easier to scam, they don’t freak out as quickly.
But mostly it’s the slow healing. I am still strong and flexible but have to be careful and moderate because getting hurt will set me back much more than it used to.
My mom once made plans to come up here (she lived near Miami) to see Tab Benoit with some of her friends - by the day of the concert two of them were dead! She said “if you want to see your friend when you are old, go see them, don’t make plans.”
