What is it like to be old?

[Donkey-Milker]

obv.. the first thing i need to clarify is when one becomes 'old'... but i can't. maybe becoming old is just a feeling and not a generic number in everyone.... so it's difficult...

but really - what is it like being x years old and comparing yourself to when you were younger?

fyi - i am 20 and feel old now when i see 15 yr olds skateboarding etc. i am physically unfit so feel old when i get fatigued.... and my attitudes to everything but gambling (lol) are generally conservative so i am sort of 'old' in that respect... but i dress 'young' and feel young in all other respects..

anyway... another jumbled, convoluted post... but what is it like to grow older and look back?

tyia for anyone who shares.

[Blarg]

My friends and I remember getting kind of thunderstruck just at turning 20. Finally not being a kid or a teenager after all those years -- decades even!

From then on it happens here and there, but for me mostly depending on situations. Like if I see some cute little kids running around, I'll think about my little brothers and sister, which will take me back to that time, at least some of the best things about it. And that will give me a little pang, and make me aware of time passing.

But it hasn't, after I hit 20, ever struck me that a particular year meant anything. I don't think life really moves in terms of years, except under the law maybe. There are more like long build-ups, sea changes, quick and sometimes unexpected reversals of fortune and direction and will.

[thecincykiddo]

20: It was the same for me, Blarg.

[esad]

Youth is wasted on the young.

When you get older you realize how stupid you were when you were 20. Then you kinda wish you could go back to being 20 except you'd get to keep all the knowledge and experience you have now.

That and you have various aches and pains that you don't know how you got and take forever to go away. I swear cuts healed in like 2 days when I was 20. Now they take 2 weeks.

[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
Youth is wasted on the young.

When you get older you realize how stupid you were when you were 20. Then you kinda wish you could go back to being 20 except you'd get to keep all the knowledge and experience you have now.

That and you have various aches and pains that you don't know how you got and take forever to go away. I swear cuts healed in like 2 days when I was 20. Now they take 2 weeks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amen.

Not to mention, what were hangovers back then? God, now the bod may take a couple days to recover where before it was, at most, just a rough morning.

Edit: You also realize there's more to a woman than just a pretty face and nice bod.

b

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Youth is wasted on the young.

When you get older you realize how stupid you were when you were 20. Then you kinda wish you could go back to being 20 except you'd get to keep all the knowledge and experience you have now.

That and you have various aches and pains that you don't know how you got and take forever to go away. I swear cuts healed in like 2 days when I was 20. Now they take 2 weeks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amen.

Not to mention, what were hangovers back then? God, now the bod may take a couple days to recover where before it was, at most, just a rough morning.

Edit: You also realize there's more to a woman than just a pretty face and nice bod.

b

[/ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately, you still don't care.

JUST KIDDING!!!

[rocketlaunch]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Youth is wasted on the young.

When you get older you realize how stupid you were when you were 20. Then you kinda wish you could go back to being 20 except you'd get to keep all the knowledge and experience you have now.

That and you have various aches and pains that you don't know how you got and take forever to go away. I swear cuts healed in like 2 days when I was 20. Now they take 2 weeks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amen.

Not to mention, what were hangovers back then? God, now the bod may take a couple days to recover where before it was, at most, just a rough morning.

Edit: You also realize there's more to a woman than just a pretty face and nice bod.

b

[/ QUOTE ]

Well to be fair, when a chick is 20 there often really isn't much more to her than a pretty face and a nice bod.

[Hopey]

When you really do become old, you'll realize how silly it was to think of yourself as old at age 20.

Give yourself another 50 years, then you'll be old.

[thecincykiddo]

I wasn't under the impression that d-m was really touting himself up as old. More like seeking wisdom, advice.

My advice to myself at 20? (And I am not old, I should probably say, but 20 was a while ago.)

Hmmm...well, for one thing, time moves differently as you age. The difference between 15 and 20 is incredibly different to you because a lot happened to you physically, hormonally, as well as emotionally and mentally. It sort of slows down a bit after 20. The difference between 20 and 30 is profound, too, but in a different way. I think it can become a drudge because all that rapid change is gone. That's the age that people get into routines, sometimes stuck in a rut. They don't even realize it until years have gone by and they can't believe they're only 26 but feel so much older...

So, getting back to that advice? Live every day to the fullest. Don't turn your back on your future: try to look ahead and make some choices that will stand you in good stead later in life, but take your fun as seriously as your work.

I have yet to find out what the difference between 30 and 40 is, but I'll let you know [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] when that time comes.

As for being old old, my grandmother tells me that it's being treated like a helpless feeb or child that bothers her most. Not the aches and pains (she's 82). People assume that she can't fend for herself, even though her mind's still sharp, and it galls her to her core.

So...something to keep in mind when encountering the elderly, perhaps. Find a way to let them know that you know they're a tough, old bird who could dance circles around you if they could only have their 20 year-old body back.

[Conspire]

PM "Blutarski" and he will gladly answer your old questions.