Submitted by AspireAgain t3_11egnqj in todayilearned
Yeah, I think this happens to a lot of us. I definitely feel like real adulthood doesn’t happen until 30s. 20’s are the transition years.
I mean it depends on what happens in your 20s. For me, my 20s were very real and weren’t just transition years due to my overwhelming medical issues and how much of it I had to go through on my own. I had to grow up (more than I had already) really quickly because if I didn’t i probably would’ve died.
I feel the opposite. I’m 19 but feel like I’m way over my head.
I never knew how young old people were until I became their age.
I’m in my 50’s. Still trying to decide what to be when I grow up.
> feel 33
> am 33
I am the chosen one.
Watch out! There was this one guy who thought he was the chosen one a long time ago, and some wild shit happened when he was 33.
I was convinced that I was the chosen one... dang it
We can both be the chosen one.
The Chosen Two, if you will.
Thank you for this affirmation. I will admit that your willingness to share your status as the Chosen One proves, beyond reproach, that you are clearly The Chosen One.
As a 15yo I wanted to be seen as responsible and it went on for a full decade. At 25yo I felt like I was in my 40s due to the responsibilities I had put on myself and my need to show I was an adult.
Now at 46yo I understand we never really know what we're doing and I take everything with a grain of salt. I feel so much younger than what I am and I'm much more carefree than I was as a young adult... and I love it.
It's so interesting that we assign "carefree" as a youthful feeling when kids are going through so much that few actually feel that way. While they don't have adult responsibilities, they have a lot of pressures from all different angles. It's often not until we have more control over our lives and feel comfortable in our own bodies that we can start to actually get that feeling; it's pretty impossible as a teen.
Nope, am forty with degenerative spine. Feel much older.
I’m 44, but don’t feel it until I wake up and my back hurts for no damn reason.
40s is when you start hurting yourself just by sleeping.
That’s what I miss from my childhood the most, waking up and not hurting.
Your brain stops developing at 25 and you stay that age. Science.
this feels about right
Makes sense my brain still thinks I'm in my early 20's my body has remind it that I'm in my mid 30's
Had this on repeat in my head the past few days. “I was so much older then , I’m younger than that now”
I’ve got “Back when I knew it all.”
Almost like people of all ages prefer to be in their prime...
No. “Subjective Age” is a term that was coined to allow the discussion of the fact that many people feel a different age to their actual age. It isn’t the cause of that difference.
In my 40s and definitely experienced this. Recently I started exercising like I was in my 20s and took it too fast. I woke up the next morning on the verge of a heart attack.
Probably will become more pronounced as fewer and fewer achieve conventional adulthood milestones.
What in the gnostic/hermetic contortion is 'subjective age'? Sounds like a mental prison to kick open a pandoras box of child abuse.
Subjective age is just how old you say you feel, which is often different from your actual age. OP has got cause and effect confused.
I can see that but even still, just because you FEEL like you're ten doesn't mean your physical body is not beholden to laws.
I think we talk about subjective age often. And in therapy it's common to use an idea of "inner child" and "inner guardian" in discussion. I think most people has a part of them that feels like a small child - someone who may be scared or easily amused/excited/awed, who feels hurt from small things or is needier than a self sufficient adult.
Except in r/nevergrewup where everyone's subjective age is much younger. It's often caused by trauma.
This tracks with me. I was always described as "going on 30" and felt more grown than my peers. But at 25 I noticed I felt like 23 and at 28 felt like 25. At 31 I might feel like 28 maybe 30. More experienced, facing different goals, more assured of myself, but not over the hill and not out of touch.
Mid 30's and I feel like I'm 85 with all these body aches.
Im 34 and it feels so weird. I've never felt my age in my whole life.
True for me. When I was 40 I felt 35 and now at 58 I finally feel 40.
Maybe it's because of what society expects from us. If you're 12 you can already do a ton of things on your own but every adult just tells you what you can't do and is looking down on you as if you know nothing at all. At 16 you probably think most things that are restricted to adults you can handle just fine at age 16 and so on. Then when you're like 35 your boss will expect you to always treat every situation professionally eventhough many times you don't feel prepared to do so at all. The older you get the more likely the chance any person you meet at any given moment is younger than you and they will look up to you as if you know better, because you're an adult and more experienced.
I'm about to be 25 and honestly already feel that. I can't believe I'm approaching the age I've always wanted to be -- the age of the people I've always interacted with -- and yet I still have that lingering of feeling "younger" that's really weird.
I dunno. I'm 34, but on any given day I can feel anywhere between 30 and 300. Usually closer to the 300 side of the spectrum. (It's been a long few years.)
Am 68. Feel not a day older than 67. Especially after reading the ages of all the commenters.
I agree, I have felt 30 since I was 10
Well... I am 25 but still see myself as young.
We had a new hire help me recently and he used the polite "you" when talking to me and asking questions. Which confused me and I said that he can be casual and he's probably not much younger than me... But he's 15. I'm two third of his whole life older than him. That made me startle a little when I realized. There's people getting into jobs soon who will be half my age...
Two thirds old-timer. You forget how to count?
... I turn 32 soon.
Great news, I can finally stop feel like a senior in 2 years.
I wonder how this is affected by cultural or economic factors.
Well duh.
Bullshit. My white hair in the beard says otherwise.
I see more and more white hair each time I look in the mirror, but I'm fitter and more dangerous as a sportsman at 40 than I was when I was 30.
[deleted]
I've always felt younger than I am 😊 (I'm slightly developmentally delayed)
This is why older people seem so desperate for your attention, they think it's friendship, not persistent lecturing. They think it's mutual when they tell you how to live your life. How tragic.
Someday you'll be older, and all the young people will be the ones in the wrong.
I'm 40 with no kids... I think it's happening... Like, right now.
You have older adults telling you how to live your life at age 40? I presume they must be relatives. Sorry to hear it.
InflamedLiver t1_jadvv6l wrote
I get that. When I was in my late teens I basically saw myself as a young adult. Then by the time I hit 30 I felt like I was finally a young adult for real. Now in my 40s I think I finally feel like a "normal" adult.