Do you feel old?

[PokeDave854]

I'm in my early 30s and I certainly do *think* I'm still young. But then I try to do physical activities (mainly sports) and I quickly realize that I am no longer nearly as quick or nimble and I can't jump nearly as well as I could in high school. But I still feel like I should be able to. Very strange conundrum…

I have a strong career, I'm married and I have 2 young children. So I feel old due to my normal day to day responsibilities. I think that's why I started playing Pokémon again and joined this site. I started playing on the original game boy with red version. Then moved to yellow, then crystal. After the gameboy advance came out I never bought one and never played generation 3. About 3 years ago I suffered an injury at work that required surgery. I was on light duty for 7 months. Due to boredom and wanting to feel young again I started playing Pokémon. I bought a DS and a 3DS and played all the way through all the generations, in order. What a blast! Now my imagination is back and it helps me feel young. Life was a lot simpler back in the day playing Pokémon games. I don't have a lot of time to play these days but when I do it makes me happy.

 

[Rock_Salazar]

I'm 24 right now, and a lot of people tell me that I am still young. Although, I feel old in a lot of things that I do.

I feel old since a lot of my interests seem dated compared to other people my age.
I feel old because other people tell me that I am too serious or that I do not have fun.
I feel old when I tell people I don't use social media, and instead enjoy forum posting.
I feel old since I graduated college last year, and I work an office job.
I feel old when I tell people I don't go out partying or go to bars.

Despite that, I like that I feel old. Being an adult is far better than when I was a teenager.

 

[virtualpet]

We're 21 and just kind of feel too old for the way we are. We still love toys and play a lot of kids games and watch a lot of kids media (talking like Webkinz, Moshi Monsters, Bluey, and occasional preschool shows), and kind of just act very childish and aren't as jaded as other adults or even older teens often are. We also struggle a lot with emotional regulation and emotions in general in a way that most people would/should have worked out as a teenager and it's embarrassing to think that we're a 21 year old acting like this but we can't help it. It's like we only feel old when we think about our age relative to how we are but not old when we think of our age and how we are as two separate things, both feel young but just one is far younger than the other in a way.

 

[CoolKid575]

I'm 15 and I wouldn't say I feel old at all. IRL I'm pretty tall so a lot of people assume I'm like 18 or 19, but nobody would mistake me for a 20-something.

 

[Harmonie]

I'm in my mid 30s now. It's very hard to describe how I feel. Perhaps too hard.

What makes this hard is that health issues have held me back from milestones that many other adults reach. Largely because of those health issues, I can't drive and I still live with my parents. I have not found a partner, and I have not had children. I have taken college too slow and do not have a career.

But do I feel like I'm 18? No. Absolutely not. I used to think maybe I did, but then I returned to university in my late 20s and the 18 and 19 year olds were now like children compared to me. lol. I couldn't relate with them much at all.

The health issues make this even more complicated, because throughout my late teens and 20s and even more recently I have been faced with numerous health issues that are more expected in one's older age. The arthritis, especially. Before properly diagnosed and medicated, I had a lot of trouble getting up out of chairs, I walked very slowly and was in really bad pain after only light activity. That inevitably makes someone feel older, and it certainly has been a learning experience for me...

In terms of interests, I am a bit all over the place. Music is a great example of this, I listen to classical music, early music, and pop/rock from my parents' generation (60s/70s), but I also listen to some pop from my teens (early 2000s). I guess early 2000s isn't so modern anymore, though, is it? xD It just doesn't make me feel any older than I am listening to it, I mean. So perhaps not the best example, other places are where I have some really young interests, like Pokemon or collecting classic My Little Pony toys and general unicorn stuff.

The short version of this is that I'm weird and I don't know how to describe myself. I don't have any clue at this point. lol

 

[Commander Saturn]

I'm far past my child and teenage years, though the older I get the younger I feel. Physically especially, though mentally I simply have always felt like myself. I don't believe I could classify such into mentally feeling young or old.
I have a youthful appearance so people tend to believe me much younger than I am when they see me in person. Online I am unsure but my speech tends to be dated, so I might doubt that people would assume me to be a minor.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

Wow, so many people here make their 30s seem like it's horrible. Is it really that bad to be in your 30s?

 

[moon]

Wow, so many people here make their 30s seem like it's horrible. Is it really that bad to be in your 30s?

Not at all. My teenage anxiety is gone and replaced by the crushing stress of having to perform well at work or starve, not having kids yet makes one free to literally do/go whatever/wherever providing you can afford it, the body is fully grown and starting to crumble and overall I'd say my 30s is the best age so far.

jk the 20s were better, now i'm slowly dying
help
(no but really, it's fine)

 

[Juno]

I'm 28 and would like to believe 30s isn't "old" but I'm often reminded as a woman you are only worth your youth because your eggs start dying or whatever - it's a dated world view but I come from a very "traditional" (sexist) kind of family so I feel like I am often made to think you have no value or desirability once you hit 30, which I am approaching pretty quickly so I sometimes feel "old" in that sense.

I'm perceived as pretty young though - genetically most of my family looks way younger than they are so that plays into it, and I do take pretty good care of my skin as well so I have no wrinkles, creases round my eyes or sun spots. I'm generally told I look like I'm in my late teens or early 20s, depending on how I'm dressed and made up.

I also physically feel pretty young, my metabolism has not slowed down, I don't have random body aches some people my age seem to, I can drink my weight in alcohol and not feel it the next day still etc but I shouldn't brag about all that because I think at 28 I am knocking at the door of all these problems and it's about to go downhill for me pretty fast here lmfao

 

[Brendino]

Mentally I feel older than I am, though part of that is because almost all the staff I work with are 10-15+ years older than I am, but they're always coming to me for stuff. The younger part of me hasn't gone away, I just don't spend as much time with it as my older self.

Physically though I'm feeling pretty good, and probably better now at 31 than I felt at 21. I don't have any injuries or soreness, and walking at least 10km a day probably helps with that. I know I could do a lot more to lose weight and be healthier, but I could be doing a whole lot worse too.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

My birthday is coming up next week. I have cousins that told me that I'm "getting old" because "you're not going to be a teenager anymore." What is the world coming to? 😮

Is everybody in this world old? lol

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

Happy early Birthday Serenity!

I'd always felt older than I was until I hit 25, since then I've felt my age exactly.
I don't feel 'old', I just don't feel 'youthful', if that makes any sense.

 

[Ys]

Ehh yes and no. For now, I think I'm the perfect age. My mental age is younger than my biological age, and I do look younger, but I'm also more mature than I used to be, which I'm glad about. I have conversations with people my parents' age as an equal now. It feels good, man, I like being 30. I probably wish I was somewhere else in life, though, but that's different from actual age.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

Is there any 30+ year old here that doesn't feel old? 😕

 

[ShayneM]

It's a shame to admit it, but unfortunately, sometimes I indeed feel old. Not that way that everything's bad, life is close to the end, no. I mean that some things are not so easy to obtain then it was when I was younger. For example, I never watched my diet before and i didn't gain just because my body was young and could handle it without extra help. Now I work out regularly to stay in fit but my body doesn't always stays in the same team with me. So we should understand that this happens cause we get older physically too, so we should work harder to help ourselves to feel younger.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

It's a shame to admit it, but unfortunately, sometimes I indeed feel old. Not that way that everything's bad, life is close to the end, no. I mean that some things are not so easy to obtain then it was when I was younger.

Dang, that sounds rough, but thankfully, they make pills and chewables for that sort of thing now!

 

[Sheep]

I'm 31 and really miss being in my 20s lol, but as far as appearance and personality I don't think I've changed much at all. Fortunately seemed to have gotten my dad's good genes as far as looks go - he didn't start looking his age until his 50s. That's the only thing keeping me going, I know aging is a natural part of life but I'm not quite ready to look older yet. Even if I've had 2 gray hairs for a few years now. :') Mentally I honestly still feel like a teenager except I have more responsibilites now and to be honest I feel like a lot of adults ride out their lives feeling the same way. Most people would probably assume I'm in my 20s.

 

[moon]

yesterday we celebrated a coworker who turned 50. and our boss went on about "life starts now!" and the guy is honestly very active and youthful and healthy. and suddenly i didn't feel old at all anymore (in my early 30s). pretty uplifting tbh - being 50 no longer means you're considered old by many standards, at least here.

 

[mikey]

I turned 30 near the end of last year, and I know people make fun of that age and say its old but in reality it's not nor do I feel old.

 

[Ghost Owl]

It boggles my mind that I was hanging out on these forums when I was 13 and I can still come here and post a decade and a half later, wow.

Wow, so many people here make their 30s seem like it's horrible. Is it really that bad to be in your 30s?

I've been happier in my 30s than at any other point in my life so far. Your experience aging is largely up to you. Take care of yourself physically (exercise regularly, eat well, drink a lot of water) and treat your mental health as worthy of attention and you will be fine. Think of it as getting EXP in a video game. You're stronger, more powerful, more experienced, have more abilities, have seen more of the world, you can take on harder challenges, you have more confidence in your abilities, etc.