Is it normal not looking forward to growing older?

7 Comments

i've always felt old for some reason & ever since i turned 14, birthdays are the worse for me because they remind me of growing older & all of this comes with this excruciating feeling of loss of what has passed and now ceases to exist & will never again be. Call it maybe an everlasting existential crisis or peter pan syndrome or nostalgy of nothingness but in all seriousness, i suffer. I recently turned 20 & feel quite depressed about it. I terribly miss adolescence & childhood even though my life is not bad(still not devoid of problems) at all(i'm at uni, doing what i want & enjoying my self). Why can't i be happy with how old i am ever? Is it because i'm a miserably superficial & shallow idiot? The idea of death is okay, i view it from an epicourean point of view as a return to a state of inexistence that i was before i was born. The idea of old age & decadence though is unbearable to me. When i was a kid, i thought that 27 would be the perfect time to commit suicide, as in that way i would 'stay young' forever, but now i'm not so sure.

Yes 24
No 5
Maybe, yes 7
Maybe no 0
Perhaps you need to seek professional help 19
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Comments ( 7 )
  • thegypsysailor
    9 years ago

    Wow. I must just be a waste of living flesh, in your mind. Never mind I'm having a great time in my mid-60's and can't wait to wake up each morning a see what's going to happen that day. Meeting new people, visiting different places and seeing so many new things; why am I alive? I should have killed myself at 27? Not on your life, honey. I guess there are a few ways to look at this. One would be to do nothing in life, never love or get hurt and as you said, die young (of boredom?) and leave a beautiful corpse (for the embalmer to enjoy, over and over again?). Or, as I believe, live the hell out of life, experiencing everything you can and when it's finally time to go, leave a broken down, pretty much useless corpse, after all, I won't need it any more.
    I'll go out kicking and fighting for each second of life, not fold up my game card and exit this world as an attractive but timid, gutless young coward.
    Perhaps that's a bit harsh, but honestly, if you don't want your life, I'm sure there are thousands out there who would gladly trade, just for one or two more days with their loved ones.

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  • LizardSkin
    9 years ago

    God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

    The courage to change the things I can,

    And the wisdom to know the difference.

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  • Anonnet
    9 years ago

    I think most people just want to be 20-ish years old. Little kids want to be 20, oldies want to be 20. It's pretty much the perfect age.

    If you ARE 20 and all you can think of is how you're getting older and getting old is somehow the worst thing in the world, perhaps you need to seek professional help. It's not healthy to be so preoccupied with your age, it's not something you can change or stop. Especially when you're so young.

    Please don't kill yourself, life seriously isn't as bad you think it is. What are you grieving over that you want back that's so important, and why is it more important than what the future is capable of bringing?

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  • Morgan_Freeman
    9 years ago

    Well, I think you should suck it up and stop being a lil pussy.

    Narrated by Morgan Freeman.

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  • amberloveyou
    9 years ago

    Quit looking back on your birthdays. Quit thinking about that. Live your life & be positive. If you keep thinking your old, you'll regret it when you actually are old. You'll wish you would've enjoyed your life when you were young.

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  • Wildfire68
    9 years ago

    It can be such a challenge to think positively. Life is all about how you perceive the world to be, life is internal. Thegypsysailor has mastered this. Your life is, to sound cliche... what you make it. Try to focus on other people. I am in constant search of peace and the only short time I really find it is when Im not thinking about myself... P.S getting older is a blessing, it can be an opportunity to see the world without having to worry about who the world thinks you should be, what you should look like, what you should wear etc.... You can finally discover your inner self without constraints.

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  • thr
    9 years ago

    I feel the same way. I'm 28, and I can easily spend too much energy on negative thoughts about growing old.

    But that's what you get, if you're here in the world, change and the passage of time. If only we could be like the statues in the park and stay in a state of beauty forever.

    On the other hand, you can see it as a call to honour the present. You are here now, and you do now. Whether you die at 27, live to decrepitude, or die suddenly at old age but at good health, you live now.
    If you think today is worth living, then live it.

    How you come to know or understand life in your 20s can be disillusioning compared to the perspective of a kid. Life is the here and now, and perhaps you shouldn't think too grandly of life, or demand that good things last.

    On a different note, but still very relevant, I think that one's tendency to think depressing thoughts has more to do with one's state of mind than there being depressive thoughts to think. I.e., if you're sad you think of sad things, if you're happy then you don't.
    To improve happiness, I would suggest focusing on diet, exercise, sleep and company, though I don't know if that is off the mark in this case.
    With a happier state of mind it may be easier to focus on the wonder of even just being now.

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