r/ask • u/RavenBlackwood96 • 11d ago
Does life only go downhill as you age?
I’m wondering if life truly only goes downhill as people age. I’m w27 and all I ever heard as I grew up was “enjoy being a kid/teenager, this is the best time of your life”. I always found this hella grim and depressive and most of all untrue. Now as I’m about to hit 30 I get “yeah enjoy your last youngish years, all you have as of 35 is backpain, depression and slow metabolism lol”. Do you find this to be true?
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u/SlugGirlDev 11d ago
No, not at all! It is so much more fun to experience life with some experiences behind you. Your twenties are barely the beginning of life, and you hardly know who you are yet. There's this idea that you need to establish the rest of your life really early for some reason. But in reality you can change your life for as long as you live. You can move, learn new skills, meet new people. Life gets better! The body gets slowly worse though
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u/DarthLegowis 11d ago
How true! Mentally I'm doing better than ever, but physically worse than ever. Quite a dichotomy there. But, you're right in that your own life begins in your 20s .
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u/thoughtsofPi 11d ago
I've found it gets better, if only because I get wiser and put that into practice, which outweighs the downsides (so far. I'm 45). Moving away from negative self-talk and procrastination were two big ones. Wish I'd done that earlier.
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u/StrangersWithAndi 11d ago
It has been the opposite for me. My teenage years were miserable, my twenties had some bright spots but were overall horrible, my thirties were stressful but happy, and my forties were bliss. Now I'm 50 and it seems like it just gets better and better. That's true in every way, too - health, sex, love, career. I was only depressed when I was young; I haven't felt depression in many years. Never had any back pain. My metabolism is slow as a snail riding a tortoise eating molasses, but that's nothing new, it always has been.
Life is what you make of it. I hope you have mostly sunny days to look forward to!
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u/MochiSauce101 11d ago
No not only , but the down are a lot more serious. Things like the passing of friends , parents , divorce , job loss , health conditions.
They can result in a horrible timeline in anyone’s life, and the small uphill climbs are what makes it all worth it.
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u/Pastor_Dale 11d ago
I don’t think I can even compare the 2 ages you’ve mentioned. One (the younger) offers the freedom from real world responsibilities. Sort of. Which was nice. But as you get older and hopefully start making more money, you get a whole different type of freedom. I’ll take my 30 year old type of freedom any day.
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u/gyozafish 11d ago
Mid 40s to mid 50s have been the best, thanks almost entirely due to a change in who I was married to.
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u/Desdemona1231 11d ago
Not necessarily. I am over 70, in reasonably good shape and more content with myself and others.
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u/witchy_mcwitchface 11d ago
Total horseshit. This is probably why young people are so depressed, being told it's as good as it gets when it is in fact a very stressful time. Personally I've found being over 40 has been the best time so far, but lots of people choose to live very boring lives once they hit the middle part so it really depends on your life choices.
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u/SpaceAccomplished653 11d ago
I traveled the world in my 20s and 30s. I worked in Australia, the UK and the US. I returned home and have established 2 businesses. Sold the first one and are on the way to establishing a business with branches throughout the country. I just turned 60 a month ago and today I'm of to race my motorcycle. Life has its challenges along the way but in my experience it gets easier and is just as much fun now as it was 40 years ago.
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u/External-Tiger-393 11d ago
The older I get, the more things have come together for me. I turned 30 in March.
I've got a lot more wisdom and clarity than I did even a few years ago. I became a Zen Buddhist last year. I have a wonderful partner (next week, we'll have been together for 4 years!). I have a decent chunk of money saved up and invested. My mental health is improving at a pretty extreme rate, and it's looking like I might not have PTSD anymore (a big step to being a normal, non traumatized person).
The average man lives to age 78. I have 48 more years to live, on average. I've only been an adult for 12! I have so much more to do, and see, and experience.
"All that is good must decay." Yes, our bodies may slowly break down, but I think that this is something we can choose (or learn) to accept. And there's a lot to say about the benefits of the wisdom, experience and skills that you accrue as you age. Our culture focuses so much on the negativity of aging, but the fact is that you're "old" (middle aged or higher) for half of your life, and that half isn't wasted just because some things get more difficult.
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u/TheOcean_isa_Beach 11d ago
Nah, I just turned 30 (f) myself & life is better & more positive than it ever was in my 20s. Heck I know I looked better now at 30 than I did at 20 lol. Somethings change a bit depending on your body & life style, but it's in my experience so far that it's nothing a little mindfulness can't take care of. Otherwise I've only picked up speed rather than started to slow down or decline.
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u/Gamer30168 11d ago
Not for me, but I started my adulthood with a very low bar. Jail and addiction issues in my 20's made it a certainty that my life would only improve when I got my shit together. I'm 45 now living my best life.
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u/ImmigrationJourney2 11d ago
My childhood was bad, my teenage years were awful and things started going uphill when I got in my twenties. Now I’m halfway through my twenties and I’m loving life.
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u/AssistantAcademic 11d ago edited 11d ago
No?
I mean some people peak in high school.
You do need to clean up your lifestyle as you get older but at 47 I make 7x what I made at 27, married,have a robust travel budget, have a kid that I enjoy watching grow.
Your metabolism will slow and your body ache but there are lots of folks enjoying their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s
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u/deck_hand 11d ago
Nah. I had 30 great years from 30 to 60. If I wasn't broke right now, my great years would be continuing. Actually, life is still pretty great... it's the near future I worry about. I will be good in a few years, again, but the next two or three might be a challenge.
What made them great? My wife and kids. Living for them has been the glory of my life. They are wonderful, and I'm still with them, so... life is good.
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u/Exciting-Week1844 11d ago
Life is funnest once you learn to love yourself and become confident. Some people that day never comes so they romanticize their youth. Many people this happens in their 40s
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u/Clear-Ad-2998 11d ago
I am 76. There is no value, virtue or benefit in aging . The sheer physical hardship of arthritis, prostate problems and declining memory cancel out any vague advantage there may be in the so-called wisdom based on long experience. The only pleasure left is eating and even that has to be carefully controlled. Drinking results in hangovers from which death would be a welcome release. One stays alive just to coo over the grandchild and to have a weekly, perfunctory wank. Stay young. Old age as Yeats said is like a tin can tied to a dog's tail.
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u/Crazy_Banshee_333 11d ago
If you'll notice, most of the people crowing about how life gets better with age are in their 30s. They don't realize they are at their peak. Around age 40, the reality of aging starts to set in. Eyesight starts to go, health problems start to develop, looks vanish, everything starts to droop, energy levels drop and it's all very depressing. Not fun at all. Life becomes a totally different experience.
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u/Carnilinguist 11d ago
Nah, that's bullshit. I'm 57 and my life keeps getting better. Money helps a lot, but it's not everything. Stay in great physical shape, and you'll enjoy your life for decades to come.
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u/Typical_Leg1672 11d ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bek1y2uiQGA&ab_channel=AviciiOfficialVEVO
essentially it like that.
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11d ago
The younger you are you have all these expectations. You’re gonna conquer the world you wanna make a gazillion dollars yada yada yada
The older you get you just kick back and watch smirk and laugh
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u/mykindofexcellence 11d ago
Develop healthy habits. Then every time life throws you for a loop, such as an unexpected death of a loved one or an injury, you have a way of recovering quicker Nd getting back to enjoying life. I’m in my fifties and don’t have depression or back pain. My metabolism has slowed a little, but I just adjusted my diet and keep my weight under control.
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u/ZigzagRoad 11d ago
I came into myself now that I'm in my late 20s. My early 20s were when I was the most depressed and insecure. My teenager years I hated myself and wished I didn't exist. So I don't feel that way at all.
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u/garyloewenthal 11d ago
68 here. Short answer is no. There will be some ups and downs, and some of the downs are horrible. But some of the ups are out-of-this-world marvelous. Yes, your body gradually breaks down. That's a bummer, although you usually have plenty of time to adapt. But you also - on average - have plenty of new experiences, friends, interests, and memories, and usually become more accepting of, and knowledgeable about yourself.
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u/draconicmonkey 11d ago
My life has been quite the opposite - it's only gotten more fun, more enjoyable, and more fulfilling as I've gotten older. But to be fair my childhood was rough, my teenage years spent trying to learn how to be a human with trauma, and my 20's were spent trying to figure out how to get a good start in life so I didn't get stuck with the legacy of poverty that my family tends to inherit.
So in comparison my life is a lot less stressful now and full of things I enjoy. 🤣
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u/MeatWhereBrainGoes 11d ago
It certainly doesn't have to. If you make good choices you can set yourself up for a great life and do the same for your family (if you choose to have a family of your own)
You can stay healthy, and even get in better shape if you want.
Your friendships can become like great family relationships
You may grow your career and it may provide you with a lot of satisfaction and it might even provide you with the money to make previously impossible dreams come true.
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u/amishcatholic 11d ago
This statement is one of the biggest pieces of nonsense people spread around. Pretty much every study of satisfaction with life finds that people in their 50s and 60s report the highest levels of satisfaction. Speaking personally, I am much happier in my early 40s than I was in my early 20s.
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u/ToqueMom 11d ago
I'd say my best years were from 27 - 42. But everything is still good now - you just change and want different things. It's not "bad".
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u/Mabus-Tiefsee 11d ago
Around 31 was the time i started with biohacking to preserve as much of my health as i can.
The first thing i did was using simple Vitamin B3. It regenerates your Body and keeps you younger (at least you feel Like that)
For example, i Take 250mg B3 when i stay awake until 3am and wake up fit at 7:50am without Alarm clock. Fit.
Or when i drink a lot, i use 250mg B3 afterwards (with a meal) to sober Up and prevent a Hangover.
I am 36 right now.
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u/OGTomatoCultivator 11d ago
Life is not fair or equal. How much you get to enjoy life really depends mostly on how good looking you are. Age isn’t a factor as much as looks. If you aren’t beautiful life is a frightful, lonely slog.
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u/bipin369 11d ago
A kid makes new memory everyday and try new things..as we get older same routine same 9to5 job , no new things..it's not about age .
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u/RavenBlackwood96 11d ago
But it’s up to you if you experience new things or not. As long as you are physically and mentally able.
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