I am not a young man anymore

This is a mantra that I find myself repeating today after a night out with long-time friends. As I traverse the years one blending into the next I find myself nostalgic for certain past experiences. Maybe it was the newness, freshness of these experiences that cause one to remember fondly "a night out on the town." These days it feels more like a reminder of my own passing youth; a failed attempt to call out to time Time and say, "See, I can still play and act like I'm 21." As I looked around last night sitting at an old familiar chair at one of my favorite bars with a couple friends I noticed the multitude of young, fresh, unfamiliar faces and suddenly felt like "I" was the one who was the stranger, the outsider. When did that happen? When did my generation suddenly become the dinosaurs left to feel the wrath of the meteor impact known as Time? And do you fight the good fight against Time trying to live as young as you can or does there come a point where you have to look around and think, "Its time to put childish things away."? I think for now I'm not ready for that moment, not ready to lay down my metaphorical arms of beer bottles and shot glasses and act as a respectable member of gentler society. So, in the words of Shakespeare's Henry V, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!"

So, give me your take those of you who see time slipping by, which do you choose?

Dude, relax, your 26.

I'm a few weeks away from 34 and I find that I just keep having more fun the older I get. I go out, I do far more and have had far more good times since I turned thirty than all of my 20's combined.

I'm 43, went through all that a few years ago, going into my old hangouts and wondering who the hell all these kids were and feeling very out of place, especially what was left of the punk scene, at first all I could think was what the fuck is with all of these poser kids? They all looked so clean and shiny, their clothes looked brand new and so did their faces, they looked so clean and well groomed as though they were just dressed up for the night only to return to very "normal" lives the next day. For a while I was a little bitter about everyone and their cousin looking like fashionable versions of "freaks" after having to deal with shit in the 80's like people calling me and my friends out on the street, trying to beat us, fight us, run us over etc all the time just for having funny haircuts. What used to be "underground" and meant family for me was now mainstream, homogenized, marketed and sold by corporate money. I watched as my old stomping grounds became trendy and taken over by the masses. I could go on but I'm over it, you get older and things change. You just have to learn to roll with it gracefully. One small comfort that I have is that I know how to take care of myself, physically I'm in better shape than most people I know who are half my age, I strive to achieve wisdom and only worry about being mature with my emotions, keep a sense of humor and refrain from judging the younger crowds, even when they treat me as though I'm irrelevant.

dude.....you're 26. You're not getting "old"...you're finally becoming an actual adult. You're realizing that you don't WANT to be a kid anymore.

I'm 34...and I've been enjoying my 30s WAY more than I ever enjoyed my 20s. My 20s revolved around "which bar is next?!"....driving shitty cars.....eating fast food & ramen noodles...living in shit-hole apartments....

While all that's fun while you're going through it...you can't (and who'd WANT to) live like that forever.

Bullshit. I refuse to believe you're a day under 85.

GETOFFMYLAWN!!!!!

i'm 36 now. around your age, i also felt very nostalgic for my early 20s. at around 28 though, and definitely by 30, the realization that trying to hold onto the past was not only limiting but depressing, gave me the chance to embrace my 30s in full force. nowadays, i look much more forward to the future than toward the past, and frankly it's more exciting, because unlike when you're younger, you tend to have much more conscious control over your own life and your own future than when you're younger.

while i can still look back at the old days with nostalgic warmth from time-to-time, i'm glad i'm no longer just living the past over in my head.

the only thing i do truly miss, and probably will always miss is my 18-26 year old body though. once you pass 30, it's all either downhill from here physically, or you've gotta make a lot more effort to keep it in good working order.

Then you should be old enough to know to man up and stop your fucking whining.

I think Lemonkid wants to fight you man, by the bike stands after the bell!

3:1 odds on Lemonkid.

Betting window opens in 10 minutes.

Couldn't have said it better myself... in fact, I feel like you should be sending me a royalty check.

Everything on the boards right now, with the exception of that trespassing article and the space invaders thing is filling me with rage.

Shit Lemonkid hates.

Go out and have new experiences then, if you miss the "freshness". You're still allowed to.

Welcome to adulthood, kid. You're just realizing that your childhood nostalgia isn't nearly as idyllic as you held it and now you have to define who you are now. Don't worry, at 26, you probably still have plenty of time and possibilities to fuck up, now it's just way more expensive to fuck up, and no one will drop the charges because you're a minor.

A true sign that your days of youth are over, grats on grumpy old man status!

QFT, I hate my shitty car.

Wait till you find out about men holding onto their cocks & balls and shaving them till they're all soft and smooth like they were before they became men chronologically. You're gonna really love that narcissistic shit!

It's OK dude, you still write like an excessively earnest 21 year old.

Oh.

Kay.

I think what men do with their cocks & balls is their own business.

No.. I've always hated things that suck. Ask around.

A Grumpy Old Man before his time.

Suddenly I'm all nostalgic for the good old days when I was 26 and could afford the luxury of feeling old. Not that I was ever lame enough to, but dammit I could have.

oh, for fuck's sake. seriously, you're 26. your life has barely begun. shit, i didn't really start having fun until i was at least 28.

wow. i have never in my life before seen anyone call themselves a hipster*, except in a really cool commercial for the Honda Jazz.


* reference to the original poster's profile.

My friend Scott was run over by a train when he was 26.
It's perfectly rational and plausible idea that your life is winding down.
Enjoy.