the big 3oh

[RolloTomasi]

I'm right there with you, TC. I'm going to be 30 in a few months. Very much not looking forward to it. I know it's ridiculous to be bothered by it, but I am. It's not even a fear of getting old for me. I just plain don't want to be 30. I spent a large amount of my 20s under the thumb of anxiety and depression. Now that I'm largely over most of it, I feel ripped off.

I don't want to sow any wild oats or anything like that. Just a bummer that I basically missed my prime years. Plus gray hair sucks. Already got a lot of that going on. And I refuse to dye my hair. Not going down that road. I'll go into old age as gracefully as I can on the outside, but on the inside I'll be throwing a tantrum of epic proportions.

 

[spaceboy135]

"Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter!" -Mark Twain

Heh. Love that quote, and it's soooo true. I feel this way even though I'm 23 sometimes. Like I'm getting old.

But then I met a 102-year old man last Wednesday (well, turning 102 next month)... so I think I still have a good ways to go, if nothing bad happens to me.

 

[Waybuloo]

im 29 now and in less than a month i will turn 30.:: i have this fear of getting old. i guess some people would say 30 is not old, but to me its 10 years from 40. 40 scares the hell outta me.
my age has begun to bother me in recent years. i dont feel old or look my age at all, its just that stupid crap keeps happening...like my hair is thinning. everyday i have to look at it in the mirror and it depresses me more. i cant bear to lose it cuz i think it would make me look old. i cant stand fat old bald people.
then theres the struggle to lose weight. when you get older you get fatter. its like i cant drop any or ill lose some and get stuck.
theres other annoying things that have come up. its so depressing. whats the point of living past your youth? you just get old fat and lose your hair. its like everything goes downhill. i just dont want that.
then theres the emotional toll of having SA and wishing you had been better with people, and the feeling youve wasted your life. my teenage years were mostly spent alone at home. i developed this awful anxiety and depression at 18 and ive struggled with it ever since. most of my 20s i struggled thru job after job, unable to get along with people, and finding out what the real world was like. then beginning to really hate myself. i wish i could go back but i cant.


//mid-life crisis rant.

You're going for a good rant, I understand. But I can't help to say this:

You define too much of what it means to be happy and beautiful as being youthful, that's a trap that many (esp Americans) seem to fall into. I am looking forward to my 30s because I know age and experience will make me less stressed and anxious about what other people think of me. I think a bit of has already happened gradually since my teenage years. In France for example, older women still take care of their appearance without needing to look young, as there is beauty and grace in maturity.

Don't you see that if you're unhappy because you'll look old, then you'll just get more and more miserable as you age. If you're unhappy and insecure it'll show and emphasise whatever flaw you are stressed about. If losing hair, either shave it off or wear hat and spary that stuff to make it look more dense or something. Do something about whatever you are not happy about and just be who you are. Everybody ages, so at least know that you are not alone.

Oh and not everybody gets fat when old, both my parents in their 50s are slim and fit without any special diets or exercise. You just have to look after yourself and eat sensibility (without resorting to excess salt or sugar for a flabour hit), it really is simple. If getting old promises fat then I'm all for it because I like to be fatter.

You have two choices - to live forever in resentment and become one of those old bitter people that nobody can stand, thus cultivating a genuine reason for people not to like them, or to be nicer and kinder to yourself and those 'fat bald people' that you can't stand, for example. The situation is the way it is, you know you can't change events, but you can change the way you think, the key is all in the mind.

Are you so depressed that you think your life is not worth continuing? If so would death be a better option? If you accept death then isn't trying to do happier and more enjoyable things as well as thinking more happy thoughts worth the effort, since there is nothing to lose anyways? If death is not a better option then doesnt' that tell there is something to live for?

 

[worrywort]

I had a bit of a freak out when I hit 24! It was like I finally had to accept responsibility that I was now an adult in the big wide ocean and no longer a child in my own little pond, and that scared the hell out of me.

I'm turning 30 next year, but strangely I don't feel too bothered? It's weird. I think my hair is thinning too, but that hasn't been bothering me either?! I guess it's probably because I'm in a pretty good place right now in my life where nothing particularly drastic is going to be taken away as a result of me turning 30. I live in my own little world these days, so even if I went totally bald, nothing would really change. Plus I've grown kind of immune to other people's expectations of me over the years, so whatever society's expectations of a thirty-something are, I don't really care about. I'm just gonna carry on doing my own thing.

Also, another thing is that a load of my heroes in life are a lot older than me. Paul McCartney's 68 and still touring the world and writing great music. Randy Newman's 67 and his music seems to be getting better with age. Ravi Zacharias is 64 and it's only been in recent years that he's really come into his element and gained worldwide popularity. Mark Everett is 47 and doing some of his best work now, and Thom Yorke is 42 and is still totally relevant and vital in todays music scene.

So at the moment I think there's still loads to look forward to for the next few decades at least. There are still a lot of good things to be gained from growing old; wisdom being the most exciting! I think it'll be as I approach the big 6-0 that will really begin to get me down a lot, but hopefully I'll be able to deal with it when the time comes.

 

[DespairSoul]

That's all the piratey make-up

No waaay i was seeing him with out Pirate make up yay hehe funny youu

 

[Tiercel]

I've been 30 for about 2 1/2 months now, and I still can't seem to get myself moving again.

Does anyone where some really large boots? Time's a-wastin', and I'm about ready for a big kick in the rear....