What do you miss about your youth?
To those not in the full bloom of youth, what do you miss the most?
For me: 1) Being able to party for days on end, take an obscene amounts of drugs, and STILL look and feel fabulous.
2) Being as slutty as you wanted to without consequences.
3) A more innocent time before you're so jaded and bored with the world .
by Anonymous | reply 112 | May 28, 2024 6:01 PM
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The excitement of first crushes
by Anonymous | reply 2 | May 25, 2024 8:25 PM
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A boner anytime anyplace.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | May 25, 2024 8:25 PM
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Nothing. It was horrible.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | May 25, 2024 8:27 PM
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The family and friends who have since died.
They all had such a positive impact on my youth and the man I became.
The only change I'd change about my youth is that I should have come out of the closet in my college years.
And the only reason I'd want to go back to my youth is to see my parents, grandmother, some other relatives, mentors, and friends (who have passed on) one more time.
I would tell them I loved them so much, and I would miss them wen they were gone.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | May 25, 2024 8:30 PM
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R6, that's a lovely and thoughtful response. Much better than mine.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | May 25, 2024 8:32 PM
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Why did so many of you enjoy taking copious amounts of drugs? Was it really so enjoyable that you still miss it?
by Anonymous | reply 8 | May 25, 2024 8:33 PM
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I miss the energy, the health, how everything used to seem to funny with my crazy sense of humor (that I still have, in a way, but I don't laugh as much. Trying or seeing so many things for the first time. Knowing you have all the time in the world.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | May 25, 2024 8:35 PM
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shocking strength and endurance. Incredible feeling of lightness.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | May 25, 2024 8:35 PM
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Being 5' 11" and weighing 153 lbs and having a 32" waist without even trying.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | May 25, 2024 8:42 PM
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Post prostate cancer, I miss my ability to ejaculate.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | May 25, 2024 8:45 PM
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Youthful energy, youthful enthusiasm, youthful optimism. youthful sexual appeal but I prefer to have the wisdom I now have and the satisfaction and gratitude of having had my life work out and to still be in good health. Oh yes.......and thick hair!
by Anonymous | reply 16 | May 25, 2024 8:46 PM
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It's immature but I miss that feeling I had at about 13 or 14 when I felt very secure because I didn't have to support myself or worry about a lot of things, and my parents did all the hard stuff.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | May 25, 2024 8:48 PM
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R17, but did you actually think: "Wow, at some point, I will have to go out and earn a living. Glad that my parents now pay my room and board."
by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 25, 2024 8:50 PM
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Freedom from multiple responsibilities I now have.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 25, 2024 8:55 PM
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R18, at that age it is your current reality and you think it will go on forever. For some people, the expectation does go on forever.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | May 25, 2024 8:57 PM
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R18, R20 I didn't think it would go on forever. Do you have some kind of problem with the fact that I miss it? I don't miss it all the time. Yeah I miss having my dinner on the table and having someone else do the housework or maybe buy me something once in a while. Life is hard.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | May 25, 2024 9:06 PM
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At this point in my life, I don't even get any Christmas presents. So yeah I miss those times.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | May 25, 2024 9:09 PM
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You twats killed the thread with your nitpicking.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | May 25, 2024 9:29 PM
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Freedom from multiple personalities I now have.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | May 25, 2024 9:31 PM
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1. Feeling so excited about everything and 2. knowing that so many guys wanted me.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | May 25, 2024 9:43 PM
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God yes I miss the drugs! I had so many incredible trips on e (ecstasy, mdma, molly). I miss the raves in abandoned warehouses and the cool people you'd meet and have an incredible bonding experience with, then sadly never seeing them again. The preciousness of savoring every moment like it's your last. I miss the days when ecstasy was pure and you didn't have to worry about it being cut with fentanyl.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | May 25, 2024 9:44 PM
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The idea that being old would be wonderful.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | May 25, 2024 9:45 PM
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[quote]The idea that being old would be wonderful.
Oh for chrissakes, r29, didn't you watch The Trouble With Angels???
by Anonymous | reply 31 | May 25, 2024 9:49 PM
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B definitely B......oh thise were the days.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | May 25, 2024 9:50 PM
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A couple of friends from my distant youth who died young.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | May 25, 2024 9:50 PM
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I don't miss nothin' cept the time I spent chasing dick.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | May 25, 2024 9:51 PM
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One thing I actually miss a lot that no one mentions much is: when almost everyone my age was single. That was fun.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | May 25, 2024 9:51 PM
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I really miss the WW2 generation being around.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | May 25, 2024 9:52 PM
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I was less worried about things! I feel like Covid triggered horrible anxiety for me that I’m always paranoid about my health.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | May 25, 2024 9:54 PM
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No aches and pains from exercise.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | May 25, 2024 10:52 PM
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My metabolism, which now is running backwards.
New Wave.
Fun cruisy bars.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | May 25, 2024 10:55 PM
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I miss not being exhausted all the fucking time from work and I miss the general happiness I felt before the guy I thought was “the one” coldly dumped me
by Anonymous | reply 42 | May 25, 2024 11:04 PM
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I miss my grandparents and their generation, and although my parents are still doing well in their early eighties, a lot of that generation is gone now too and I miss them
by Anonymous | reply 44 | May 25, 2024 11:06 PM
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I miss the Manhattan of my youth in the 70s when it was still NY and there was so much great stuff to do that was cheap. Now I never want to go to it again. It is so long ago and now it resembles just an overbuilt very crowded decaying rotting mall.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | May 25, 2024 11:16 PM
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I only had two grandparents who were alive, but many aunts, uncles, and cousins. As well as my parents. I'm an only child, and all of them are dead now except some of the cousins. I miss them and all the fun of a big family group on holidays.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | May 26, 2024 12:20 AM
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My face, body, beauty, and clubbing. Dancing for hours until closing. Added bonus if I met someone or hooked up that night, but it was ok if I didn’t.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | May 26, 2024 12:25 AM
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My overall health is not bad on the whole, but it's not nearly so good as it was in my 20s.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | May 26, 2024 1:20 AM
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The music (80s, like Duran, Simple Minds, INXS). It felt so hopeful and shimmery and international and eternal.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | May 26, 2024 1:43 AM
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As others have said, the physical well being and feeling good most all the time. And that the future was forever and, in time, everything would just keep getting better.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | May 26, 2024 1:52 AM
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R51, shimmery is the perfect word - been listening to all three of those bands (and others) recently and am mesmerized by the sheer gliding otherworldly feel of the music. 80s music was processed but also felt organic and real--with artists, not just confected personalities, behind it.
Okay I'll stop now.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | May 26, 2024 1:55 AM
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I have a pretty good sense of style.
I miss going to a thrift shop and buying something quirky and making it look good. I wouldn't have to spend much money at all.
Now, yes, I can still wear thrifted stuff, but it's got to be mixed with something more high-end.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | May 26, 2024 2:00 AM
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Not hurting when I move any joint in my poor, now old body.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | May 26, 2024 2:09 AM
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>>>Crowds of men cruising the sidewalks after the bars closed. For a couple of fun wild unpredictable hours.
>>>Being able to accompany someone right up to the gate when you took him to the airport.
>>>Knowing the odds were in my favor when I went out that I’d end up having sex with someone handsome who wanted me.
>>>Buying a rush ticket to a Broadway play for $5.
>>>Hitting up the bars on acid and dancing all night. Going straight to work the next day from being out all night and credibly faking it.
>>>Boarding the train and seeing a majority of my fellow passengers reading the newspaper.
>>>Wanting to go to the movies and having a selection beyond cartoons, comics, action movies, retreads, and sequels.
>>>I know it’s been said… but my hair. My thick dark curls. Now I’m rocking silver mist.
Honestly, I could write a list a mile long but this is starting to make me not feel so great about my life now…
by Anonymous | reply 57 | May 26, 2024 2:24 AM
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Being in the moment. Not feeling weekends fly by and spending them basically getting done all the chores you couldn’t get to during the workweek. Not thinking about your loved ones—your age, and next-older generation—someday becoming older, moving away, becoming sick or passing on. That “I’m gonna live forever” feeling (sorry for stealing that, “Fame”!).
by Anonymous | reply 58 | May 26, 2024 2:25 AM
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R58, your comment about being in the moment really hit me.
When I was in my 20s and even in my 30s, I remember actually dropping by some friends’ apartments without even calling first.
Beyond that, it was so easy to make last-minute plans with friends.
I don’t have one friend now I could call and say let’s go grab a drink in a hour or tonight or whatever.
I think my friends know they can do that with me but even though most of them are younger than I am, they have the litany of excuses - too late too far too cold too boring too expensive blah blah blah. So I do a lot on my own now. It’s ok.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | May 26, 2024 2:33 AM
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- The lack of tinnitus
- The lack of acid reflux
- The lack of needing reading glasses
by Anonymous | reply 61 | May 26, 2024 2:36 AM
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The ability to get lost in a book
Having thick hair
Being naturally thin
Living in a world that wasn't quite so relentlessly depressing
by Anonymous | reply 62 | May 26, 2024 2:38 AM
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R62, why can’t you still get lost in a book? That’s not just for the young.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | May 26, 2024 3:28 AM
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Yeah, I miss dancing in the clubs.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | May 26, 2024 3:35 AM
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I miss being healthy and having sex.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | May 26, 2024 3:43 AM
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R66 It’s been 5 months for me.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | May 26, 2024 3:48 AM
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It's been 15 years for me.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | May 26, 2024 4:05 AM
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[quote] why can’t you still get lost in a book? That’s not just for the young.
The internet destroyed my attention span.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | May 26, 2024 4:06 AM
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R53
Think of Its My Life by Talk Talk - the production was so lush like so many of the songs back then but it didn’t feel forced. There were just so many beautiful songs. Fun songs, silly songs, songs that were sung for Africa. Shit, even Jack and Diane said “hold on to 16 as long as you can, changes comin’ round real soon make us women and men” when I was 16. It just felt so meaningful.
MARY.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | May 26, 2024 11:13 AM
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Bob Barker on the price is right.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | May 26, 2024 4:23 PM
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"Just wait until now becomes then. You'll see how happy we were."
by Anonymous | reply 72 | May 26, 2024 4:27 PM
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I have a lot of allergies now. Not much to food, but to fabrics, for ex. It's very hard for me to find clothes that don't interfere with my breathing. My doctor says it's probably more to do with chemicals in imported clothing to keep it from rotting in the long shipping process (everything is imported). When I grew up it all was made here. :/
by Anonymous | reply 73 | May 26, 2024 4:35 PM
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I miss feeling joy and being happy to be alive.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | May 26, 2024 4:36 PM
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And I miss when clothing didn't have brand names and brand logos on it. You notice in old videos from the 70s - street scenes - how no one is a walking billboard for Calvin Klein, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Supreme, etc.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | May 26, 2024 4:37 PM
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Rouged knees, Flag pole sitting, silent films
by Anonymous | reply 76 | May 26, 2024 4:39 PM
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Growing up with gobs of money. In Connecticut in a huge colonial. A pool. Tennis courts. Thirty acres. Private School. A beach house on the cape. Cars. etc...... Now I'm just a working poor.
by Anonymous | reply 77 | May 26, 2024 4:39 PM
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I know a woman from high school who grew up in a mansion and now lives in a 3rd-floor walk-up in an old house near where i work. Her dad was a surgeon who was sued for malpractice years ago, lost a lot of money and so forth, and died. She's a nice person and seems happy, if poor.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | May 26, 2024 4:58 PM
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R69: start with a book of great short stories and take it from there.
by Anonymous | reply 80 | May 26, 2024 5:44 PM
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Not feeling so overly tired and overwhelmed all the time
by Anonymous | reply 81 | May 26, 2024 8:06 PM
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My body, my memory, my enthusiasm and empathy.
by Anonymous | reply 83 | May 26, 2024 9:07 PM
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My sec drive and endless d*ck.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | May 26, 2024 9:09 PM
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My grandmas. The sweetest, most loving ladies.
by Anonymous | reply 86 | May 26, 2024 9:12 PM
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Not that I miss it, but I look back and reflect and go, Wow! My 25 year old husband. I knew he was attractive. He still is a handsome dude at 56. But I look back at pictures of him and us together and think wow, he was really hot. Why in the hell did he pick me and how in the hell did I end up with him? I wish I appreciated more. I wish we both did at that age.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 88 | May 26, 2024 9:21 PM
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But, R75, the era of designer jeans started in the late ‘70s, continuing into the early ‘80s.
by Anonymous | reply 90 | May 26, 2024 10:13 PM
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Nothing.
I looked handsomer, was fitter, turned more heads, had sex with new people easily and with great frequency, and thought my circle of friends would only grow larger over time without ever dwindling or the expansion slowing.
For all of that, I didn't really appreciate it at the time, and more importantly, my life has grown better and happier through four plus decades of adulthood. I now appreciate the life I have, my friends, my good fortune, the ability to enjoy what I have and not fret about things beyond my reach.
Wouldn't trade anything. The happiness I have now is greater than the sum of what I had at any point in my youth or younger years.
by Anonymous | reply 91 | May 26, 2024 10:27 PM
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I miss having functional knees that allowed me to bend then to tie my shoes and/or kneel in front of a beautiful cock.
I miss being able to eat just about anything without having intestinal regret an hour later.
I sorta miss having more hair, as shaggy and unruly as mine was.
And I miss the ease with which friends bonded with me. It's much more challenging in my fifties.
Beyond that? I'm much happier and content now. I'm housed, clothed and fed and most importantly, loved.
by Anonymous | reply 92 | May 26, 2024 10:30 PM
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r88 your husband looks like he has a Big One.
by Anonymous | reply 93 | May 26, 2024 10:31 PM
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With extreme discipline and deprivation, anyone can have a good body at just about any age (maybe not 80+ though). But the face? Never coming back
by Anonymous | reply 94 | May 26, 2024 10:57 PM
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Your good body comment could've been directed at me, R94. But the face is not all lost, either, if you similarly practice extreme self-care (over the years), e.g., no smoking, drugs, drinking, limited sun exposure. And it helps if you start off with good bone structure.
by Anonymous | reply 95 | May 26, 2024 11:04 PM
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my knees didn't hurt as bad
by Anonymous | reply 96 | May 26, 2024 11:06 PM
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My knees never hurt. I’m 51. Just lucky?
by Anonymous | reply 97 | May 26, 2024 11:09 PM
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r88 I know that guy. He's MARRIED??
by Anonymous | reply 98 | May 27, 2024 12:35 AM
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I haven't read this thread yet, but I imagine a lack of joint stiffness may have made the grade? It was so nice just to get up and go back in the day. Now, getting off the sofa or worse, out of bed, requires a warm up to keep the knees and feet ready before I trudge to open the door for my dog.
by Anonymous | reply 99 | May 27, 2024 12:56 AM
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Effortless (relative) attractiveness (again, relative)
by Anonymous | reply 100 | May 27, 2024 1:06 AM
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I miss being full of hope, wonder and promise.
by Anonymous | reply 101 | May 27, 2024 1:25 AM
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I wouldn't say I'm "happier," now, but I'm less miserable. I have fewer bad habits. I have my own place to live. I have my own car. I don't have to wait 30 minutes at a bus stop. I'm more disciplined. More patient. Etc.
by Anonymous | reply 102 | May 27, 2024 2:24 AM
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During lockdown and the time I worked from home (which was only three months) my looks improved markedly. I slept 8 hours every night. Went for a lot of solitary walks in the sunlight. There wasn't as much air pollution. Worked out every other day. Didn't have the stress of the workplace to deal with. Now I look like shit again.
by Anonymous | reply 103 | May 27, 2024 2:31 AM
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Being able to squat and get up effortlessly.
by Anonymous | reply 104 | May 27, 2024 2:50 AM
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I had dreams of a career and travel and living all over. Now at 58, I've had all of those things. It was amazing at times. And lonely a lot. And hard work mostly. Now, I need to come up with some new dreams/goals to strive for. And I need a job. The problem is I am lazy.,fat and tired. Also most people bug the shit out of me in the working world. I would love not to have to make money and just spend my days reading in various coffee shops or libraries or museums. I would be fun for me to do light research on a subject or artist and then go see a corresponding exhibit. Now I just doom scroll on LinkedIn and worry.
by Anonymous | reply 105 | May 27, 2024 3:21 AM
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[quote] Being able to squat and get up effortlessly.
You can work on this. Use your kitchen counter as a helper. Within a few weeks, you should be able to get up without trouble.
by Anonymous | reply 106 | May 27, 2024 3:23 AM
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No internet or cellphones.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | May 27, 2024 4:46 AM
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Well bully for you, R91.
You're beyond lucky. I would give anything to go back to my 30s. My life sucks now, my body sucks now, my health (physical and mental) sucks now, and I'm just waiting for it all to be over at this point. Nothing will ever get better. It's been downhill for more than a decade, and it's only accelerating.
by Anonymous | reply 108 | May 27, 2024 5:42 AM
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I am grateful in my 60's to be healthy, happy and still successful with a teaching career. I have a terrific husband and a centered existence that I appreciate. However, I would still like to have one night out with the friends I lost to AIDS. I would also like to walk my best friend's paper route again, spend an evening at the movie theater I worked in for years, and have one family Christmas with all those relatives who sometimes annoyed me but who I really miss and wish I'd told them what they meant to me when there was the chance. Sitting at the piano and playing songs while they gathered around and sang (some even in tune), was almost Norman Rockwell-like.
by Anonymous | reply 109 | May 27, 2024 3:04 PM
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That I never worried about rent, paying rent, or that it would go up.
That said, through some quirk of fate and timing, my mortgage payment is $636 for the next 28 years.
by Anonymous | reply 111 | May 28, 2024 5:33 PM
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Having a cigarette with my teammates after hockey practice. Not caring.
by Anonymous | reply 112 | May 28, 2024 6:01 PM
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