What do you miss about your youth?

Being in better shape.

The excitement of first crushes

A boner anytime anyplace.

My health

Nothing. It was horrible.

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.

R6, that's a lovely and thoughtful response. Much better than mine.

Why did so many of you enjoy taking copious amounts of drugs? Was it really so enjoyable that you still miss it?

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.

shocking strength and endurance. Incredible feeling of lightness.

*so funny

My hair.

Quaaludes

Being 5' 11" and weighing 153 lbs and having a 32" waist without even trying.

Post prostate cancer, I miss my ability to ejaculate.

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!

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.

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."

Freedom from multiple responsibilities I now have.

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.

R18 What's your point?

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.

At this point in my life, I don't even get any Christmas presents. So yeah I miss those times.

You twats killed the thread with your nitpicking.

Freedom from multiple personalities I now have.

1. Feeling so excited about everything and 2. knowing that so many guys wanted me.

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.

Number one.

The idea that being old would be wonderful.

R29 Said no one, ever.

[quote]The idea that being old would be wonderful.

Oh for chrissakes, r29, didn't you watch The Trouble With Angels???

B definitely B......oh thise were the days.

A couple of friends from my distant youth who died young.

I don't miss nothin' cept the time I spent chasing dick.

One thing I actually miss a lot that no one mentions much is: when almost everyone my age was single. That was fun.

I really miss the WW2 generation being around.

I was less worried about things! I feel like Covid triggered horrible anxiety for me that I’m always paranoid about my health.

Never look back.

My parents being alive.

No aches and pains from exercise.

My metabolism, which now is running backwards.

New Wave.

Fun cruisy bars.

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

Having energy.

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

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.

Nothing really.

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.

Harder erections.

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.

My overall health is not bad on the whole, but it's not nearly so good as it was in my 20s.

The music (80s, like Duran, Simple Minds, INXS). It felt so hopeful and shimmery and international and eternal.

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.

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.

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.

Autofellatio.

I was never bored.

Not hurting when I move any joint in my poor, now old body.

>>>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…

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”!).

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.

No Trump threads.

- The lack of tinnitus

- The lack of acid reflux

- The lack of needing reading glasses

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

R62, why can’t you still get lost in a book? That’s not just for the young.

The discos.

Yeah, I miss dancing in the clubs.

I miss being healthy and having sex.

R66 It’s been 5 months for me.

It's been 15 years for me.

[quote] why can’t you still get lost in a book? That’s not just for the young.

The internet destroyed my attention span.

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.

Bob Barker on the price is right.

"Just wait until now becomes then. You'll see how happy we were."

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. :/

I miss feeling joy and being happy to be alive.

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.

Rouged knees, Flag pole sitting, silent films

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.

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.

Friends - long story

R69: start with a book of great short stories and take it from there.

Not feeling so overly tired and overwhelmed all the time

Hopes, dreams, ambitions

My body, my memory, my enthusiasm and empathy.

My sec drive and endless d*ck.

*sex* drive

My grandmas. The sweetest, most loving ladies.

A future.

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.

continence

But, R75, the era of designer jeans started in the late ‘70s, continuing into the early ‘80s.

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.

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.

r88 your husband looks like he has a Big One.

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

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.

my knees didn't hurt as bad

My knees never hurt. I’m 51. Just lucky?

r88 I know that guy. He's MARRIED??

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.

Effortless (relative) attractiveness (again, relative)

I miss being full of hope, wonder and promise.

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.

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.

Being able to squat and get up effortlessly.

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.

[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.

No internet or cellphones.

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.

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.

R97 short maybe?

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.

Having a cigarette with my teammates after hockey practice. Not caring.