I have a real problem with my being 51 years old

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

-said problem being, in my head I still feel 20 years old.

I think that's a real problem- I have trouble seeing myself as grown up. I see comparably aged men and women all around me, and most of them look and act respectable- that is to say, "their age". I can't do that. I try to imagine myself as being formal and proper and dressed up in a tux with a cummerbund, but instead I close my eyes and see a skinny kid fresh from the Air Force trying to figure out this adulthood thing. And failing miserably.

To be sure, I have fun with it- it's easy for me to laugh. I see the humor in things most "grownups" consider juvenile. I still dress in slacks and a tee shirt, even to meet a client. I've always considered myself allergic to the necktie- nasty, horrid invention straight from the middle ages (the tie is the last remnant of the Knight's shield, much as the military salute represents the Knight lifting his faceplate to reveal his face to his opponent).

I simply can't take "grownuphood" seriously. I don't think I ever will. I know that in thirty years, when I'm old, wrinkled, and drooling, inside my head I'll still be twenty years old. Many elders will tell you they still feel young inside, and that's a real good thing to know.

That's one thing I really don't have a problem with.

Youse guys wanna go hang out on the street corner and smoke some cigs?

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. Who says you have to?

I'm 50. My head's 25. My heart's 12.

The key to "growing up" is knowing when you have to act like it. And when you don't.

:thumbsup:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

7. I've always been a lousy actor.

I'd rather play to my strength, which is my obvious youth. :evilgrin:

[MoseyWalker]

2. I'll hang and smoke some cigs

I'm told that I truly look young, though I am old.

I don't expect to make it much longer, and plan on just enjoying the days i have.

:hi:

[mad-mommy]

3. it's good to feel young...

because I feel old, and that's sad.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. You only get old when you forget how to laugh

Practice laughter and it will all come back.

Trust me. I'm a professional. :toast:

[mad-mommy]

9. oh I can laugh...

and I can make other people laugh, that is the one thing telling me I'm not depressed. Juts feel old lately.

[Catshrink]

4. Same here...

[idgiehkt]

6. good to know

that grown up thing hasn't happened to me yet either. I am at the point where I'm just going to stop worrying about it and accept being weird. Or "eccentric" is the term, I think. Whatever. I don't feel 38. I don't have kids and maybe that is the thing that grows you up. Not sure. Whatever it is, it hasn't happened to me yet and probably won't at this point.

Thanks for making me feel more normal.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

8. You may be on to something

I've never married, so I never had to learn that togetherness thang. Kinda makes me feel sorry for married people. :rofl:

Maybe we should start a club!

[idgiehkt]

10. single childless people or something?

could be...could be the deal.

thank god for the grown-up types though. If the world was full of people like me we'd all be living in teepees still...

maybe not such a bad thing? :shrug:

[yellowdogintexas]

27. A wise friend says you are grown up when your parents are gone

and you have to take care of everything yourself. She was the very youngest child of a man who married late in life..her oldest brother was 14 years older. PUt it another way, her dad and my grandfather were running buddies in the teens and 20's of the 20th century.

So when my dad died she told me this ..you are grown up when your parents are gone and you are on your own. Sort of like the rudder of the family is gone and now YOU are the rudder.

I have been married twice and have a daughter and still don't feel I am there yet. And both my parents and all my grandparents, aunts and uncles are gone except for my dad's youngest sister.

[LibDemAlways]

11. I'm a couple of years older than you and have a

13-year-old daughter - and that is what keeps me young.

Since she can't drive, I'm the one who takes her to concerts, to the movies, even to a restaurant she read about that's owned by a rock star - and I enjoy it all, too. I remember what it's like to be her age, and don't want her to miss out on any of the joy of being a kid.

I had dinner with some friends from high school the other night and it struck me how old they act and think. I felt like it was 30 years ago and I was having dinner with my friends' parents.

So I know exactly how you feel. It's a gift to be able to continue to experience life from such a youthful perspective. Enjoy it and don't ever feel the need to act "your age."

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

12. Just call me Peter Pan

I promise to never EVER grow up!

See you all in Neverland- got a great pirate battle coming up soon!

[yellowdogintexas]

25. having a kid late in life will keep you young! My mom always

said that..she was 36 when my youngest sister was born

My mother in law had her youngest at 41 ..she said he kept her feeling young too.


We were 36 when our (now 22 ) year old daughter was born. She has definitely kept me young in outlook and everything.

[libodem]

13. I hear ya

I still fell very young mentally. My brain doesn't seem to have aged at the same rate as my bones. My dang back feels 50 but not my mind. I'll never grow up....I hope.

[reyd reid reed]

14. I'll go hang out

I don't feel much older than that most of the time, either. And I hope I never do.

:hi:

[Redstone]

15. I'll go with you to the corner. We'll light our cigs from each other's.

52 and feeling 30, right here. I uderstand you.

Redstone

[Whoa_Nelly]

16. I have a real problem with you being 51, too!

You will always be younger than me, dammit :mad:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

18. Nonsense.

A beautiful lady is ALWAYS younger than the gentleman she's with. (I may not know much about being grown up, but I've known THAT to be a law of nature since childhood!) :toast:

[China_cat]

17. Growing old is mandatory

growing up isn't.

[marzipanni]

19. I'll skip the cigs unless you happen to have candy cigs

or maybe a bubblegum cigar.

(I'm 55, but I still feel 5 sometimes.)

[xchrom]

20. short-lived problem -- soon you'll be 52.

[6000eliot]

21. I feel the same way, only I'm 19.

[skyblue]

22. clothing too tight/loose,, the music sucks, the 'tude is superficial,

glad to be old.

[SoCalDem]

23. My aunt said a similar thing.. when she was 74

She said.. "y'know? I look in the mirror, and see this old lady there..and in my head I'm still 20-something"

I think that most people get a snapshot image of who they are , somewhere in their late teens/early twenties.. you know.. whn you "start your real life"...and no matter how old you get, you always stay that age..in your head..,

I am 57 now, and I notice that I can scarcely even remember the period from late 20's to early 40's..(the kid-centered years)..and every so often I find myself thinking that there's way more behind me than ahead of me.. but I really don;t mind..

There's a check-out time for us all, and I guess we just have to amke the most of the time we have :)

[yellowdogintexas]

24. Hey, I'm 58 and still don't feel grown up.

Certain aspects of my life are still stuck back in 1970's hippiedom. In fact we joke in my Sunday School Class about what we as a group will be like when we "grow up"!

Seriously, your are only as old/young as you feel. And some of us are just "old souls" too. However, I am totally convinced you should always have a good collection of young friends and a good collection of older friends. Keeps the perspective. My mom said her Young Friends kept her mind young, so she made friends with our friends! I have tried to do that with my daughter's friends too. It is a good thing.

I am acquainted with many people younger in years but older in outlook and vice versa

also, I don't mind one bit being 58 when someone looks at me in shock and says YOU ARE NOT THAT OLD! (smug smile) or when I meet a 45 year old woman who looks 10 years older than I do.

Hey, I got really lucky with the surface aging genes thanks to my Dad's family. I just hope I got his mother's health genes..she lived to be 102 and in fairly good shape too.

[zanne]

30. I think my problem is that I'm immature at 54.

Hey, that rhymes! But seriously, I think I'll need another 50 years of living to really grow up. I used to think it was just me, but alot of people feel this way, even some very accomplished, competent people. Must be the "inner child" thing.

[ScreamingMeemie]

26. But...how do you know those comparitvely aged people really

are your age?

My father is 62. Most think he is mid forties...

My brother in law is 40, most think he is mid fifties...

My cousin in law and dear friend is 40... most people think she is mid 20's because she acts so young.

The unique thing about being human is that (IMO) there is no set way to act at a certain age. Unless you are my 16 year old daughter and I don't want you to lower yourself to the level of an 8 year old. ;)

[BarenakedLady]

28. Darn

I feel that way at 37. I thought maybe I'd grow into it eventually. I still feel like the shy awkward 13 yr old I was.

[graywarrior]

29. I've been fighting that adult thing since I was 12.

I am so not grown up and many of my posts lately on DU prove it.

[Fuzz]

31. I'm turning 40 next year. Think like I'm 20, feel like I'm 80.

There's probably some sort of mathematical formula I could come up with to explain that, but having never been very good at math. :D

[Haole Girl]

32. It's a curse..

..for me, anyway.

Did you ever see Barbara Stanwyck, and her speech about this subject, in "The Tornbirds"? I don't remember the exact words, and I saw it when I was young and simply tucked the thought away in the back of my mind (you know...to figure out later). In the particular scene, Barbara Stanwyck describes how horrible it is to have the same desires as a young woman, yet be trapped in a body of an old woman. That's how I feel. It's pathetic. I am not aging gracefully. :cry: