To all you youngish people in the darkside

[chrisalt]

Im 25 and am facing minimum 40 years of work more then likely 45 left before i retire(if i make it that long).

Do any other off you young types look at this stretch of time where u are basically like 80 percent of people who are somebodies bitch for mon-fri 9-5. Does this make you want to blow your head off like me?

 

[Black Rabbit of Inle]

I'm 24 and find it daunting that they keep raising the retirement age. Right now it's 65 (i think) but by the time I'm 65 who knows what limits we will have reached with out lifespans. The thought of having to work for the rest of my life and not getting to have my twilight years to chill and do whatever the fuck I want depresses me greatly.

 

[chrisalt]

I'm 24 and find it daunting that they keep raising the retirement age. Right now it's 65 (i think) but by the time I'm 65 who knows what limits we will have reached with out lifespans. The thought of having to work for the rest of my life and not getting to have my twilight years to chill and do whatever the fuck I want depresses me greatly.

I hear you man. For me its the thought that if i make it to that old wtf is the point in being alive?? from 18 to id say 50-55 your still pretty with it and can live and get around pretty good. After that you basically can't do much, and still have 15 years of work in you.

FML

 

[ErikTheRed]

I hear you man. For me its the thought that if i make it to that old wtf is the point in being alive?? from 18 to id say 50-55 your still pretty with it and can live and get around pretty good. After that you basically can't do much, and still have 15 years of work in you.

FML

I disagree, you've got a lot of life to live after 55 y/o (granted that you lead some kind of vaguely healthy lifestyle). My dad is 66, I'm 23 and he can still whoop my ass at most sports.

 

[mal3volent]

When I was 13 or 14 I remember thinking that I wouldnt care if I died once I reached 40, but now ten years later that doesnt seem so far off anymore. The idea of growing old does depress me quite a bit, but I dont think about it much anymore mostly bc I have more pressing shit to worry about.

 

[Pagey]

It's a pretty scary thought. I'm 18 and just started uni and am definitely expecting to be studying for at least 5 more years but I try not to think about what'll come after that too much...which is why I'm really really hoping to become an author and be able to work on my own schedule and be my own boss. But that probably won't work out and I'll be stuck in a 9-5 job as well. Really trying not to think about that though, I mean what kind of a life is it?!

 

[chrisalt]

It's a pretty scary thought. I'm 18 and just started uni and am definitely expecting to be studying for at least 5 more years but I try not to think about what'll come after that too much...which is why I'm really really hoping to become an author and be able to work on my own schedule and be my own boss. But that probably won't work out and I'll be stuck in a 9-5 job as well. Really trying not to think about that though, I mean what kind of a life is it?!

It is not a life its is what the world told us is a life.

 

[dextrodoctor]

life is tight working is cool if you like your job and care about accomplishing something in the short time you have on earth.

 

[RobotRipping]

it doesn't scare me at all, do what you love and you will enjoy your life working. Getting old is kind of scary but i know that the intensity of life will wear off as i age and my symptoms of all sorts of craziness will subside. If not i will be one of those old dudes hooked on opiates, benzos, muscle relaxers and any other drug that will make my life fun. Sometimes i can't wait for it all to be over, the pain the suffering, the joy the euphoria, just all of it gone. That endless darkness of relief excites me. If that doesn't happen then i can go to wonderful heaven or some mystical place closer to God, either way the pain ends. I look forward to the day that i can say that i've done it, finished life, and now it's time to go.

pagey, nothing could have prepared me for the horror i faced after university. I thought everything was going to magically work out, i had a degree, from a good school and the first 2 years after uni were the worst of my life. Everyone told me it would be a tough transition but it broke me. Sorry don't want to scare you, just enjoy the shit out for your school life cause it won't last forever. Not that real life doesn't have it's perks though.

 

[plmar]

It's really frightening how quick life just passes you by and I haven't done shit with my life now and I never will. I'll most likely die in my 20s but it doesn't bother me.

 

[bennyZA]

I think coming to terms that we are a biological life-form like any other is an important part of everyone's existence. Everyone here is going to die eventually. No there is no way around it. Nothing you can do is going to prevent getting old or prevent dying. There are two ways to go about this. 1, you realize this and age gracefully, not fighting biology, and embracing every new chapter in your life. 2, you can try and fight it by glorifying youth and fighting your constant aging. If you go with the second route, you might be one of those creepy dudes in their late 40's that wears the same clothes that 15yo's wear, and goes to high school and college parties. Seriously, those guys are creepy. You can also fight it by constantly having plastic surgery, which is discusting because everyone can tell when you have too much plastic surgery, or good forbid, the doctor doesn't do very well.

That being said, I don't really want to get so old I need other people to take care of me, or I can't work anymore. I think when it comes down to that point, I might just reignite my opiate addiction and have some fun for a few weeks / months, until I gather my family around to say good bye, and go to sleep forever. This may be at 45 if I'm terribly ill, or injured, but will probably be later.

I recently had a quarter life crisis, I do have a severe illness that might make me an invalid significantly earlier than most people. I also have some permanent injuries that make certain tasks very difficult. I didn't want to live anymore. I realized that as much as these things suck, I'm still able to function as well as most people, even though I can't do a lot of things I could do at 20 (I'm 25).

I'm going to die, your going to die, we all are going to die, and we have no idea when. We must do our best to leave this Earth in better condition than when we got it. Then make room for those babies being born right now, and in the future, because it will be their turn to live (and then die).

For those who think they are going to die very young and think they haven't accomplished anything... Well your really young, of course you haven't done anything, you still have 3-4x as many years as you've already had. Even if you don't do something truly great and get in the history books, you can still do something great. Bringing other people into this world and providing a nice, stable, home for youngsters to grow is just as important as becoming a famous politician or whatever you consider "doing something with you life."

 

[Foreigner]

No it doesn't because I rebelled by going back to school and getting into a profession I really wanted to do. I didn't grow up rich and privileged, I've had to make a lot of sacrifices but now I'm self-employed and I can set my own hours.

If you get creative, you can live the life you want or at least get yourself closer to it.

I used to work in a souless corporate office from 9-5. I felt like a slave and became an addict to cope. No one should have to be worked to death. I saw my parents go through it and I refuse to be a lifer like that.

 

[daytryptr]

"We don't have a lot of time on this earth! We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day... filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about mission statements." - Peter Gibbons

I can definately relate to you op. I work for one of those type of employers, and personally the idea of essentially turning into a robot 8+ hours a day 5 days a week scares the hell out of me. But still, having moved around and worked in all kinds of different departments within this company has taught me that its not all bad. A few years ago i would have been alot more cynical about my job, but i've grown to apprecciate where i've landed in this company, and how i'm happier working there than doing any other job for that employer.

Still, theres a deepset belief that humans were never meant to be specialists, and i often dream of what my life would be like if i cultivated a set of skills to become self employed, and devote my life to becoming a reniassance man. The idea of doing the same job, day after day for years at a time depresses the hell out of me. Without variety, it just becomes hollow and meaningless after a while, unless you absolutely love what you do and are ok with only doing that, and not learning new skills.

 

[captaincaveman]

RobotRipping has it down. I don't work to live, I live to work. Find something that you love doing and you won't feel like you're wasting your life away, sadly that doesn't include getting off your face all day (although if you're in media you can get away with it, I could tell you some of the things I saw when I was at the BBC!) Study for as many years as possible. I went to law school and speak to my classmates, now associates at Magic Circle firms. They make about twice as much as I do but they are miserable. Some big firms have 24 catering and spare shirts as you are expected to work all day everyday. Glad I go out of that racket.
I'm not a youngster (30) and I didn't go straight from uni to a magazine or to radio production. Went to law school, worked in politics (don't recommend that, poor Mitt BTW) and decided to go to journalism school. You don't have to go straight from school uni and join the rat race. If you can do some joe jobs travel the world and you'll come back with a fresh perspective. Of course if you've had kids early this might be difficult but life there's to enjoy, so do it. Everyone has a calling, if you're lucky, you'll be good at it and do well, if you're not, you'll get by but you'll be happy. OK?

 

[JessFR]

I feel old, or 'nearing the end' or something like that and I only just turned 24.

Still done nothing with my life and find it hard to have the motivation and ability to start now.

Dunno about anyone else but personally I wouldn't mind going back again and being able to do things differently. Profound regret is no fun to live with.

 

[captaincaveman]

Jess, sorry had to respond. You're 24! I spoke to the head global general counsel of a major telecoms company who only started law at 30!
Don't regret things (unless they're capital crimes) we've all got our journeys and at your age believe me you can turn things around. There are things that I'd like to change that I've done in my life but what's done is done. 'Profound regret' is something you shouldn't have to live with, believe me I've done far worse things in my life. You sound like a Catholic, guilt is part of our makeup. What do you like doing? Stop dwelling and start planning (sounds harsh but isn't intended to be).
You've got your whole life ahead of you, I didn't start my career proper until I was 25. Head up and you can'r change the past so look forward and stop dwelling. Please

 

[motherofearth]

I like being somebodies bitch

 

[Princess Pantopon]

Im 25 and am facing minimum 40 years of work more then likely 45 left before i retire(if i make it that long).

Do any other off you young types look at this stretch of time where u are basically like 80 percent of people who are somebodies bitch for mon-fri 9-5. Does this make you want to blow your head off like me?

I know how you feel. I felt this way in high school and junior high, worse. Being 13 and five more years of school at my school made me want to die. Total prisoner. Miserable. And then it was scary, not knowing what was going to happen when i got out of school. You could make yourself be so afraid, looking at the people around you and the lives you didn't want. Better to blow your head off than be like some of the people I saw around me, even people with supposedly good lives. They didn't look so good to me. And I wanted to die so much but I'm so glad I didn't kill myself back then because life unexpectedly got so much better, or maybe I just learned to deal with it better. There are always little things. That movie you saw, that dinner you had, your new cat, how hard you laughed with your friend over something stupid, whatever. So even when life is shitty now I think there may be good surprises. In high school, everyone talked about how these are the best days of your life, and it made me think, if it's so bad now, what's it going to be like when I'm older and have to go to college and get a job and all the rest of it? It looked like a bad stretch of time to me too, I was thinking like you, facing minimum fifty years of bad stuff, and yeah, we all have to do stuff we don't like, but was glad to have a good surprise. Not so bad as I thought. Maybe not so bad for you either. It's all going to end for all of us. Because, I feel like you too, sometimes, but I'm trying to treat life like my shitty school I didn't really want to go to. Because now I'm here, and stuck, for my forty or fifty years or whatever, who can I talk to, how can I make it fun? Take walks, listen to my ipod loud, play with dogs I see on the street, skip school now and then? Every day, if you try to think about one good thing that happened at the end of the day. Even if the day was horrible. There's usually one ok moment. Try to hang on to that. That's how I get by anyway, even though I feel the same as you.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Sorry, I don't feel the same way. I enjoy what I do at my job. I get to make my own schedule, I can skip any shift I want to as long as I can make it up in the near future, and I get at least one day off each week.

I'm really really hoping to become an author and be able to work on my own schedule and be my own boss.

I'm currently writing my own book, and while I have people who supervise my work, I am essentially my own boss. You don't become an author, you just are one or you're not.

 

[kingtweaker92]

YES! man i hate the 9-5 grind!
i even went as far as to (about 3 months ago now) walk in to work one day and put my foreman on his ass. im a youngster (19) and the journeymen on this particular job site were hasslin' me for awhile. boss man just happened to give me a hard time on a monday. lets just say i had "to much fuch" that weekend and this monday was particularly rough for me.

anyways, boss man gave me some shit about something i dont recall anymore, i punched him in his cocksucker, grabbed my tools and left without notice (other than my assault on the boss)

3+ months later, still unemployed, dealing with the court proceedings, and in court appointed anger management. my point is, YES i know the feeling. i may have took it to far.

-KING