Abstract Thoughts

--Posted By: Jay Abstract

Our parents attempted to drill it into our heads for years, to no avail: Don't be in a rush to grow up!

16 brings a car. 18 brings legality. 21 brings liquor without standing in front of a rundown, back-alley mini mart waiting for the guy that actually risks his livelihood to buy you some- And somewhere after that we begin to realize that nothing worthwhile's going to come along that we can't get in some way, shape or form at an earlier age.

There are plenty of things to look forward to as a teenager. There's always new horizons on the way, new worlds opening up for us to explore. But unless you have a hankering to be the next George Bush or Barrack Obama, 35 doesn't sound so exciting, does it?

It's the quarter-life crisis, and although it's not given half the attention as it's mid-life counterpart, rest assured you're not the only one experiencing it if you're a fellow 20-something. Those high school kids seem to be getting younger and younger, don't they?

The majority of my blogs until this point have been from a primarily educational standpoint. This time, I'm going to present this article in question form. It's a question I've bounced around in my head for many years that you're reading printed for the first time. It's very personalized & therefore answers will vary:

Are you scared of getting old because you will lose the ability to experience new things or are you afraid you've underachieved for your relative age?

I think most would say losing the ability of experience plays a part. No one likes being "too old" to do anything acceptably and enjoyable in public, such as experiencing a nightclub or bar, or pursuing someone with the thought of being denied solely on age. But how much of that fear stems from dissatisfaction of underachievement?

I am not the type of person to stress out over my age. I'm fairly relaxed on the subject, almost to the point that at times I actually prefer aging as I enjoy becoming wiser and learning from life's experiences. Of course, I still have a ways to go before I'm really "up there" but I feel I will always see the advantages that come with growing older.

To me, the only time age woes enter my mind is when things take a turn for the worse and I feel like I've underachieved not only for my age bracket, but my potential as well. And the first reactionary thought is that if I was rich, these wouldn't even be problems. I often think back to an episode on a reality TV show many years ago where 60 year old multi-millionaires were swarmed with 18-21 year old girls on all sides inside a limousine. I highly doubt their age crossed their minds once that night. They might as well have been 20. It was like living a 2nd childhood, I suppose.

So I ask you: Would age bother you as much if you were rich? Let's take a step back and take money out of the equation as well. What about if you were just doing what truly made you happy? Would a number be as important to you then? Age is a countdown. Is it really your place on the countdown you're fretting or the fact that it's providing a slimmer and slimmer window to accomplish what you want to in this life?

They say age is only a number, but then again technically so isn't money. So which number has more value to you?