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Worst Age To Have Been (For You)

What has been the worst age to be alive for you (so far)?


  • Total voters
    51

Mempy

Mamma said knock you out
Joined
Jul 29, 2007
Messages
2,227
The older I get, the worse things seem to get. More responsibility, more work, more worries, more doubts and more problems. That's not to say that I'm not relatively happy at this time in my life, but I definitely notice the distinct increase in responsibility almost monthly. It's an insidious bastard, and I'm only eighteen.

So what age, out of curiosity, was the hardest age for you to be, and why? Conversely, what has been the best age for you so far?

I made it possible to select more than one age bracket because maybe you have two or more ages you haven't liked, or maybe they overlap.
 

Economica

Dhampyr
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
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Age 15 was the worst year for me. So far, adulthood has been a breeze compared to the loneliness and low self-esteem I suffered from most of that year.

For the past year or so (I'm 25 now) I've been in the throes of an identity crisis (executive summary: You mean I'm not always right? :cry:) which has been* tough but at least I've had plenty of loving support.

* Okay, okay - still is. :dry:

Edit: Decade voting? :shock: My tweens and late teens were great, so I'll refrain from voting.
 

heart

heart on fire
Joined
May 19, 2007
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Childhood was bad and teen years really bleak. Abusive people, sadistic people, controlling people, dysfunctional people able to control and influence my life, people who murdered their own souls and leaching off mine. Haunting me with their shadows, their tortured and conflicted natures. No real connection to others. Locked in by my own pain and not knowing how to reach out. Misunderstood. No real security, either emotional or psychological or financial.

Age 14 to 17 were the lowest points. I was so trapped. By age 18 I was working and going to school so much I was away from home enough that things eased up some, but I was like emotionally numbed and withdrawn to the world for the most part.

Life got much better in my 20s. I was free to make my own decisions and control my homelife and what I would let into it. Thank God we grow up and become adults!

At least now, when I face adversity I face it carrying without the weight of being under someone else's control or abuse.
 

Kiddo

Furry Critter with Claws
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The worst years of my life were from age 13-15, and 21. Age 21 was a very dark time in my life, and I consider it the dead year where I pretty much lost an entire year of my life. But I think right now is probably the happiest I have ever been.

Not to be a downer about the poll, but I would say that around 100% of us are under 50, and 70% are under 30.
 

white

~dangerous curves ahead~
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:doh: For some reason I'd thought Kiddo was really a college kid i.e. 18/19.

Growing up was tough. A lot of insecurity and expectations. After 25 it got better. (Barring relationships), being able to gain financial security, being able to say no to emotional leeches, deaths of loved ones, coming to terms with things I'd never be. Put the rest of what I had much better into perspective.

At 18, I'd not really experienced much beyond the cocoon of school and family. Was only when I started working that things started to fall into place, where you take on responsibility for others. And you realise there're no more safety nets, so you quit whinging and buckle down.

Ok, I still whinge. :D But I'd like to think I do it more gracefully. And ultimately, that's what growing up is, I guess. Accepting things with the grace of an adult, vs the grief of a child.

In a sense, I've lost a "phoenix's desire to burn and taste ash". And it takes a harder time to shake me now. But with that detachment comes perspective. The trick is now learning how not to be jaded, but how to be less naive too.
 

alcea rosea

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My worst ages were between 26-31,5 because of things happening in my life + the crisis of the thirties. I didn't vote because there is no such ages there. :)

Best ages where all the years before I turned 26. It was totally carefree time in my life and I miss it. Now everything has changed for good and it's sad but true. Nothing is the same as it was. :(
 

FDG

pathwise dependent
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Always the same, I never had particular problems except 6 months when I was 18, I was in a bad relationship with a borderline girl so I basically lost them away. But for the rest, life seems to be pretty much the same all the time.

Now the best time, it was probably when I was 18 just before that relationship I think. I had just finished high school with the highest grade so I said fuck u to working during the summer cuz I didn't need to pay anything for my first year of college and I just spent it biking everyday to new places.
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,988
My worst ages were between 26-31,5 because of things happening in my life + the crisis of the thirties. I didn't vote because there is no such ages there. :)

Best ages where all the years before I turned 26. It was totally carefree time in my life and I miss it. Now everything has changed for good and it's sad but true. Nothing is the same as it was. :(

It's kind-of the same for me. But I picked 21-30, because that's where it fell.

I have gone through weeks or months of soul searching before, but this time it is taking substantially longer (I still do most of the things needed in life, though I procrastinate a lot more often now--so, no my life is not on hold while I soul-search).

I have lost track of who I am. I was depressed for a little while, but recognizing this time as growing pains helps keep things in perspective.

The really best time for me was high-school and undergrad.
 

Nadir

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Ages 15-16 were the toughest ones so far in my life. This year (I'm going to be 19 in March '08) is also shaping up to be quite stressful, but certainly not as much as those two.
 

substitute

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20 to 30 was harsh for me.

When I was a teenager, I knew I was just a kid and knew nothing. I could acknowledge it automatically and it was more instinctive to have that humility that allowed me to ask for help and admit I was useless.

But when my teens ended, I got a false impression that I was a grown-up now, and that I knew stuff, and that I should and could cope. I lost a lot of the childlike humility that I had before, and became too arrogant to ask for help or listen to advice. And that made other situations even worse than they might've been if I'd been either younger and more willing to acknowledge my inexperience, or older and not suffering from that inexperience!

But on a more specific note, in the years from 20 to 30 I:

1. Had two kids, one by immense suffering due to being disabled
2. Married and lived for years in that psychologically abusive relationship
3. Suffered a spinal injury that had me wheelchair bound for two years
4. Changed sex
5. Divorced, very messily
6. Got myself into a world of shit with some experimentations...
7. Lived for six years about 20% below the breadline
8. Had no bed of my own to sleep in
9. Lost most of my friends and life due to the sex change and people cutting me dead
10. Suffered post natal depression - twice.
11. Got myself into approx 26,000 GBP of unsecured debt (that's about $50,000) with no way to pay it back
12. Became involved with prostitutes
13. Lived the past six years under a compression vest

And other such delights that I won't go into now. And the funny thing is, none of that was really any worse than what I went through before the age of 20, but it was made worse by my bad attitude. Also, if I'd gone through that as a teen, there would've been more support available anyway in the form of national organizations and institutions etc.
 

Totenkindly

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This thread saddens me, because I'm having trouble picking a "worst" time. Everything could be worst, from times in my teens (what a mess, with all the changes and the social interactions of school and feeling alienated), to my 20's where I was constantly fighting with my spouse and feeling on the edge of dissolution, to the last few years where I have slowly felt like my life was being stripped away from me.

The best times in my life were when I was young, and I would just get on my bicycle and ride by myself through the countryside of rural PA, seeing where mysterious roads went and exploring places I'd never been to before. And going down large hills, with the wind blowing through my hair, feeling free as a bird...

...I think they were the only times in my life I felt free.
 

Randomnity

insert random title here
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I voted for 2, because it would be age 17-18 < childhood < rest of teen years, so it's hard to compare.

The years since 18 have been just getting better and better, though.

My prediction: at least 75% of people say teen years.
 
O

Oberon

Guest
Being about 14 was more or less the ninth circle of hell for me. I wouldn't go back for a million bucks.

Now 18... I'd go back to 18, because there's things I'd do different if I had the chance.
 

prplchknz

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well I'm just now entering the 21-30 group but so far 10-20 has sucked the most for me, but I'm sure later in life things might suck more. 7 on was hard for me but it's funny because after I turned 21 things have slowly gotten better I don't know if things have actually changed or just my outlook. I feel more positive about things as oppose to the negative feelings i had when I was 20 and younger. I don't know but 21 seems a very magical age for me.

BTW I thought this thread's title said "Worst age to have beer" when I realized that it was Been and not Beer it made alot more sense.
 

Lookin4theBestNU

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Whole decades never sucked for me so I didn't vote. I had times in each decade that were rough though. I've yet to hit my 30's rough patch yet (I'm 30) and I often wonder what it will be so I can avoid it!
 

Domino

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Though my early life was one long string of violence, poverty, madness and alcoholism (none of which were my own, but I was subject to them), I voted 21 - 30. Lupus began to sink it's claws into me about age 20. It's been a battle for my body and sanity ever since. I felt I could take the trauma of my environment if I had my body under control. Now I feel no control whatsoever.
 

miss fortune

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hmmm... I picked the teenage age bracket because on average they sucked more than my twenties have so far! :laugh: I was stuck being a member of the popular crowd, who I hated, for the majority of my teen years! :blush: (to quote one of my favorite movies- the Heathers- "I hate my friends")

I really hated the age 23 though- I really hope never ever to hit a point that low in my life ever again :cry: things in my life REALLY fell apart that year and actually I'd rather not discuss it :blush:

I'm a year older now though and I've moved on thank God- things are looking up! :) (the 20s before 23 were actually some of the BEST years of my life oddly enough :dry: so I can't say that my 20s have been the worst! plus- I prefer to be optimistic and assume that the rest of my 20s will be fabolous! :laugh:)
 
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Zergling

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I'd say 5-13 or so, early school years were quite painful, with issues with other kids, plus divorce stuff going on. After getting older and more skilled at life, problems nowadays are much more solvable.
 
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