The other day i used the self checkout line at Target, and I caught my image in the camera. Yikes. Talk about looking like the Crypt Keeper. Have you had unfortunate moments like this recently?

That must have freaked you out. I realized age was now catching up when I would completely avoid using the escalators while shopping. I would rather use the stairs. I had never noticed that I had escalators phobia.

The other day i used the self checkout line at Target, and I caught my image in the camera. Yikes. Talk about looking like the Crypt Keeper.

The harsh lighting in stores makes everyone look bad, so I wouldn't sweat it. I don't mind getting older and looking older myself, but I've had those moments when it hit me. It's especially jarring when I'm around my friends with their kids.

Edited November 24, 20186 yr by ShadowEdge

When my back hurts or my knees start to get painful after a good jog is my "feels-like-old" moment. I'm not that old yet because I am still pretty active and I can play sports like football or basketball with my friends.

I honestly don't like my birthdays because they remind me that I'm another year older. I'm not embarrassed by how I look because I'm not particular about it. Gray hairs do bother me a bit.

I'm 32 now and mentally, I still feel 20. I am more mature and responsible than I was then, but I still have a very similar personality and tastes.

 

My body is getting older, but I guess I haven't noticed it the same way others might. I had back surgery at 18, so I've been living with constant back soreness ever since then. Most of the time, it's pretty muted. But I have to make sure I don't twist too much or lift too much, so I'm already reasonably careful.

 

I think the biggest difference is just energy. I don't think I have quite as much energy as I did 10 years ago, and I don't have the same ability to just waste the day away playing the same video game for 12 hours straight. I don't often have that kind of time anyway.

 

I need to start working out a bit though. That'll help us age gracefully. Keep tight and toned and stuff.

I'm 32 now and mentally, I still feel 20. I am more mature and responsible than I was then, but I still have a very similar personality and tastes.

I've read that one's tastes at around age 14, especially in music, stay fairly well ingrained. That's potentially cool, embarrassing or both.

 

Good call on working out and staying fit.

I think the biggest difference is just energy. I don't think I have quite as much energy as I did 10 years ago, and I don't have the same ability to just waste the day away playing the same video game for 12 hours straight. I don't often have that kind of time anyway.

 

I can relate as I like playing video games for half a day when I was younger. I can try doing it, but my brain is just shutting down when I'm passed bedtime.

The other night I had dinner with a much older friend, and the whole time I kind of wanted to go home and get ready for bed. This had nothing to do with her company. It was only 7:00 and I was caffeinated, too.

I've read that about music as well. My personal experience went like this:

 

As a teenager, I was constantly exposed to new music. MTV actually still played music videos a decent amount of the time, there was a short lived morning news/music video program I'd put on before school where they played music videos while scrolling text of news on the bottom of the screen. My school bus often had the radio on each morning, sometimes on the rock station like I preferred and other times not. Kids at school or waiting at the bus stop might play music out loud. My stepsister had plenty of music she played at home.

 

I imagine most kids have somewhat similar experience and listen to music a lot, like I did. When you're that young, you often have more time to devote to that stuff.

 

Once I graduated high school, a lot of that came to an end. I wasn't bothering watching MTV, I wasn't listening to the radio, I wasn't really around people listening to different genres or just new music in general. I went to work and there was no radio being played there. So for several years, the new music I heard was MOSTLY from bands that I already knew/loved and was keeping up with. Otherwise, it was sporadic at best to hear new artists.

 

I kind've caught on to this notion around 2012ish or so. It occurred to me that my dad only ever listens to classic rock, stuff from the 70's and 80's when he was growing up or a young adult. Everything after that is mostly foreign to him or he thinks sucks, or just isn't as good. For me, I was mostly stuck on stuff from 2001 to 2008. The only exceptions was when a band I liked put out a new album. Otherwise, I was listening to the exact same music for years on end.

 

I love my dad, but I didn't want to adopt that aspect from him. So I made it a point to listen to more new music, and I've gotten better about that throughout the years. I subscribe to SiriusXM radio these days, I LOVE their rock channel Octane. They do a fantastic job of cycling in new music and promoting new artists while still playing stuff we're familiar with. They maintain a really good balance, and I've discovered many new artists I really dig because of them.

 

 

 

So my point is, if you don't ever put yourself in the position to discover new music, then you won't. Don't trick yourself into thinking music was at it's peak during X years, because the reality is that you are only thinking about the stuff you really liked, and forgetting all the stuff you used to hear that you just didn't care for. There is always new stuff that's good, and new stuff that sucks. I like keeping up with it because I don't want to become stagnant and stuck in time.