# Can You Recapture Your Youthful Attitudes?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recapture-your-youthful-attitudes/465772>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 29, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recapture-your-youthful-attitudes/465772 "2008-09-29T23:39:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recapture-your-youthful-attitudes/465772/1 "2008-09-29T23:39:18Z")

</div>

Evert once in a while, I feel the same way that I did when I was 19 0r 20-feeling that the world is my oyster, and the horizon is limitless. Of corse, cold reality intrudes-but for a few minutes, I feel great! I can remember looking out from my college dorm room window, and thinking about the future.  
Is there any way to recapture this feeling?☹

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recapture-your-youthful-attitudes/465772/2 "2008-09-29T23:44:52Z")

</div>

The closest I get is when I hear a song that reminds me of my younger self.

And even then, it’s blended with so much nostalgia–which is bittersweet by its very nature–that I don’t know if I have ever really recaptured the absolute feeling.

Youthful optimism, however, is usually just a joyride away for me. Something about driving by myself, with the windows down and the radio blaring, makes me think the entire world is mine to conquer.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recapture-your-youthful-attitudes/465772/3 "2008-09-29T23:49:10Z")

</div>

> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> Is there any way to recapture this feeling?☹

I always feel like that when I first fall in love.

But that gets to be a rather wearying way to go about it after awhile.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recapture-your-youthful-attitudes/465772/4 "2008-09-30T00:26:03Z")

</div>

I don’t know why, but driving on the highway for long periods on long cool autumn nights always makes me dream. I think it’s because I used to love going on trips at night and just looking out the window.

I still dream…my dreams though aren’t as ambitious as they used to be.