# Ever feel like the rest of your life will be kind of meh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628 "2014-06-25T17:46:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/41 "2014-06-26T16:49:59Z")
Only days that end in ‘y’. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/42 "2014-06-26T16:53:25Z")
> [@Itself](#): > > If that doesn’t apply to you, though, you’re pretty much screwed. Well, it didn’t really apply to me, so I decided to go back to school to get the job I actually wanted. That’s not an available option for some/many/most people, but I bet it’s an option for some who have decided that it isn’t an option because they are “too old.” ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/43 "2014-06-27T00:08:50Z")
> [@](#): > > If you want to feel better about your life, trying becoming a penpal with a prison inmate who is serving a long sentence. That will make you appreciate the simple things like, for example, just having the freedom to go where you want or socialize with who you want. Life isn’t really that bad for most of us who are lucky enough to live in a first world country. Life for older people in countries with less advanced healthcare is far more depressing. I tend to veer into mode of meh and boy my life could be better than I become grateful for this board to veer me back! I do have a very bland career path and tend to wish for a possible better future; I do have a set plan of retiring early cuz I HATE WORKING for the Man and corporate monster and think about all the hobbies I started and want to fall back on and w/o having to worry about paying bills and whatnot. Someone mentioned Donny Hathaway and I think about the greatness of Youtube that got me back to listening to his wonderful songs! As someone also mentioned, I try to think of something each day to look forward to and focus on that, and it could be the lameiest thing to some (for instance searching all over my car today to find a lost free Boba Tea coupon for tomorrow’s treat) but victory for me… ---
**Author:** ![Itself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/44 "2014-06-27T03:08:54Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I have to wonder how the astronauts, millionaires and superstars out there feel when they hit middle age, though. Do they constantly walk around with a feeling that “OMG, my life is _amazing_”, or do they get hit with the same ennui as the rest of us? > > At 35, 40 or 50 your life is most likely a hell of a lot better than when you were in your teens or your 20s. Materially, you’re doing great. You have money. You have a hell of a lot less stress in your life. You’re safe. You’re probably in a stable relationship. > > You’re most likely a better person. You know a lot more about the world. You don’t have those emotional highs and lows. You make better decisions. > > […] I don’t think that’s it. When you’re younger, you at least have more possibilities open to you. You’re probably never going to become, say, a millionaire astronaut, but you can at least reasonably hope to get a career you’re interested in, maybe write a book, or at least jump up several rungs in the corporate ladder. As you get older, those possibilities fade out, and you have to resign yourself to the reality of your immediate situation, rather than hope for a better long-term situation. If you’re, say, in your early 40s and not well on track to becoming an astronaut, you will not ever become an astronaut. If you want to become a college professor and haven’t even completed a postdoc, you will not ever become a postdoc. (In most fields, anyway; some are weird that way.) If you want to become a surgeon and haven’t gone to med schoool, you will not ever become a surgeon. Accomplishing difficult things takes time, and after a point you run out of time to burn on long-term, uncertain goals. ---
**Author:** ![Itself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/45 "2014-06-27T03:15:56Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > One of my mottos in life: " It could always be worse" > > If you want to feel better about your life, trying becoming a penpal with a prison inmate who is serving a long sentence. That will make you appreciate the simple things like, for example, just having the freedom to go where you want or socialize with who you want. Life isn’t really that bad for most of us who are lucky enough to live in a first world country. Life for older people in countries with less advanced healthcare is far more depressing. So, you’re supposed to be happy and content and fulfilled because you don’t live in a third-world dictatorship? That’s the most depressing thing in this thread so far. I certainly have higher ambitions that living better than the average North Korean politican prisoner, and I have more important goals than jsut the “simple things” in life. I want to win a Fields medal, win a Nobel prize, write a brilliant book, publish a computer game, become a world-class pianist, become fluent in Japanese, get a second doctorate in comparative linguistics, write for a television sitcom, learn how to become a competent public speaker, run a mile in a time that isn’t embarrassing, and a thousand other things. I may even accomplish some of those things eventually. But just being content with nothing more than the tautological fact that things aren’t any worse is like giving up on life completely. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/46 "2014-06-27T17:24:07Z")
> [@Itself](#): > > \ I want to win a Fields medal, win a Nobel prize, write a brilliant book, publish a computer game, become a world-class pianist, become fluent in Japanese, get a second doctorate in comparative linguistics, write for a television sitcom, learn how to become a competent public speaker, run a mile in a time that isn’t embarrassing, and a thousand other things. I may even accomplish some of those things eventually. \ You bring up a good point. Perhaps the OP should think about some things he would do if he had the resources - make a list. From a list he can make a plan. It need not be overly ambitious. Without a plan to get to the things the OP wants to do, in say, the next 5-10 years, he’ll just be drifting along with the current. It’s easy to be disappointed and feeling “meh” without a plan to do things. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/47 "2014-06-27T22:32:41Z")
No. And I am neither optimistic nor gregarious. The idea of frisking gaily through life’s adventure makes me prone to snarling, even biting. I just love living simply, learning new skills, and making beautiful things. My personality is kind of passionate, kind of obsessive, so my life is always full of despair, anguish, triumph, satisfaction, and dreaming. Ever full of ever-shifting dreams and plans. Meh my life never is and I don’t expect it will ever will be. Because I am not a meh person. Many other negative words describe me but not that one. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/48 "2014-06-27T22:35:15Z")
**Ulfreida** Absolutely no biting allowed in this thread. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/49 "2014-06-27T22:36:24Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > Physically, its a long slow downhill once you get to this age. Not as slow as you might think. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/50 "2014-06-27T22:39:04Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Not as slow as you might think. Ugh . . . I better sign up for that Pilates class soon. . . . I think I’ll pronounce it pie-lates for a little while just for my own amusement. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/51 "2014-06-27T23:52:40Z")
When I had turned 50, my mom (who was 82 at the time) said “Someday you’ll wish you were 50 again.” Right. As soon as I turned 51. And now, at 68, I wish I were 67 again. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/52 "2014-06-28T16:30:34Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I guess as you get older and your identity solidifies things don’t affect you the way they did when you were young and your sense of identity was in flux. Things never much affected me. I’m over 50 now and I still don’t know who I am, but then I don’t know what the hell that even means. > [@elbows](#): > > We are not now, nor will we ever be wealthy or even middle class. We just chose to forgo a lot of consumer debt, mortgage, car payments, etc, during our 30’s and 40’s so we could go traveling. Leaving us well behind our peers in the acquisition of things, including retirement funds, and homes and cottages. But we have no regrets. Same here. My wife and I sold everything a few years back and moved to Hong Kong. Cars, house, and everything else except for a few boxes, some artwork and our pets. It was tremendously freeing. ‘Stuff’ drags you down. You have to care for it and spend time and money maintaining things. No thanks. Never again. > [@](#): > > I have unending admiration for those who stick to the daily grind. Because I cannot imagine a harder life, to be honest. I maybe don’t understand the appeal but I admire the fortitude! And I willingly admit that’s it’s those people making the world go round, God Bless em all! Better them than me. I’ve only had a few jobs where I’ve been in an office doing routine things. The times when I have have been the worst times in my life. I could feel my arteries hardening and my brain going dark. Worst of all, was the continuous discussions with people who apparently have nothing better to do in their lives than shuffle paperwork or hold meetings for the sake of holding a meeting. Small people doing small things that act as a continuous drag on others trying to actually add some value to the world. Now, we live in Hong Kong and I have a new job in Africa. I’ll work there and live in HK in my time off. Sometimes things are boring, but that is life. Times like that I kill a few zombies on my computer or post on the SD. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/53 "2014-06-29T03:41:16Z")
Not once since I left Texas back in the '80s. Before then, every day. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/54 "2014-06-29T04:33:11Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If you find a solution let me know, I’d be happy to hear it. > > Life gets boring with age. Everything becomes a repeat or has no real emotional impact or novelty. I guess as you get older and your identity solidifies things don’t affect you the way they did when you were young and your sense of identity was in flux. > > [Erikson's stages of psychosocial development - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erikson's_stages_of_psychosocial_development#Care:_Generativity_vs._Stagnation_.28Middle_adulthood.2C_25-64.2C_or_40-64_years.29) I don’t find that life is boring at all – but I’m a lot less interesting to myself than I once was. That isn’t at all a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628/55 "2014-06-29T04:41:31Z")
Yes. I have a good job that I enjoy and a hobby I enjoy but that’s about it. I won’t get married or have children or do anything exciting. I have very few friends left because I have let friendships die off. My mom was the person I loved the most and she’s dead. But in some sense I’m content with “meh”. It’s a lot of trouble and discomfort to try new things. My only fear is no one will be around when I am old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-feel-like-the-rest-of-your-life-will-be-kind-of-meh/691628.md?page=2)