This, word for word. My one child is four years old, which in my mind means I “should” be in my early 30s. And, I am just about to start the first (and maybe last) long-term, steady, professional job in my life, which means I “should” be in my late 20s, 30 at the most. And I like to groove on music or shoot a little hoops like someone around 30 (in my mind).
The times I most feel my actual age (also 45) is during serious conversations with dinner guests my age or older, or (like you) when it takes a week to recover from a rough physical activity or minor injury, rather than a day.
I feel my age (36) now, but I’d say just 3 years ago I felt like I was still in my early 20s.
The difference now is, I’m working in an office of people all younger than me, in China; a country where there seems to be a big divide between the 20-somethings and 30-somethings. The former want to meet other 20-somethings, and the latter all married with kid (see what I did there?) and not particularly keen to meet anyone.
Also, physically, some of the wear and tear of 36 solar orbits is starting to show…
I feel like I’m in my 20’s, like back when I was in college. Some things just hurt a bit more to do, but they felt like that after a good workout back then, too. I’m 54.
I’m 57, but this morning I alternately feel 22 and 87. Celebrated Cinco de Mayo last night (long story) and I’m debating between continuing to sober up and waking/baking. But life is good.
I am 67, physically starting to slow down but still very active. Sexually slowing down also but still about twice a week with once a weekers happening more often without me even noticing.
I have a high level of motivation and energy and remain very youthfull in many of my pursuits. Overall I would say I feel mid 40's.
I don’t feel any different than I felt when I was in my 20s. I’m 37 now.
But I have noticed that I don’t like bending down as much. Once I’m sitting down, it’s hard for me to get up. Yesterday I saw a porch chair that was really low to the ground (like this), and my immediate reaction was “Yeah, a young person must live there.” And that’s another thing. I am realizing I am not a “young person” anymore. I’ve crossed over into a different demographic.
But psychologically, I’m a 12-year-old without all the emotions and hormones. Every time I do certain things with the intent purpose to feel more mature, I feel even more child-like. So I do feel like a “young person”. I just know I’m not one anymore.
I’ll be 48 in September. Not to brag, but physically I am in better shape than I have ever been. I run 14 miles a week and lift weights twice a week. I am much stronger - and I weigh less - than my college self.
Mentally I am still in college. I still hang w/ friends on the weekends and drink too many beers late into the night. I guess I don’t wanna grow up.
Somehow I’m on an “up” both mentally and physically… Strange,because I still have all the same problems. However,the roses are blooming,I have actually planted seeds and they have came up! Well,some of them
I’m almost 72
In the past year, I have developed arthritis in both wrists (base of the thumb actually) and right hip. I used to regularly walk 4 or 5 miles every day; now I cannot walk over a half mile before the hip starts to ache. My feet are nearly numb and I cannot descend steps with no railing. And for the past three years, one eye has been nearly useless. I feel I am just fading.
I’m 51. On most days I feel somewhat younger than my age, I suppose. What I have noticed is that my body/muscles don’t recuperate as fast as they used to. And my memory is not what it used to be. What I can say without a doubt is that my libido is that of a young persons. **Not to say **that all or even most women lose their sex drive after a certain age, but I’ve had various female friends (of similar age to mine) tell me that they have no interest whatsoever anymore. I don’t think that will happen to me. Menopause came and went at record speed, and I’ve been incredibly lucky that it didn’t affect things in that department. Maybe… just maybe…this, and leading a healthy lifestyle will keep me from feeling old until the numbers just can’t deny it.
Yeah, I wonder why that is? It’s not lack of muscle strength, and you don’t need great flexibility to go from sitting to standing. Maybe there’s some degree of muscle “lag”; that your muscles can be much weaker before they’ve had time to “wake up”, coupled with poorer circulation?
After going on a beautiful moonlit ride on my sweet Vespa tonight, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not going to feel old until I can no longer ride.
I felt 35 from about the time I was 25 until I was 50ish. I’m a former jockette, so I’ve got plenty of aches and pains, but I always have, so that didn’t really signal anything to me until it got to the point where I couldn’t hot soak or ice them away. I aged about 10 years when my husband died. It was as though a big chunk of my life just left along with him. I don’t think that’s time I can ever get back, either. I don’t actually know how to compare how I feel with what should be ‘normal’ for my age. An older child, whose parents died young, I am so much older now than either of my parents lived to be. I didn’t know my grandparents well, either, as both parents were later-in-life babies and they were all deceased by the time I turned 13.
I have noticed I need more sleep, but find it much harder to get. I get dehydrated more easily. I’ve started being forgetful occasionally, but nothing major. Just a lot of little tiny things coming together into a larger picture of aging.
I guess I’d say I feel about 5 years younger than I actually am. But that gap may be closing.
I always feel the same age. People older than me are old and people younger than me are young … the numbers in each group change is all.
I do feel younger than how I see peers my chronological age looking though. When people meet and my eldest son together they do sometimes ask if we are brothers … but he went bald early.
That said today’s 55 is a much younger age than it used to be. After all you have Denzel Washington, Bruce Will, Samuel L. Jackson, Liam Neeson, and The Arnold, all kicking ass in their 60s, and Harrison Ford looking sharp at 72. Gary Sinise just turned 60. Patrick Stewart is 74.
So I feel like the little kid I still am, still wondering what I am going to do when I grow up, except that I know I never will.
I recently bought a new car. The salesman was a nice enough guy, but I thought he was a little old for the job. I wondered if maybe he returned to the workforce after retiring due to economics.
Then he mentioned, while doing the paperwork, that we were the same age. Fuck.
I’m 45. Mentally, maybe 25? I listen to new music, dress young, think far down the road. According to TheKid, I’m not a fuddyduddy parent.
Physically? 85. This kidney disease thing sucks. I can barely make it through a day without a nap. I get winded easily. I’m still recouperating from a lot of running around this past weekend, all achey and feeble.
My brain constantly forgets that my body can no longer keep up like it used to. I HATE that disconnect.
When I put a lot of effort into taking good care of myself (eating well, exercise, getting enough sleep), I can feel anywhere from about 12 - 20; optimistic with boundless energy. Right now? Probably 80. I haven’t gotten enough sleep for awhile, and I’ve been living off of ramen. I don’t feel mentally sharp or all that physically capable. When I actually was very young, my mental and physical status weren’t so tied to my lifestyle. Now that I’m older, I have to strive for perfection or feel like a slug.
It really depends on who I am with. At the shelter where I volunteer, I feel at least 10 yrs younger. This is mostly because a lot of the people there who are my age (46) are cranky and dress old. I feel much younger than them. I have more energy and a more positive attitude.
When I am around my younger 20-something cousins, I feel quite my age.
Even though I’m north of 60, I feel more like mid-40s. Except that a whole bunch of significant events in my life happened one hell of a long time ago.
I still hang w/ friends on the weekends and drink too many beers late into the night. I guess I don’t wanna grow up. 
