Life advice from a 20 year old.

I was reading an online discussion about life and someone posted a long message about advice and wisdom, and the things they've learned in life. About halfway through the post they mentioned they were 24 years old.

I stopped reading. To be fair, I was basically only skimming the article anyway so I probably would have stopped in the next few seconds because I just wasn't interested.

As soon as I saw they were in their 20's, I automatically discounted everything they said. Remember when you were in your 20's? How wise were you back then?

I might take life advice from someone my age. Might. Especially if they've had a harder life than me and seemed to be coping well with the challenges. Someone in their 40s, I'd listen to. In their 50's and 60's, yes. 70s and up, surely.

While older people are the most qualified to offer advice, we rarely ask them. We equate old age with declining mental ability. So the people who can offer us the most wisdom and guidance, we ignore because we think they're no longer smart enough.

Would you rather look old when you're young and young when you're old? Or look young when you're young and old when you're old?

I find it fascinating that when you look at someone you can immediately determine if they are younger, older or about your age.

Why can we do this so fast? My guess is that it has to do with reproduction and evolution. It was in our benefit to identify people's ages very quickly - it helped us get more mates and have more babies.

The way life works now, we look young when' we're young and old when we're old. What if this was reversed?

From my work in the school system I know that kids who look older often have more problems:

1) They're bullied by their peers for looking different.

2) Teachers and adults overestimate their maturity and are disappointed.

So I think it would be bad when you're young. On the other hand, when you're old and you look young, lots of good things can happen.

1) People will be pleasantly surprised at your maturity and wisdom.

2) You'll have more success with the opposite sex because combined with your good looks, you now have the intelligence and wisdom of an old person that would help you attract and seduce(?) a younger person.

On the other hand, it would be frustrating being treated as a "dumb young person" by people who are younger than you.

In conclusion, I say that the way we age works out just fine.

Time gets faster as we get older, but what if it was the opposite?

As we get older, time seems to fly faster and faster. When I was a kid summer holidays lasted FOREVER. Now summer feels like 3 weeks. Imagine when I'm 95! A summer will feel like a day!


What if this was the opposite? What if time went by slower and slower as we got older, and flew by when we were kids? I think that would be worse.


Children lead the best lives. Everything is done for them. They play all day. They don't have to worry about money. They laugh a lot. If this went by in a blink of an eye, they'd miss out on the best times of their lives.


Meanwhile, getting older kind of sucks. If time slowed every year it would mean a sort of slow, extended agony. If you were really old and really sick, imagine how much worse you would feel if every day felt like a month.


"Come on kill me now!" you'd scream. "Time hurry up and go by so I can die!" Some people already feel like that.