Have any of you in your age mid-20s to 30s ever felt like complete screw-ups as a grown adult?

[Anonymous]

For instance, being in your late 20s or 30s seeing everyone else around your age with a house, a stable and well-paying job, and so on while you have almost none of that and debt on top of that.

Yes

No

Other

[Flatmanlewis]

I can really understand this question. Put plainly, my 20s just plain sucked. All my friends seemed to have long term GFs or got married. Some owned homes or at least seemed to be able to afford a better life. I was having a hard time launching into the career I wanted and was only on the fringes of it. It was frustrating - I was happy, but often frustrated. I was also stuck on the belief that the twenties were (so I thought) supposed to be the best years of my life. I couldn’t have been more wrong.


30s come along and I made a bad decision relationship wise and suffice to say it fell apart quickly. Yet after leaving her, suddenly, absolutely everything just started falling into place. My career took off, and having learned a lot from a failed relationship just had a different persona and found myself very successful with women. I was making enough money to get some travel in and moved to a nice place. Everything was just great.


Then, I’ll tell you this: late 30s going into 40s was the best I ever could’ve imagined. Life got great and hasn’t not been great since. If I list all the successes I’d come off like a bragging jerk but I can tell you there were a few times I wish 40s me could’ve traveled back in time to meet 20s me and just told myself to hang in there. It gets soooooo much better. From the ability to afford the things you want to do, own, or experience. To the success you can have in your career and relationships. From the confidence that comes with a decade of successes under your belt. To having a chance to help and influence the lives of others. It’s just a blessing.


Life absolutely started at 35 and never stopped getting better. There is very little south of that age I’d care to repeat.

[Asker]

I'm 28 years old right now, just returned to University college after taking several years off of college due to financial and personal reasons, and currently have a bit of debt (though not too much and still manageable). I currently work 1 part-time job and 1 self-employed job (that helps pay for my tuition) just to make enough money to pay my current bills and have a flexible schedule to knock my degree out of the way sooner. Still live with my parents and am hoping to move out of their house as soon as I finally finish my BA and get a much better job or source of income than I currently have.

Most people my age are already married with kids, have stable sources of income, and have a house. My own real life probably won't start until around my early-mid 30s.

[Asker]

My teens and 20s are definitely the worst times in my personal life, that I just learned.

[exitseven]

I got married at 25 and had my first kid 11 months later. I bought a house right before he was born. I do not know if I was successful or just plain nuts.

[Yannae]

Definitely. It's normal. Well, screwing up can happen. It's normal to come to the realization that you still have a lot to learn.