25 Things 20-Somethings Can Do Instead Of Complaining About Feeling Old

Jun. 19, 2012

By Anu Rana info

Anu Rana is a writer. Possibly a poet. Barely an art director. And definitely none of the above. Mostly she's a ...

Read more »

Dear 20-somethings: stop complaining about being old. You probably have three-quarters of a century before you’re dead. Let’s all relax. Here are 25 age-specific things 20-somethings can do instead of complaining about being old. You’re welcome.

1. Eat a lot of pizza with minor effect.

2. Live with your parents to save rent, for home-cooked meals, and blame the economy for everything when anyone asks.

3. Own your first home. Even if it’s 400 square feet, it’s yours. Get one of those shows to decorate it for free. It will be wonderful.

4. Date someone twice your age.

5. Take a year off from serious relationships to be single (read: free).

6. Attend a legal same-sex marriage.

7. Boss around the interns. Or date one of them. You’re too young to be a cougar. You, my friend, are a tiger.

8. Work hard. Get a new job every year or two.

9. Start your own company.

10. Follow random kids on Halloween, pretending they’re yours and get free candy as a result. Or just ring the doorbell — some of you still look 15.

11. Train (for as many years as it takes) for a marathon while your legs are still functional.

12. Dance all night in London. Ride a bike around Paris during a summer sunset. Climb Lion’s Head in South Africa. Compete in a rickshaw race across India. Relax in a hot spring in Iceland. Put up a piece of street art in Argentina. Live in New York City. You get the point.

13. Take a loan to do whatever you really want to do. You have a long time to pay it off. It’ll be fun!

14. Change your career more than once. Make sure one of the careers involves the circus, another country, or publishing a novel.

15. Go back to school for personal reasons.

16. Thank the universe Facebook wasn’t around when you were in high school.

17. Invent the next Facebook.

18. Become a YouTube sensation for your sensationally entertaining skills or otherwise generally useless abilities.

19. Couchsurf with strangers without it being creepy.

20. Stay for free with the friends you made in college that now live in different cities. Freeloading is still allowed!

21. Don’t worry about your keys, your remote, your sanity and whatever else you’ve lost — you’ll eventually find it.

22. Do all the things Steve Jobs says.

23. Stop complaining.

24. Start doing.

25. Take your time. TC mark

You should follow Thought Catalog on Twitter here.

image – Shutterstock

Tagged , , ,


View Comments

Add Yours »

Cataloged in

Text Size:

A | A | A

  • bleh

    you are thoroughly annoying.

  • sarah

    these are pretty much the same cliches you always hear but this:

    “13. Take a loan to do whatever you really want to do. You have a long time to pay it off. It’ll be fun!”

    ummm….no. there is nothing “fun” about being in debt and it is that same mentality that has gotten us where we are now. what happens if you lose your job? get in an accident that prevents you from working? need a loan for something that’s actually important but have terrible credit? finances are not something you should gamble with, especially now, unless you have a back-up plan or at least some confidence that it will pay off in the end. too many 20-somethings have zero financial savvy and this is the worst possible advice you could give them. seriously dumb.

    • Savannah

      agreed. number 13 is almost the same as “8. Work hard. Get a new job every year or two.”
      People need to pay DEBTS like college loans and what not. No one can just get a job and change for crying out loud. There are tons of unemployed people out there and I believe that you should start picking a job that you’re most comfortable with so that at least one day, you’ll be rewarded with either a raise or a promotion. I mean, you went to college to be able to EARN and to PAY your LOANS and OTHER DEBTS, and possibly, to make your parents proud. You can have some fun, yes, but not throw your job and change eventually within a year or two, especially in this kind of economy we’re facing nowadays.

      • Cat

        disagree. you should do what makes you happy and if that’s changing your job or taking out loans you should do it. so many people are unhappy and yes, so many people are unemployed, but damn when did we start living for the money and not just living to live? take out all the loans you want and DO WHAT YOU LOVE. i didn’t go to college to earn money. i went to learn and to better myself. just sayin.

    • k

      agreed!!

      • V

        Well said Cat

      • Savannah

        i agree with you Cat, however, i’m just referring to the frequent switching of jobs, being wise and practical with regard to economic crisis every country is facing (yes, not only on the 1st world countries…) and the possible consequences it may arise/contribute.

        now, it is up for the reader to follow whatever makes them happy/decide what is right and wise.

      • Larry

        Savannah is right, Cat. i think that, what she’s trying to say is BEING PRACTICAL:

        people musn’t just be all YOLO!!! or WHATEVER!!! people should also be practical. because if you’re wise at what you’re doing, then you’d really achieve happiness. and Cat, not all people are like you.. consider the poor who didn’t go to college.. some weren’t even able to finish high school, so how can they do whatever they LOVE when they have to fulfill their basic needs? anyways, it may not always be about the money, but it’s what’s something most people strive to earn to help make their dreams come true..being practical has its advantages, and being reckless may bring you joy but it has its own disadvantages :)

        besides, who wants to have LOANS?

      • http://images.suite101.com/3651123_com_ascariasis1.jpg Henry

        Go Savannah! :D

  • E.

    Anyone who doesn’t have freedom in their relationships shouldn’t be IN a relationship.

  • Tnpb7d

    Learn to write in paragraphs rather than lists.

  • Emil Caillaux

    This feels like someone read all the satirical posts about 20-somethings in TC and thought they really meant it.

  • http://www.itmakesmestronger.com/2012/06/25-things-20-somethings-can-do-instead-of-complaining-about-feeling-old/ Only L<3Ve @ ItMakesMeStronger.com

    [...] Thought Catalog » Life Add a comment [...]

  • Amanda

    I am a 20-something and Facebook did exist while I was in high school. So #16 doesn’t apply to anyone younger than 25/26 years old.

    • Coco

      I thought only university students could use it until around 2008/2009?

      • Lauren

        High school students could access it if invited. I was using it in 05/06 as a senior in high school.

      • Anonymous

        I set up my Facebook account as a high school student in the fall of 2006, I believe it was one of the first years that Facebook was opened up to high school kids as well.

      • xenon

        i got a facebook as a high school freshman in 06 cause my friend’s college-senior older brother invited us

    • Katie

      IT did but wasnt used as much as it is now… we all had bebo/myspace

      coming from a 21yr old

  • Jye

    I fully understand your list, and I enjoyed it. You’re probably very annoyed with the other lists that starts with “Things that will make you feel old,” I’m sure, but quite honestly, I love those lists! They make me feel not only old, but privileged.

    I’m happy that I had BSB instead of The Beibs to represent my generation, and even though Kevin is now a father and Nick is 30, those lists are awesome! The only thing that I agreed fully with you on your list was “16. Thank the universe Facebook wasn’t around when you were in high school.” Besides that anything else on there is another one of those things I can google “how to inspire myself” and find a list of. I enjoy being reminded that I am closer to being an adult and that there were things in my childhood I had forgotten.

    So, instead of bashing you, I thank you for trying to remind my that I am still youthful, but I also enjoy being reminded of the simpler times for me.

    • http://joeisinchina.wordpress.com joejoe14519

      here here. twenty something and living it up to my fullest… of course not everyone will be able to do everything on this list (i know i can’t!), but the point is to not feel tethered by the doom and gloom of the economic downturn, throwing us into a panic that makes us focus on conservative values and forces us to be overly prudent with our lifestyles and spending. i have 120,000 usd (that is not a typo) of loans on my head alone, not my parents’, and until the yoke comes crashing down i will take full advantage of four years of faux-freedom. when i enter the working world in a year’s time i will hate every second of my life, but since i already knew it was coming, loans or not, there was no point sitting around feeling bad for myself while preparing for the future. i’m climbing mist-shrouded mountains. i’m trekking across the great wall. i’m watching the sun set along the indian ocean. because of you don’t waste your time now, then, well… you’ve wasted your life. i have a lifetime to regret my choices. when i’m holding my head in my hands as i wonder what the fuck i’m doing with my life in five-ten years time, i’ll remember the choices i made that put me where i am and remember, god… that was fun. i’ve done and seen beautiful things, and the memories alone make anything that comes afterward all the more bearable.

  • Shane

    Not sure if article is serious…. or just trolling? :|

  • Awesome-Sauce

    Huh, another YOLO article. Who expected that?

    ^Sarcasm.

  • Jen

    You can only go to same sex weddings in your 20′s? After that does it become inappropriate? Also what if your friends in a same-sex relationship are not getting married, do I have to force them to do it for my own enjoyment? Or do I crash a same-sex wedding, making them a novelty… as if they’re zoo animals there for my enjoyment.

    • Kye

      I think she’s pointing out that our parents couldn’t have attended a same sex marriage in their 20s because it wasn’t legal and we should be grateful that it is now. Or something.

    • sharon

      How about the gays reading this article? Why not:

      6. Attend — or have — a legal same-sex marriage.

  • H

    Eat pizza with no consequences? Girl, what universe do you live in?

  • Alex

    Number 13 is the dumbest fucking thing I have ever heard. Welcome to America, where everything is tomorrow’s problem.

  • http://wolfknifetv.com Stuart

    Working on 18 & 19 right here:

    http://www.youtube.com/wolfknifetv

    Youtube show about Couchsurfing.

  • http://nanbcn.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/very-relevant-3/ Very relevant. | nanbcn

    [...] Very relevant. [...]

  • http://nanbcn.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/very-relevant-3-2/ Very relevant. | nanbcn

    [...] Very relevant- Thought Catalog. [...]

  • http://dogandponyshowwebsite.com/awesome-links-all-the-game-of-thrones-sex-scenes-90s-tv-nerds-baby-gosling-and-kate-uptons-nipple/ Dog and Pony Show

    [...] I joke a lot about things that make me feel old, though my actual beliefs more closely resemble the ideas in this  inspiring post. [...]

  • Sam

    Cape Town FTW!

  • Brenda

    Who has time to write this nonsense?

  • http://thesehappymiles.com/2012/06/everyone-cares-about-the-weather.html Everyone Cares About the Weather | The Happy Miles Blog

    [...] 25 Things 20-Somethings Can Do Instead of Complaining About Feeling Old [...]

  • http://www.facebook.com/archita.trisal Archita Trisal

    What were you smoking when you wrote this? :

  • Shimmy

    Ha. Despite all the other negative comments, I think it’s nice to actually read an article about embracing your 20 something years rather than whinge about what life was like when you were “younger” and how it’s all downhill from here.. blah blah blah. Good work, Anu!

    • Shimmy

      … Having said that, I don’t necessarily agree with everything that’s in the article, but I can appreciate what the author was trying to do. That’s all. :)

  • Tanushree Singh

    I appreciate the intentions with which this article was written, however it only makes sense if you’re living in some fantasy land. Eat pizza with minor effects. really? Take a loan to do whatever you want? Loans, my friend are the worst hangover you can ever have for life!

  • http://twitter.com/ThisCCollective Anu Rana (@ThisCCollective)

    Dear effin 20-somethings who continue to complain about everything, it feels much better to write something then it does to complain in the comments, so why don’t you #23. stop complaining #24. start doing. Secondly, don’t take things (including yourself) so seriously. This is only half-serious. You should take the serious half seriously though. LIKE #23 AND #24!! Thirdly, i actually sent TC a more extensive list of 50 things, which had a greater display of my imagination, but this is how they edited it. At first I was disappointed, and then I realized this is probably the version they think their audience will share, and looking at the amount of shares looks they were right. woHooo. Lets all relax and have a popsicle.

  • macus

    15. Go back to school for personal reasons. : This blog is bullshit. You will see number 15 and yet it was this same blog writer who also wrote that going back to school is one big mistake for 20 somethings. complete bullshit. have some consistency.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Recently Cataloged