6 Telltale Signs You’re Not Young Anymore And You’re Definitely Getting Old

You may want to throat punch me for this but I’m feeling old. Cue the backlash and hate.

With my life changing so drastically in the last couple of years I feel like I have encompassed a newfound maturity. Ladies and gentlemen I’d like you to give me a round of applause, I am growing up. Sure, I am only 26 so maybe obnoxiously stating that I feel old is a slight exaggeration but I’ll tell you, certain things have changed. Boy, have they changed and it almost seems like overnight! Maybe for the better and maybe for the worse. Either way life at this age is awkward as hell, confusing and I’m not sure if it’s empowering, downright scary or annoying AF?!

Let’s be real for a minute, I am still the same youthful knob that I have always been. I laugh when I shouldn’t, I have the attention span of a goldfish, I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached, I still cry to my mom when I am upset and no matter how hard I bloody well try I CANNOT seem to rid myself of my closeted infatuation with Justin Bieber (feel free to unfriend me now). However, things that never used to matter or I hated are beginning to take on a whole new meaning at this stage of my life and I am almost positive you will agree.

1. Sleep is the time you long for all day.

From the moment you wake up for work you are ready to go back to bed. Bed is your end goal every day. If you can manage to make it past 11:00PM without yawning I salute you. In fact, you are a champ! For as long as you can remember you have always been a night owl. Now you are lucky if you can stay up long enough to finish a movie on Netflix. AND this is not just limited to Netflix and Chill. Heck, you pass out in the damn movie theatre now and you don’t even care that you just wasted $15.00. Who is this stranger that stares at you in the mirror?! Anyways sleep is the bomb and you realize your cozy time spent in bed is WAY more desirable than going out to a club or bar. End. Of. Story.

2. You slowly notice get-togethers with your squad start to dwindle.

And sure enough, eventually you stop hanging out in general and usually for no real reason at all. People drift apart and that’s all there is to it. The truth is, you are experiencing an odd moment in your life where you no longer have the enormous group of friends you once did. Instead, now you are faced with the reality that all 2 of your friends are usually always busy when you finally decide you want to make plans to go out. Either way, you are content with your small circle and these are usually your ride or dies who are there when it matters and won’t be going anywhere.

3. Coffee is life.

Listen to me. Coffee is and always will be the life of the party. By “life” I mean the magical warm liquid that turns clouds into rays of sunshine and by “party I mean work. Coffee has become more of a necessity to you than it probably should. At this age, your coffee addiction has gone into beast mode. 3 cups in and it’s only 9:30AM POUR ME ANOTHER ONE JOE. Mornings are your worst enemy. Well, guess what? I have a cure for you. BAM coffee. Feel free to thank me later… with a coffee.

4. You are still unsure of what you want to be when you grow up… But… You are grown up… Well, sort of?

Friends are getting married, having kids, having careers and you’re over here playing with your younger siblings fidget spinner and eating your lunch that your mom packs for you on a regular basis… Anyways, you feel like everyone has it figured out but you. This never bothered you up until now. The pressure is on, but what you don’t realize is that almost all your peers feel the EXACT same way.

5. You don’t like people.

Okay maybe that is a bit extreme but you go through periods where you just don’t want to be social. Leave me the frig alone, let me be will ya! The reality is… You deal with people all day long, whether it be work, friends or family and sometimes you just get burnt out. You treasure your alone time but find yourself in a continuous and annoying conundrum. You struggle between the desire to be invited out to social gatherings (due to fear of damn well missing out FOMO) and acknowledging that you wouldn’t go even if you were invited- but it’s nice to feel wanted ;). Overall, why be social when you can (once again) get cozied up at home watching and eating whatever the heck you want, as much as you want and as long as you want without any interruptions?

6. Last but no way in heck the least. That entitled sense of self that you have potentially encompassed throughout your young millennial life is starting to shatter…and I mean EVERYWHERE.

You experience the harsh realization that entering your career and making BANK almost immediately after post-secondary was nothing but wishful thinking. You thought you couldn’t afford anything while you were in school only to find out it’s even worse once you’re finished. LMAO, the struggle is real. The older you get, the more responsibilities and obligations you have- hence being broke 99.9% of the time. You actually have to work hard to climb the ladder. If this hard realization isn’t a sheer indication that you’re getting (old)er I don’t know what is!