It’s FRIDAY!! In college that used to mean soon as it became dark outside I would get jitters to go out. I literally had to go out on the weekends. Hanging with friends, frat parties, clubbing, bowling, art gallery opening, picnics, meteor watching parties, house party…..I ALWAYS had to do something on the weekends, I literally could not stay home or I’d get jittery.
This was probably a remnant of my childhood since my parents were very socially active. I remember through elementary school, middle school, and high school, it was pretty much the norm to attend at least 2-3 parties over the weekend plus other activities.
Friends at school would tell me their family just, “stayed at home and got a movie from Blockbuster and ordered a pizza.” This was LAME I thought, since that was never a normal thing for my active family.
Even after college I kept that pace up…..actually I increased it.
Remove the classes + add some income = party time!
Now all this partying wasn’t just drinking and crazy stuff. A lot of times it was cool events and social clubs and entrepreneur clubs and tech meetups, but it was still an active social life.
However, now that I’m 30 (almost 31), it’s slowed down a bit.
People always say “As I get older I can’t drink as much” or “As I get older I can’t go out as much.”
…..I understand that, but I don’t think it’s fully a function of age.
For the drinking part, physiologically you CAN drink as much when you’re older, but the increased fat, decreased muscle mass, age-related problems, medications, and decreased frequency of drinking (aka lower tolerance) causes this for the most part.
For the going out part, I agree some of it is a decreased stamina issue as you age, but I think a whooollee lot of it is a DESIRE issue.
Let me nerdily calculate this out for you:
Let’s assume I entered college at age 18. I was in college for 5 years (slow track for me).
How many times do you think I went out?
45 weeks a year I did at least two events (extremely lowball figure) = 90 x 5 years =
450 times.
After college from age 23 till 26 I went out 5 days a week probably 45 weeks of the year. 45 x 5 x 4 =
900 times.
From age 26-30 went out maybe
400 times.
…..ok, enough fuzzy math (and notice I was only account for 45 weeks a year not 52….I assume all those numbers are WAY more especially during the crazy holiday times.
THE POINT OF THIS IS:
That number kinda blows your mind right??
When I was 23 if someone said, “Hey let’s randomly go out to 6th St!” (austin’s party area) I was sooooo down.
But at age 30 if someone said, “Hey it’s Tuesday let’s randomly go out to 6th St and get drunk” I would probably say ::in nerdy excited voice:: “No thanks I’m gonna sit at home and get some work done then read, then blog, then play with my 3D printer.”
That’s not always true, but it happens more and more frequently as I get older.
But it’s NOT a function of age, it’s a function of experience.
Those two things just happen to correlate to each other.
To prove this….see if you know someone who missed out on much of their youthful freedom. Maybe they got married crazily early then got a divorce when older, or always lived at home with strict parents, or had to provide for their family and never got to play.
When these people get older then all of a sudden come into freedom, they start going out with the youthful exuberance of a 21 year old, even though they’re weirdly old to be acting like that. But eventually they get over it….like after going out 2,000 times :-P
Anyhow, there was no real point to this email other than to present an alternative view of this.
So if you’re not going out as much, it’s not because you’re old…..maybe you’re just not as EXCITED for the same old stuff anymore. And maybe other things in life become more exciting.
With that, have a GREAT Friday! And think of something to get excited about!
Maybe add some Novelty, Beauty, Growth, & Love in your day?
Sincerely,
A 30 year old Neville Medhora
P.S. If you want, lemme know in the comments what get’s you excited as you’ve gotten older. I’m FASCINATED by the changing enjoyments of people. Would love to hear yours, no matter how silly :-)