What were the best years of your life?

To date.

In August, I'm attending a wedding. The to-be bride and groom are living in Wales, however they are coming back here to Chicago to have their wedding ceremony and reception, at great expense, no doubt. She's originally from the U.S. Seems they met here while in college and have fond memories of school and where the two of them started their lives together. This is not too uncommon though it brought me back to something I always found fascinating. Where we place our strongest feeling of enjoyable past experiences.

Personally I can't pin any one period in my life that I would call "the best years". I'd like to think they keep just getting better. But you know the types, like the stereotypical guys who will never let go of their high school days as athlete heroes, or the Dawson's Creek carbon copies.

I want to know the real world "best years to date" from my peers here. And may you have many more to come.

 

Hmm... I think the best year is probably the one ahead of me. I know that seems like a copout but I always try damn hard to make each year better than the last after being in a downward spiral for a number of years.

 

I tend to think of my college years as among my best, although at the time I certainly didn't know it.

 

Pretty much now.

 

I think they're upon me now.


J.

 

They'd better be in the future, because nothing so far has been all that great.

 

Wow. For all the complaining that goes on around here () there are a number of people having the best years of their lives now. That's pretty nifty. I approve.

 

Up until puberty. After that it gets complicated, and usually of my own doing.

But I think there are some good years ahead, if I can just get a few things sorted.

 

I think mine were probably between the ages of 18 and 28. During that decade I went to college and got married. Being a dual income couple my wife and I were pretty much able to do anything we wanted during that time, vacations, new cars, expensive toys etc.

After the birth of our first child when I was 28 came parenthood, home ownership and becoming a "responsible adult". The spontaneity disappeared and life became a lot more regimented. Hopefully, once my last child leaves home we'll have a chance to revisit those early years.

 

The best years of my life are just getting started. For one very simple reason:

Baseball.

I know that sounds kind of silly, but it's in these last couple of years - when I've really gotten heavily into it - that I've found a new lease on life.

And last May, when I sat in the right field bleachers at Yankee Stadium with the Bleacher Creatures? That was literally a life-changing experience for me.

 

2009 has been so magical so far. I know 2009 is just the beginning. The sun is just starting to rise on the best years of my life- getting engaged, doing great in school since going back. Life has been wondrous for me and I'm excited for the next few years.

 

I don't think I've had a period spanning several years that were solidly terrific in any way. I've had some great moments and some terrible ones. As a child I was incredibly happy and sweet, but I also didn't know a lot about life and I wouldn't want to call a period of ignorance the "best years of my life."

Instead of hoping that the best years are yet to come, I've learned to focus on the good in my life during the present, even if it's mixed in with some bad things. Because there will never be a golden period, and I do have a lot of great things going for me right now.

I hope that didn't come off as pessimistic. Despite the complications in my life and my past, I can look back at any period with sentimentality and find something wonderful about it. Life's about the journey, and all that ...

 

Me and some guys from school had a band and we tried real hard. Jimmy quit, Jody got married. Should have known we'd never get far. Oh when I look back now, that summer seemed to last forever... Those were the best days of my life.

Hehe, in all seriousness. My late twenties through mid 30's were pretty sweet. I had two consecutive jobs that let me see the world, paid well, and had lavish vacation time, even by european standards. last couple of years have been a bit of a downer being stuck at home recovering from a leg injury, but the next few years should be an improvement especially owing to a plan to make a permanent move to a more preferred part of the country.

 

I dont think Ive quite hit mine yet, im not quite 20 so i have ton's of time.

However, this year wasn't so bad. I made some great friends, in the real world and on here, including quite possibly the love of my life.

 

Tough to say... I can't really think of any years of my life that were exceptionally "bad", nor can I think of any that were exceptionally "good". There always seems to be a bit of both in all years, often for very different reasons at different times.

I'd like to think that the best years of my life are still ahead -- at least, I hope they are. If they're behind me, then I'd have to say I'm rather disappointed... and not really looking forward to the future all that much.

 

The past six years have been more shitty than good, so I tend to think the best years of my life were off and on between 1970-2003.

On the other hand, I'm not dead yet, so it's possible that the years ahead will see an upturn.

 

I agree, I became a dad aged 30, and we found the adjustment down to one income a bit of a challenge, but you get used to it. The harder part is losing all your spare time and all those sleepless nights! It sure changes your perspective on everything, having kids. Money and work are now much less important - sounds corny, but it's true in my case.

To answer jkladis's question, I think I'd split my life into three periods : immature teenager who wasted a lot of time and money partying and doing things that have me looking back shaking my head and wondering how I didn't end up dead ; 20ish-30ish where work was the number 1 focus and career success was all that mattered - got to travel a lot and live in different places; and now my 30's where we have just started our little family, where there is less "freedom" but that is 100x made up for by having kids.

Each period has been better than the last.

 

Last two and a half since I started college and began going to my church. I also anticipate it getting better and better.