What were the best years of your life?
- Thread starter jkladis
- Start date
For me it's simple; no matter how good or bad the experiences are I've experienced, I strongly believe that, at any point in time, the best is yet to come; up until the day I die, which will be the best day of my life. 
Most of my life has been pretty good, even though I grew up very poor and have had my share of bad experiences; at least I've managed to enjoy myself. But I guess three periods stand out as better than the rest. The first is approximately the late 60s, say 68 through 69 or 70; then my early teenage years, say 74-75/76; then the first few years after I got out of High School, say 79-82. All times when I was doing new things and experiencing new things, and also very creative and interesting times as far as books, movies, TV et cetera.
The college years for me 94-96. I was able to finally leave my hometown and all the bad memories and for the first time in my life feel like I was a normal person living a normal life. I wasn't able to fully take advantage of it and slipped back into my neuroses once college ended, but it was actually fun while it lasted. Like most people I still like to consider that potentially the best years are still to come.
Hard to put a date on it, just lots of phases with great moments in them.
High school was alright, ditto for the stupid shit that should have killed me, but was a blast.
College years were great, managed to get an education in between parties, girls, travel, random fun.
Working after college is, well, work, but suddenly had real income, so can afford nice shit, can travel a bit (and get paid to do so through work occasionally). Was still dating, excitement there as well (but more work than college dating).
Now I'm doing the 'settling down' phase. Bought a house, fiance lives with me, steady jobs, etc. Different fun, but good too. Quality of travel goes up too, as I hit Hawaii and Oktoberfest last year.
And I anticipate that the things to come should be decent as well, but there will be ups and downs to everything.
There's no "best years of your life" moment, unless things really turn downhill for you. Just lots of phases that had great moments in them. It's the same problem that makes your exes either saints or crazy, though. You either remember all the faults, or NONE of them. And every time you're in a rut and looking back, you tend to accentuate the positive, forgetting all the shit that came with it...
High school was alright, ditto for the stupid shit that should have killed me, but was a blast.
College years were great, managed to get an education in between parties, girls, travel, random fun.
Working after college is, well, work, but suddenly had real income, so can afford nice shit, can travel a bit (and get paid to do so through work occasionally). Was still dating, excitement there as well (but more work than college dating).
Now I'm doing the 'settling down' phase. Bought a house, fiance lives with me, steady jobs, etc. Different fun, but good too. Quality of travel goes up too, as I hit Hawaii and Oktoberfest last year.
And I anticipate that the things to come should be decent as well, but there will be ups and downs to everything.
There's no "best years of your life" moment, unless things really turn downhill for you. Just lots of phases that had great moments in them. It's the same problem that makes your exes either saints or crazy, though. You either remember all the faults, or NONE of them. And every time you're in a rut and looking back, you tend to accentuate the positive, forgetting all the shit that came with it...
The best period of my life was around 2005/6. I had been working at the video store for a year or so; it wasn't overwhelming and it had yet to become truly miserable. I had been living with my GF for a year or so and the bloom was still on the rose 
But most importantly I wrote a ****ing book! Once a week I sat down and wrote and for the rest of the week I worked out in my head what came next. Every second was being used. I felt like I was accomplishing something.
But most importantly I wrote a ****ing book! Once a week I sat down and wrote and for the rest of the week I worked out in my head what came next. Every second was being used. I felt like I was accomplishing something.
As much as I hated high school, I have to admit that I liked my senior year. Turned 16, got a license and a car, had a great group of friends, started dating a little, and just finally started to come out of my shell a little. The first year of college was also pretty good, too. After that, things started to change. Some friends drifted away, I went through a period where I wasn't sure what direction I was going in, had some doubts, lost focus on school a bit. Eventually, I pulled myself together and overall things have turned out quite well since then. Graduated college, found a great job in my field right away, and have done okay for myself. Still, nothing has been particularly great... hopefully those years are still to come.
Mmh, difficult to say. I think I had lots of "good years", but for wildly different reasons.
In retrospect, my high school years were a blast: I cruised through classes without much effort, had excellent grades, had a lot of very good friends (some of which I'm still seeing today), drank a lot, partied a lot, and in general I had an hell of a good time. On the other hand, my love life was desolate, and I felt I lacked something in my life.
College years were good. I found the girl of my life, cut down the parties but still had good fun and had a nice social life. Classes were hard, but I did worked hard and get good results.
Grad school years were still good, but just more of the same. Same girlfriend, same friends, but some difficulties at university. Classes were mind-screwing difficult (talking about quantum mechanics and general relativity here) and I struggled to keep the pace. I spent a year working for my master's thesis: getting my master's degree with top marks was probably the most satisfying moment in my life, but I was exhausted.
PhD years were uneven: I had to move to another city continue my career, and it was a sore point. Luckily it was not too far (about two hours and a half commute), but it meant that I could see my girlfriend and friends only on the weekend. Easy to say, I wasn't happy. Work is also very difficult, and I butted heads with my supervisor more than once. Working in a high-level research environment is really exciting, tho. Electrifying, even.
I'm finishing my PhD this year, so I will tell you how post-doc life is in a while.
So, all in all, I would guess that college years were the "best", but I had other good moments, for different reasons.
In retrospect, my high school years were a blast: I cruised through classes without much effort, had excellent grades, had a lot of very good friends (some of which I'm still seeing today), drank a lot, partied a lot, and in general I had an hell of a good time. On the other hand, my love life was desolate, and I felt I lacked something in my life.
College years were good. I found the girl of my life, cut down the parties but still had good fun and had a nice social life. Classes were hard, but I did worked hard and get good results.
Grad school years were still good, but just more of the same. Same girlfriend, same friends, but some difficulties at university. Classes were mind-screwing difficult (talking about quantum mechanics and general relativity here) and I struggled to keep the pace. I spent a year working for my master's thesis: getting my master's degree with top marks was probably the most satisfying moment in my life, but I was exhausted.
PhD years were uneven: I had to move to another city continue my career, and it was a sore point. Luckily it was not too far (about two hours and a half commute), but it meant that I could see my girlfriend and friends only on the weekend. Easy to say, I wasn't happy. Work is also very difficult, and I butted heads with my supervisor more than once. Working in a high-level research environment is really exciting, tho. Electrifying, even.
I'm finishing my PhD this year, so I will tell you how post-doc life is in a while.
So, all in all, I would guess that college years were the "best", but I had other good moments, for different reasons.
I'd say my thirties were the best. I was still in the party mode, but I had the finaces to make it even better. Not that I stopped when I hit my forties, but it's just not quite the same.
Most periods of my life have had some great stuff mixed in with a few stresses, so it's kind of hard to pick out "the best years".
Having said that, I really loved my last year at school, through (most of, minus a few months here and there) university, and my first year or so of working after.
I think the next year should be pretty good too, for various reasons, and fingers crossed, touch wood, find a four-leaved clover, etc, etc, life should be real smooth in a couple of years time.
Having said that, I really loved my last year at school, through (most of, minus a few months here and there) university, and my first year or so of working after.
I think the next year should be pretty good too, for various reasons, and fingers crossed, touch wood, find a four-leaved clover, etc, etc, life should be real smooth in a couple of years time.
I had a fantastic eight months from December 05 to July 06. Back then was when I was together with my ex and truly thought I was loved.
Otherwise I'd say the last nine months or so have been a big improvement over the majority of my life. Have gotten some confidence, a great friend, learnt to worry less and take things as they come. Hopefully in the coming years I'll manage a decent income, less weight and better health and maybe, just maybe manage some kinda of love and sex life.
Otherwise I'd say the last nine months or so have been a big improvement over the majority of my life. Have gotten some confidence, a great friend, learnt to worry less and take things as they come. Hopefully in the coming years I'll manage a decent income, less weight and better health and maybe, just maybe manage some kinda of love and sex life.
Good as reason as any to never have kids. Plus I'm not sure I'd be such a good dad, and I have three siblings so they can keep the family name going.
I always figure that if I'm not living the best years, or am working towards the best year, I'm doing something wrong and need to fix it.
Wow good question. I have to say 1969, the year I bought my first real six-string guitar, I played that thing until my fingers bled. Me and some guys from school had a band and we tried real hard, but Jimmy quit and Jodie got married I shoulda known we'd never get far. But when I look back now that summer seemed to last forever, and if I had the choice I'd always wanna be there. Cause those were the best days of my life.
For shallow reasons - my late teens.
For real reasons - now.
For real reasons - now.
