Whatever it is, it is right now.

I encounter countless people every day who are older than 30 years but behave like  22–25 years old. “Why is that”, I wondered. “Am I in the wrong circle?” I questioned. Possibly, but I used to feel like they all were very intelligent just a few years ago when I was under 22 years old.

I started analysing the behaviours of my peers on social media, as they were the ones who were transitioning through this age along with me. I noticed one polarising behaviour. It is learning.

Learning

Almost all of us were in forced environments called schools and universities until 22–25 years of age. In those places, you are forced to study new things, regardless of your interest, unless you drop out. But as soon as they left those environments and moved to work life, almost all of them stopped learning anything new. Work, partying, sleeping, and "travelling for Instagram" is all what they all did. Whereas, me and a handful of my peers started pursuing some hobbies related to art, sports, and even started their own businesses. Theses are the activities which force you to keep learning and keep exploring.

And when I look back at the lives of most of the people in their 40s, 50s or older, they were all same; education until 22-25, then got married. Learned some new things because children are a massive responsibility, but that’s it. The mindset of those 22-year-olds just got more and more rigid, and complacency striped them away of any passion for learning.

Past is gone, future will never come.

I’ve noticed all the people who stopped learning after 25 years of age, keep repeating the same old stories from their teenage years, high school and university days. They have turned into living ghosts as the stories of their lives stopped progressing.

So, what’s the solution? No, this isn’t a post to help those people. I don’t even know how to get them out of these stale lives which they don’t even realise that they are living. Instead, this post is for you who are under 30 or anyone older who is ready to experiment with their lives. For you to realise that whatever you are doing right now is all that matters. Daydreaming about the future and reminiscing past in positive or negative way won’t benefit your future. It is just stripping away all the precious time that you have in this blip in the timeline of the universe called life. So, fill every moment with something engaging. Start with one hobby and go deep into it, and the rest will follow.

That's it for this blog post and if you feel that you've something to add to this or you have a different perspective then share it and discuss it on r/StoicHuman or go to the Reddit discussion post for this blog post linked down below.

Stay healthy, Stay safe!

Follow our weekly podcast on Spotify called "Stoic Human Podcast". Also available on other platforms like Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Overcast, and more. Just search "Stoic Human Podcast".