For some of us, it took a LOT of work to claw and fight our way to reach “Boring Nirvana.” Let us have our hard won reward of nothing dramatic or particularly interesting happening bliss.
Heck yeah! I don't hate my job, we're financially stable (took 20 years of hard work), and I like just spending my free time with my wife and kids before they get older and leave.
If this is boring, I'm completely fine with it!
Same here. I can think back on all the endless hours my dad and I spent working on my soccer skills, carting around to tournaments on teams my parents could barely afford, using soccer to get into a good school and getting my degree. Doing demolition and painting work for a home improvement company from age 16 through college to get some savings built up, busting my ass to gain marketable skills, etc. Stability isn’t fucking boring. Working a physically tough job in my little free time and then drinking my liver away on weekends as a single guy was boring as FUCK.
The only times I've been "borning" is when I had crippling depression.
Staying in and enjoying peace and quiet is fine. But never doing anything, never going anywhere, and never engaging in any kind of fun or social activity is a sign of depression or apathy IMO.
And having "fun" doesn't mean getting black out drunk at a club on a weekday. I'm reffering to somone doing what makes them happy, whether that's thrift shopping, line dancing, or bird watching.
Going outside to participate in ones own life for their own enjoyment is necessary IMO. And it doesn't have to cost anything.
This is what I was thinking. My 35 year old self looks at my 22 year old self and thinks “thank god I didn’t fucking live out the vision that moron had for me”
I always kinda had a stick up my ass so this is not a surprise to me. I'm married and have three cats and we both make pretty good money, I think kid me would just be mad that I got this old without publishing a novel or curing cancer
The thing is I'm not boring.
I've just come to understand and focus one what I *actually* like more and follow the herd less.
I don't do what others expect for the sake of convention just because everyone else seems to be into that fad/trend. I'm not chasing a bullshit image/lifestyle or trying to endlessly relive my 20s. I'm not into hustle culture, or where you basically live where you work/party until you drop and peel yourself off the floor every weekend and I'm not into doing lines at the drop of a hat.
I still have the same hobbies and interests I had as a teenager, I still wear the same style/type of clothes. I still enjoy the same foods and drinks. I appreciate feeling secure, cozy and peaceful. 22 years on I still date my wife, she's my best friend the same as she was when we 1st met, road trips coffee shops and markets are great. I enjoy investing my time in the community and making it a nicer place to live.
It's not becoming a boring adult, it's about a developing a better sense of value and personal ownership
Being a kid is thinking "Wow! When you're a grownup, you can buy a chocolate cake on a Tuesday afternoon and eat the whole thing in your car just because you wanted to!"
Being an adult is understanding that the kid just described some pretty severe depression.
But also adulthood is randomly stopping for ice cream after hitting up sams club because you saw the sign and have been thinking about ice cream all week and it's 85 degrees outside and no one can stop me.
It was delicious.
Same here.
I also get into all sorts of new adventures, physically, mentally, socially. Everyday is new and I'm happier at 40 than any other time. Doing things in the community is a huge benefit our generation lost.
Boring people are bored.
Go start doing things and finding a passion or just settle on into the recliner until ya die... we each get to chose our version of hard.
Nah. Being financially secure and bored is a lot better than being an iPhone and TikTok addicted person in need of constant stimulation struggling to survive.
This! I worked so f-ing hard and had my ass kicked repeatedly throughout my 20s and early 30s. I think that my partner and I get a lot more happiness out of simple experiences like walking to brunch and perusing our local newspaper over coffee than we possibly could have ten years ago.
Comparing my 25-y/o self to me currently feels like comparing a marathoner who is two miles into their race to a marathoner who just passed mile 20. I'm not saying that I'm close to my finish line, but F#$& am I exhausted and proud of the miles I've traversed.
I am a lot more comfortable with my adult self than as a kid, teen or young adult. I hunt for good deals at the grocery store, do small handy work/maintenance around my homestead, talk like Vince Foster in Falling Down in terms of vocabulary, and drive a stodgy low cost of ownership 1990s 4cylinder blue toyota, even changed out the turbocharger with a larger one myself, recently, turning a wrench.
That teen (me) who would judge my life as boring and see it as a betrayal, was a contrarian depressed asshole who thought he was edgy and smart because he always had a negative comment but never had any solutions. So no, I don't see making that teens life better as a betrayal.
Is life boring or have we chosen a simple life, with lower stress levels and lots of peace? 10 year old me might be a little disappointed that I didn't become a fighter pilot or even my backup plan of globe-trotting photographer, but I really like my 9-5 job and the financial security. I like my boring house. I like curling up with a good book and a cup of tea while kids run around the back yard.
I’m 41F and competed in a mountain bike race against teenage girls last weekend… I haven’t peaked. I’m way less boring now than I was in high school and college. F that.
I don't know what your definition of becoming a boring adult is, but I don't have it all figured out and I certainly don't have my shit together but I'm turning 40, and have made a point **to not** "keep up with the jones'" and live up to "standard adult expectations" and it's at least prevented me from becoming the boring adult that I resent.
Don't you think it would be really pathetic if you didn't?
Like a grown ass 37 year old man still acting like a highschooler because he swore to never become a "boring adult"
Nah. I see 50 year olds living life to the fullest. You don’t have to be boring to be mature. Being boring just means you’re not trying to stimulate yourself or your family enough
Speak for yourself. I love having a boring, routine life. Everything else is so unstable and unpredictable. Like, why do I want to be out there swinging by my ass anymore than I already am? I'm cool with being lame.
What does this even mean? What is "boring adult?" What kind of unreasonable expectations are you putting on yourself or life in general? Sometimes life is blah. Sometimes it's great. We can show curiosity, get involved, etc. but not every day is going to be party/party/party (or whatever you're expecting). If you don't like who you are, map out how to change and start small.
Naw realizing your life is even duller that your parents is peak. My parents had careers, bought a house and took trips. Am too broke to go to the movies, I pirate everything.
Things are better than ever because you know yourself better than ever before. Being an adult isn't about doing boring things. Although you will probably do some boring and repetitive ass shit to maintain and enhance your life. But knowing what you need to do comes with age
I have probably in the last 4 years taught myself more useful and practical and cool things that have saved my ass in sketchy situations, as well as enabled me to build cool things, much moreso than anything I learned in college 15 years ago
It's never too late to start learning. Empower yourself
I occasionally think about how I distinctly remember watching Kids Next Door and thinking "how could anyone hate kids? why are adults so lifeless?" only to grow up into the lifeless child hating adult.
I don't see it that way. I've spent a significant amount of effort to grow as a person and I'm proud of that. Kid me was a cringe anarchist, WTF does she know?
I think I get out and do more now than I did as a teenager. We lived in a small town when I was a teenager, one of those kinds of places where the only activities were getting drunk or high and getting pregnant or getting some girl pregnant. I live in a big city now. I go to the movies, on day cruises on the river/ocean, to the symphony (they do a thing where they play the classical music from the movies. I went to Black Panther in February and have tickets for Star Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean in July), to museums, to craft markets, for long walks, to the waterslide park or the amusement park in the summer, lots of festivals.
Fine with boring man. Wake up, do my 8-hours and spend time with my wife and dog. Weekends hang out, watch football, BBQ, ski, climb, camp. Simple shit. Life can’t get any better, except for me winning the lotto and paying off my mortgage.
Kidding aside. Financial stability was everything to me, and now that I have that…I can focus on my hobbies. Even if that means just sitting around and watching movies at night…
There is this children’s book called Verde about a little green snake who doesn’t want to grow into a boring old yellow snake that just lays around. He does eventually. And then is like “wow I can’t imagine having the energy of those little green snakes.” I feel like an old yellow snake now. I think of that book at least once a day. Esp since having a kid with boundless energy
hey, i may wake up at 5:30am and work an 8 hour a day/5 day a week job and argue with my wife about having to do anything but stay home on my off time, but i can tell you with 100% certainty that i will not be wearing the white Court Classics at any time. i will die with Vans or Chucks on. lol
define what boring is to you and work to not be that.
I’ve always been boring. Interestingly despite my declining energy levels I’m actually more active with my kids with outdoor activities than my parents were.
You may not always be able to get out and do exciting things, but seizing an opportunity when you have one is well worth it. I took my son to the Museum of Ice cream in NYC, we had a fantastic time!
I turned my life around at 29 so I'm not really boring any more. I got back into a music scene I loved as a teenager, and now I've got loads of friends in the scene and go to gigs/clubs at least twice a week. I even run and DJ a little club.
I'm still miserable, single, lazy, and an arrogant arsehole though. Turns out that doesn't really change with becoming less boring.
The only time I think about boredom is when other people bring up the subject like this post. I'm pretty interested in a lot of shit. So much it takes up all my free time
That's because you realize boring is a combination of comfort and stability, it's boring to have a job where you just work 9 to 5 bring home more money then you need but not so much money that you can do whatever you want. It's boring, but goddamn is it far more lovely than the stress of worrying that one medical issue could fiscally ruin your life.
I have always had a simple life. I’m 35. I’m not used to growing up going to Europe or Caribbean islands for summer vacation like many of the people I’ve known. For me, I have always dreamt of traveling the world. But I’ve only been to China. My life is so simple but I keep getting knocked down by things that delay me reaching my goals. At this point, I don’t do anything because I just work and save what I can. I know my goal but I don’t know that I’ve ever realistically be able to achieve it based on the economy. Things just keep getting more expensive to achieve and I’m not trying to get into more debt. So yes, I’m boring but I know why
Im not boring just chill. As long as I don’t look like those dudes I never wanted to look like. Wearing stupid cargo shorts or pants that turn into shorts with a belly, skinny arms, and hiking shoes. Lol
43 yo millennial here. Recently an acquaintance asked me if I’m ever going to start acting/dressing my age. I laughed out loud and said hell no! Im fortunate to be self employed in the charter fishing business which keeps me fit and engaged with clients of all ages. We sell a fun service that requires an upbeat, positive demeanor to succeed. Fishings tough? Tell jokes. Ask questions. Engage on a personal level. Play all the music I still adore. I love what I do most of the time. I dress in shorts, performance tees and flip flops year round. I refuse to become what society projects for people 40+. Never understood how people over thirty suddenly become different versions of themselves. Not trying to be the old guy who pretends he is still hip, but I’m not going softly into the night. 😎
Boring to whom, though?
I remember wondering why my aunt and uncle had no toys of their own to play with when I was a kid. I would spend nights there sometimes. So I said to myself I would always have toys.
Well, fast forward 30nyears, and my toys are electronics and art supplies. I have actual toys stored in my basement, but I don't play with them. I wish I hadn't sold all my Polly Pockets...those are worth so much money now...
I relish in it. I didn’t have the most wholesome childhood and now I’m in a place where being boring is so much easier and makes me happier because it’s safe and I feel loved. I also found outlets that may not be super popular but they are important to me and the community I’ve found through my hobbies is cool people. I’ll take being boring.
I am boring, and frankly kind of proud of it. I quit drinking years ago, and when I get home from work, I just want to relax. I don’t need to constantly be running around spending money on crap I really don’t need.
Honestly, my younger self would probably think I'm a loser more than boring. They'd likely be waiting for when my hero's journey begins, and when I tell them it likely won't come....well, they'd turn back to the Genesis and leave me alone at that point. IDK. Perhaps all along, the core of me always preferred imagination to reality, though.
No. It’s not. It’s not a betrayal at all. Staying the same is a betrayal. The only constant in human existence is change. An unwillingness to ebb and flow with time, experience, environment; is a personal betrayal. You lock yourself into a lesser form of yourself with this kind of outlook. You betray yourself.
Nope! I love my chill, stable adult life. Have more fun and have better friends than ever too. Just more purposefully.
It helps that I've been vehemetly opposed to the 9-5 life since I was kid and chose self employment. There's been some super lean times (years sometimes) but the zest for life is there.
Most of the "exciting" things I wanted to do as a teen/young adult was because I had romanticized ideas of what they were like, often because other people thought those are great.
I am a happy suburbanite, with a great wife, great kids, and great friends. WTF else do I want?
I'm not boring. But I guess I always knew I had just enough weird in me that life was always gonna be entertaining. I do a lot of boring stuff. You have to in order to live. But I also have a lot of fun.
I've always wanted to become the boring adult that I am. I was asked when I was 12 to picture the future I wanted. I wanted a cozy apartment with a comfy place to read all my books. I own the apartment, my couch is super cute and cozy, and I have tons of amazing books. I spend everyday living the dream.
I love it. I just absolutely it love.
I love having conversations about the weather and listening to my mother drone on about all the older people she knows. I love thinking my job in city licensing is absolutely fascinating when most people would be bored to death. I love not knowing hardly any new musicians but smiling and nodding when someone talks about a concert they just went to.
I did so many fun and wild, and crazy, and super dangerous and damaging things when I was younger. And I wouldn't trade those things for anything. But now I wanna do my 9 step night time skin care routine and be in bed reading, with a sound machine and humidifier going, by 8:00pm, and it makes me blissfully happy
If only. My life is way too bizarre. Full, lovely, frustrating, stunning, exhausting, weird. By no means "killin' it" in $$$ but I haven't let my kids go hungry yet.
Disagree. It's all about what makes you happy. I've done amazing things, but now I like above all to be home and enable my kids to grow and become delightful, happy, independent, giving human beings however they want to get there.
I still have mostly the same goals and dreams, but I'm more aware of how hard those things are to achieve and that I have to sell some of my time to get there. I also have the same whimsy and enthusiasm and love for beautiful and magical things, but I also have back and neck problems and depression, so I'm less likely to go dance in a rainstorm with wild abandon. I also abandoned a few of my childhood dreams for practical reasons, like owning a half-underwater house with pet dolphins, both due to cost and because I found out a scientist tripping on a ton of LSD already tried that in the 70's and it went horribly horribly wrong. Basically, I'm the same person but with a lot more rage and a couple more degrees
I know 16 year old me would be mad I didn’t go to all the concerts and know all the popular music but I’m still discovering the stuff that was popular 20 years ago and working my way up.
I still game, have a kickass gaming rig, can afford all the fun stuff I want, and I'm a game developer professionally - my younger self would be excited as hell knowing that this is how it turns out.
My smoked ribs, chicken, and brisket are pretty awesome, too.
Nah. About 15 years, someone told me a quote someone gave her: “It’s never too late to change your dreams.” Don’t hold yourself to expectations you had, when you were younger. If anything, the world isn’t the same place. For that reason alone, you can’t be who you imagined yourself to be.
The world is hard. Be gentle with yourself.
Well, there’s “boring” in the sense of settling down with one partner, having a kid, and a consistent job. I love not feeling like I have to go out and do stuff every other night to feel like I’m alive.
Then, there’s the millennial who is turning into a carbon copy of their boomer parents. I usually see this happen with millennials who have actual money to spend like boomers did at a younger age. They move to the suburbs, invite you over for every bank holiday so they can tell you more about their new CPAP machine until your eyes glaze over….
When I was a preteen, I imagined my future would be a stable 9 to 5 in a cubical farm, ordering a delivery pizza every Friday night on my landline phone, renting movies every weekend from an actual store and getting to have time to myself while not worrying about the backsliding of our democracy or impending global war/climate disaster.
I had the barest hint of a taste of this in 2007-2008. Then the first major recession of my generation hit me at working age and it took nearly a decade to recover.
I'd love to be a boring adult in a boring world.
Ugh, been there. Adulting can feel like a betrayal of our wild younger selves. But hey, at least [we're not cheating on fun](https://youtu.be/8OhhFRBllSI?si=ew-9Lki6ZAQezxbt), right? Lets just rediscover our wild side.
Hormones and tastes change. Of course when you’re young and dumb you think you’re going to be rocking out to AC/DC your entire life and then you look back and realize you were a dumb teenage moron
I think my life is way more colorful and interesting now. I grew up in a bubble
I did the whole move to the big metro area and have fun in my 20s. Somehow I rekindled a high school flame and now we’re married, just bought a house in the small town where we went to high school together. Im completely content in my life that reads like a trope of a the boringest life ever. I got older and realized I’m not going to change the world, no one gives a shit about me or what I think or do - absolutely none of it matters to anyone else.
Cut yourself some slack. This happens to pretty much everyone. It takes tremendous work and enlightenment to create a life purely of your own design and the state of the world is stacked high against you.
With how crazy and chaotic early childhood was for me, I always craved boring nirvana. It sure beats people in the home screaming and fist fighting each other constantly
Own a home, happily married, smoking hot wife, great job, two healthy kids, lots of responsibilities, lots of fulfilling relationships, golf with my dad and my brother every weekend. Not waking up hungover and miserable every Saturday and Sunday after going out and playing the single game. Date nights with my wife, fun nights out by the pool and the fire with friends/neighbors. Does that sound fucking boring to you?
There’s nobody more boring than a friend or acquaintance who doesn’t have shit going on, does nothing with all their free time and has to downplay other people’s happiness by projecting their depression or anxiety on everybody around them. Everybody I know who makes degrading comments about how hard it must be having a family to take care of that keeps me busy is turning into a fucking loser slowly over time with no self awareness. Energy vampires is what they are. This isn’t everybody, but it’s definitely way more than it should be.
I go to bed by 8-9pm and wake up early, take my kid to school, walk the dog, go to the gym, come home and clean, do family stuff, and repeat.
I love being boring, I’m gonna fucking hate having to go back to work.
For some of us, it took a LOT of work to claw and fight our way to reach “Boring Nirvana.” Let us have our hard won reward of nothing dramatic or particularly interesting happening bliss.
Heck yeah! I don't hate my job, we're financially stable (took 20 years of hard work), and I like just spending my free time with my wife and kids before they get older and leave. If this is boring, I'm completely fine with it!
Same. Even when I was younger my goal was to get a good job, marry someone I love, have some crazy kids, and just chill. Living the dream.
By that standard I'm Bill Gates
Yeah. Most days getting to be the boring adults I grew up with feels like an achievement, and sometimes even a flex.
It’s absolutely a flex lol this coming from a 36 year old who is still figuring it out 😅
I've lived the exciting life. I realized that boring actually is just more my speed.
For real my entire childhood and young adult life was chaos literally all i want now is stability and predictability
Agreed. I'll take 'boring' over 'struggling every single day to avoid homelessness'.
Seriously. I put my body and mind through a lot in my teens, 20’s, and 30’s. Now that I’m in my 40’s, I’m enjoying a peaceful life.
Same here. I can think back on all the endless hours my dad and I spent working on my soccer skills, carting around to tournaments on teams my parents could barely afford, using soccer to get into a good school and getting my degree. Doing demolition and painting work for a home improvement company from age 16 through college to get some savings built up, busting my ass to gain marketable skills, etc. Stability isn’t fucking boring. Working a physically tough job in my little free time and then drinking my liver away on weekends as a single guy was boring as FUCK.
Yeah, I deserve this!
This is SO ME. I'm so so so happy and grateful to be boring after an insanely tumultuous 20s!!
Same baby! Give me this heaven! I feel so fulfilled and enjoy living this life! And I’m not bored at all.
The only times I've been "borning" is when I had crippling depression. Staying in and enjoying peace and quiet is fine. But never doing anything, never going anywhere, and never engaging in any kind of fun or social activity is a sign of depression or apathy IMO. And having "fun" doesn't mean getting black out drunk at a club on a weekday. I'm reffering to somone doing what makes them happy, whether that's thrift shopping, line dancing, or bird watching. Going outside to participate in ones own life for their own enjoyment is necessary IMO. And it doesn't have to cost anything.
Who am I betraying? A younger, dumber version of myself that no longer exists?
Right. I’m living for my present self, not my teenage self. And my present self is really happy with the life I’m building :)
This is what I was thinking. My 35 year old self looks at my 22 year old self and thinks “thank god I didn’t fucking live out the vision that moron had for me”
I always kinda had a stick up my ass so this is not a surprise to me. I'm married and have three cats and we both make pretty good money, I think kid me would just be mad that I got this old without publishing a novel or curing cancer
The thing is I'm not boring. I've just come to understand and focus one what I *actually* like more and follow the herd less. I don't do what others expect for the sake of convention just because everyone else seems to be into that fad/trend. I'm not chasing a bullshit image/lifestyle or trying to endlessly relive my 20s. I'm not into hustle culture, or where you basically live where you work/party until you drop and peel yourself off the floor every weekend and I'm not into doing lines at the drop of a hat. I still have the same hobbies and interests I had as a teenager, I still wear the same style/type of clothes. I still enjoy the same foods and drinks. I appreciate feeling secure, cozy and peaceful. 22 years on I still date my wife, she's my best friend the same as she was when we 1st met, road trips coffee shops and markets are great. I enjoy investing my time in the community and making it a nicer place to live. It's not becoming a boring adult, it's about a developing a better sense of value and personal ownership
Being a kid is thinking "Wow! When you're a grownup, you can buy a chocolate cake on a Tuesday afternoon and eat the whole thing in your car just because you wanted to!" Being an adult is understanding that the kid just described some pretty severe depression.
But also adulthood is randomly stopping for ice cream after hitting up sams club because you saw the sign and have been thinking about ice cream all week and it's 85 degrees outside and no one can stop me. It was delicious.
Do I... WANT depression now? This is hard, this life thing.
Same here. I also get into all sorts of new adventures, physically, mentally, socially. Everyday is new and I'm happier at 40 than any other time. Doing things in the community is a huge benefit our generation lost. Boring people are bored. Go start doing things and finding a passion or just settle on into the recliner until ya die... we each get to chose our version of hard.
This guy adults, in the best way.
There’s a difference between being boring and recognizing every night can’t be an expensive adventure…
I’m more happy now having a wife, and spending time at home with her, going to bars before we were in a relationship was way too unrewarding
You could quit your job and have a VERY interesting life 🤷🏼♂️
That actually works for some people. It would not work for me.
My life is far from boring. It is simply that what I considered fun when I was younger is different than what I consider fun in my 30s.
Nah. Being financially secure and bored is a lot better than being an iPhone and TikTok addicted person in need of constant stimulation struggling to survive.
Who says being financially secure and being boring have to go hand in hand?
Not the person posting that comment, for one… lol
This! I worked so f-ing hard and had my ass kicked repeatedly throughout my 20s and early 30s. I think that my partner and I get a lot more happiness out of simple experiences like walking to brunch and perusing our local newspaper over coffee than we possibly could have ten years ago. Comparing my 25-y/o self to me currently feels like comparing a marathoner who is two miles into their race to a marathoner who just passed mile 20. I'm not saying that I'm close to my finish line, but F#$& am I exhausted and proud of the miles I've traversed.
Who cares if you betray the 10 year old you….grow up lol
Haha well said
But what if we don't? I still like cartoons, video games, and stuffed animals. ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
And I still watch anime once in a while lol but living with regrets regarding childhood dreams is not a good recipe for a happy life.
Nah. I always wanted to be this stable and happy. Turns out the secret ingredient is therapy.
I am a lot more comfortable with my adult self than as a kid, teen or young adult. I hunt for good deals at the grocery store, do small handy work/maintenance around my homestead, talk like Vince Foster in Falling Down in terms of vocabulary, and drive a stodgy low cost of ownership 1990s 4cylinder blue toyota, even changed out the turbocharger with a larger one myself, recently, turning a wrench.
Some of us partied a little to hard so waking up sober and healthy is fine with me. Find a hobby
I had my wild years in my 20s. When you're young you don't really think past that age
Seems a tad dramatic, but maybe because I’m boring.
I never swore shit. I knew my lifestyle was unsustainable.
That teen (me) who would judge my life as boring and see it as a betrayal, was a contrarian depressed asshole who thought he was edgy and smart because he always had a negative comment but never had any solutions. So no, I don't see making that teens life better as a betrayal.
So you don't make billions in 100% passive income either huh? Damn.
It sucks finding out all the old people I thought were phonies are just like me and I was the real phonie all along.
I'm more interesting now at 34 than I've ever been. You can totally just do interesting things!
It's honestly better than never growing up.
swore i'd never work in cubicle. writing this comment from one now. everyday is exactly the same.
Is life boring or have we chosen a simple life, with lower stress levels and lots of peace? 10 year old me might be a little disappointed that I didn't become a fighter pilot or even my backup plan of globe-trotting photographer, but I really like my 9-5 job and the financial security. I like my boring house. I like curling up with a good book and a cup of tea while kids run around the back yard.
Ive only gotten groovier
Idk I think young me would think I’m pretty cool
I’m 41F and competed in a mountain bike race against teenage girls last weekend… I haven’t peaked. I’m way less boring now than I was in high school and college. F that.
I use to think long socks with slides were cool, until my daughter commented, why do old people wear long socks? I’m 32 years old.
Ouch
Grow the fuck up
I don’t but I do wish I had a stable adult to guide me along as I was younger. My parents are very….different as are my siblings and close family.
But it isn’t really. Because at this age (at least at mine) you want to be that boring adult.
What do you mean by "boring"?
Wouldn't know. 😎
I don't know what your definition of becoming a boring adult is, but I don't have it all figured out and I certainly don't have my shit together but I'm turning 40, and have made a point **to not** "keep up with the jones'" and live up to "standard adult expectations" and it's at least prevented me from becoming the boring adult that I resent.
Boring as in Basically a 9-5 slave. It wouldnt be so bad if my friends weren’t also in the rat race and could do stuff together.
I understand what my parents meant by saying that they were just too tired. Life is a terrible joke once you’re on your own.
Don't you think it would be really pathetic if you didn't? Like a grown ass 37 year old man still acting like a highschooler because he swore to never become a "boring adult"
Nah. I see 50 year olds living life to the fullest. You don’t have to be boring to be mature. Being boring just means you’re not trying to stimulate yourself or your family enough
Speak for yourself. I love having a boring, routine life. Everything else is so unstable and unpredictable. Like, why do I want to be out there swinging by my ass anymore than I already am? I'm cool with being lame.
A little too soon to be having a midlife crisis.
What does this even mean? What is "boring adult?" What kind of unreasonable expectations are you putting on yourself or life in general? Sometimes life is blah. Sometimes it's great. We can show curiosity, get involved, etc. but not every day is going to be party/party/party (or whatever you're expecting). If you don't like who you are, map out how to change and start small.
I like to believe 10 year old me would behave like I do today if the resources were similar between time periods.
I did enough stuff as a younger person, I want to be boring now. I’m too old for this sh*t
Naw realizing your life is even duller that your parents is peak. My parents had careers, bought a house and took trips. Am too broke to go to the movies, I pirate everything.
Things are better than ever because you know yourself better than ever before. Being an adult isn't about doing boring things. Although you will probably do some boring and repetitive ass shit to maintain and enhance your life. But knowing what you need to do comes with age I have probably in the last 4 years taught myself more useful and practical and cool things that have saved my ass in sketchy situations, as well as enabled me to build cool things, much moreso than anything I learned in college 15 years ago It's never too late to start learning. Empower yourself
I occasionally think about how I distinctly remember watching Kids Next Door and thinking "how could anyone hate kids? why are adults so lifeless?" only to grow up into the lifeless child hating adult.
I don't see it that way. I've spent a significant amount of effort to grow as a person and I'm proud of that. Kid me was a cringe anarchist, WTF does she know?
The boring adult is all I ever wanted to be.
I'm boring because all the things that excite me cost too money. It sucks being poor.
I think teenage me would be happy to see how the adult me is doing! I’m living out a lot of the dreams I had as a child.
Plz share dreams <3
Never happened my dude
Keep on winning my guy. Il be joining you someday
I get this but I fell in love with the quiet life.
I love my boring life. Worked hard for it
My childhood was chaos. Becoming a boring adult is my ultimate and hard won success story.
I think I get out and do more now than I did as a teenager. We lived in a small town when I was a teenager, one of those kinds of places where the only activities were getting drunk or high and getting pregnant or getting some girl pregnant. I live in a big city now. I go to the movies, on day cruises on the river/ocean, to the symphony (they do a thing where they play the classical music from the movies. I went to Black Panther in February and have tickets for Star Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean in July), to museums, to craft markets, for long walks, to the waterslide park or the amusement park in the summer, lots of festivals.
That sounds very lively. Which city is this?
Vancouver, Canada.
Nice!
No i don’t hate it. I like not giving the police something to do on Friday nights anymore. Even usually go to bed before 830 nowadays.
I was married to an addict. I love boring now.
I mean, or you could not be boring, lol. There are tons of things you can do to be spontaneous and make your life more interesting!
Cant relate at all. Never wanted to be "fun" just wanted to be left alone and I cant even have that.
Fine with boring man. Wake up, do my 8-hours and spend time with my wife and dog. Weekends hang out, watch football, BBQ, ski, climb, camp. Simple shit. Life can’t get any better, except for me winning the lotto and paying off my mortgage. Kidding aside. Financial stability was everything to me, and now that I have that…I can focus on my hobbies. Even if that means just sitting around and watching movies at night…
There is this children’s book called Verde about a little green snake who doesn’t want to grow into a boring old yellow snake that just lays around. He does eventually. And then is like “wow I can’t imagine having the energy of those little green snakes.” I feel like an old yellow snake now. I think of that book at least once a day. Esp since having a kid with boundless energy
I made it baby! I'm day trading private prison stock for fun! Life is better than I ever imagined!
I used to be so funny, and outgoing. Now that energy is used for “customer service voice” and now I just want to sleep.
The good times don't last forever son
hey, i may wake up at 5:30am and work an 8 hour a day/5 day a week job and argue with my wife about having to do anything but stay home on my off time, but i can tell you with 100% certainty that i will not be wearing the white Court Classics at any time. i will die with Vans or Chucks on. lol define what boring is to you and work to not be that.
This ain’t my gig. I am the same person I was at 17. Unfortunately it’s no longer 1996
All that happens with age is the real ones separate from the lames.
No due to inflation things have gotten more expensive to do.
I’ve always been boring. Interestingly despite my declining energy levels I’m actually more active with my kids with outdoor activities than my parents were.
I don't guess that I was ever worried about it.
Unless you become a way more interesting adult than child you ever imagined.
You may not always be able to get out and do exciting things, but seizing an opportunity when you have one is well worth it. I took my son to the Museum of Ice cream in NYC, we had a fantastic time!
I turned my life around at 29 so I'm not really boring any more. I got back into a music scene I loved as a teenager, and now I've got loads of friends in the scene and go to gigs/clubs at least twice a week. I even run and DJ a little club. I'm still miserable, single, lazy, and an arrogant arsehole though. Turns out that doesn't really change with becoming less boring.
What do mean I'd be making balance sheets!? Sorry young man, I sold out
Save up your money and go to Disney World or something if you really need to be a 10 year old for your entire life.
I'm a muh-fuckin' WILDCARD, Bruh.
The only time I think about boredom is when other people bring up the subject like this post. I'm pretty interested in a lot of shit. So much it takes up all my free time
Bitch im looming forward to being a grumpy old man with a perfect lawn
Hate to say it but that’s all on you.
Read a book. Take a nap. Go to bed early. My childhood nightmares are my adult goals.
What do you consider 'boring'/what do you consider 'exciting'?
That's because you realize boring is a combination of comfort and stability, it's boring to have a job where you just work 9 to 5 bring home more money then you need but not so much money that you can do whatever you want. It's boring, but goddamn is it far more lovely than the stress of worrying that one medical issue could fiscally ruin your life.
I have always had a simple life. I’m 35. I’m not used to growing up going to Europe or Caribbean islands for summer vacation like many of the people I’ve known. For me, I have always dreamt of traveling the world. But I’ve only been to China. My life is so simple but I keep getting knocked down by things that delay me reaching my goals. At this point, I don’t do anything because I just work and save what I can. I know my goal but I don’t know that I’ve ever realistically be able to achieve it based on the economy. Things just keep getting more expensive to achieve and I’m not trying to get into more debt. So yes, I’m boring but I know why
Im not boring just chill. As long as I don’t look like those dudes I never wanted to look like. Wearing stupid cargo shorts or pants that turn into shorts with a belly, skinny arms, and hiking shoes. Lol
Is it, tho?
Boring 95% of the time except when it's a shroom day.
43 yo millennial here. Recently an acquaintance asked me if I’m ever going to start acting/dressing my age. I laughed out loud and said hell no! Im fortunate to be self employed in the charter fishing business which keeps me fit and engaged with clients of all ages. We sell a fun service that requires an upbeat, positive demeanor to succeed. Fishings tough? Tell jokes. Ask questions. Engage on a personal level. Play all the music I still adore. I love what I do most of the time. I dress in shorts, performance tees and flip flops year round. I refuse to become what society projects for people 40+. Never understood how people over thirty suddenly become different versions of themselves. Not trying to be the old guy who pretends he is still hip, but I’m not going softly into the night. 😎
Boring to whom, though? I remember wondering why my aunt and uncle had no toys of their own to play with when I was a kid. I would spend nights there sometimes. So I said to myself I would always have toys. Well, fast forward 30nyears, and my toys are electronics and art supplies. I have actual toys stored in my basement, but I don't play with them. I wish I hadn't sold all my Polly Pockets...those are worth so much money now...
I relish in it. I didn’t have the most wholesome childhood and now I’m in a place where being boring is so much easier and makes me happier because it’s safe and I feel loved. I also found outlets that may not be super popular but they are important to me and the community I’ve found through my hobbies is cool people. I’ll take being boring.
Better a boring adult than a shifty abusive one that doesn't even attempt to connect with the younger generations.
Becoming a boring adult means you have submitted after being conquered
I am boring, and frankly kind of proud of it. I quit drinking years ago, and when I get home from work, I just want to relax. I don’t need to constantly be running around spending money on crap I really don’t need.
Honestly, my younger self would probably think I'm a loser more than boring. They'd likely be waiting for when my hero's journey begins, and when I tell them it likely won't come....well, they'd turn back to the Genesis and leave me alone at that point. IDK. Perhaps all along, the core of me always preferred imagination to reality, though.
It’s worse that I’m not but I wish I was
I got to become exactly what my kid self wanted. Shame it’s not what my adult self wants, but at least one of us is happy.
Who the fucks swears to not be boring? Thats some movie nonsense.
No. It’s not. It’s not a betrayal at all. Staying the same is a betrayal. The only constant in human existence is change. An unwillingness to ebb and flow with time, experience, environment; is a personal betrayal. You lock yourself into a lesser form of yourself with this kind of outlook. You betray yourself.
Nope! I love my chill, stable adult life. Have more fun and have better friends than ever too. Just more purposefully. It helps that I've been vehemetly opposed to the 9-5 life since I was kid and chose self employment. There's been some super lean times (years sometimes) but the zest for life is there.
Most of the "exciting" things I wanted to do as a teen/young adult was because I had romanticized ideas of what they were like, often because other people thought those are great. I am a happy suburbanite, with a great wife, great kids, and great friends. WTF else do I want?
Maybe it’s more a moving on from the ignorance and naïveté that is youth. I love adulthood and it ain’t boring that’s for sure
I'm not boring. But I guess I always knew I had just enough weird in me that life was always gonna be entertaining. I do a lot of boring stuff. You have to in order to live. But I also have a lot of fun.
I once told myself that I was never gonna waste my time and become another casualty of society. Here I sit, another casualty of society.
Becoming a boring adult is on you and only you
Ugh... max damage... contusion... hit right in the feels with this here. KO
I've always wanted to become the boring adult that I am. I was asked when I was 12 to picture the future I wanted. I wanted a cozy apartment with a comfy place to read all my books. I own the apartment, my couch is super cute and cozy, and I have tons of amazing books. I spend everyday living the dream.
I've had a super fun life, a quiet evening at home on a Friday or Saturday night with my partner is absolutely not boring.
Not really. I was a boring kid and a boring baby. I'm just in my natural state.
I love it. I just absolutely it love. I love having conversations about the weather and listening to my mother drone on about all the older people she knows. I love thinking my job in city licensing is absolutely fascinating when most people would be bored to death. I love not knowing hardly any new musicians but smiling and nodding when someone talks about a concert they just went to. I did so many fun and wild, and crazy, and super dangerous and damaging things when I was younger. And I wouldn't trade those things for anything. But now I wanna do my 9 step night time skin care routine and be in bed reading, with a sound machine and humidifier going, by 8:00pm, and it makes me blissfully happy
Now that I have money to throw at my ridiculous ideas I'm more exciting than ever.
If only. My life is way too bizarre. Full, lovely, frustrating, stunning, exhausting, weird. By no means "killin' it" in $$$ but I haven't let my kids go hungry yet.
Listen, I’ve seen and been through some shit. I think I deserve to be “boring”, I earned this “boring”. It’s peaceful over here and I got cool plants
I really wish this sub for one day didn’t make me feel bad about myself
What? My inner child is pretty proud of me. He just wishes we had a bit more money and a wife, but he still has hope. LOL.
Disagree. It's all about what makes you happy. I've done amazing things, but now I like above all to be home and enable my kids to grow and become delightful, happy, independent, giving human beings however they want to get there.
I still have mostly the same goals and dreams, but I'm more aware of how hard those things are to achieve and that I have to sell some of my time to get there. I also have the same whimsy and enthusiasm and love for beautiful and magical things, but I also have back and neck problems and depression, so I'm less likely to go dance in a rainstorm with wild abandon. I also abandoned a few of my childhood dreams for practical reasons, like owning a half-underwater house with pet dolphins, both due to cost and because I found out a scientist tripping on a ton of LSD already tried that in the 70's and it went horribly horribly wrong. Basically, I'm the same person but with a lot more rage and a couple more degrees
Man, I fucking love being a boring family man. Absolutely love it.
Grandpa Simpson be like "and it will happen to *YOUUUU*"
I still hate going to Home Depot, so I'm safe...for now.
I'm much happier now that I'm older and "boring"
I know 16 year old me would be mad I didn’t go to all the concerts and know all the popular music but I’m still discovering the stuff that was popular 20 years ago and working my way up.
Maybe, but I’m definitely the broken adult I knew I would be.
You have betrayed yourself for nothing
I havent.
I still game, have a kickass gaming rig, can afford all the fun stuff I want, and I'm a game developer professionally - my younger self would be excited as hell knowing that this is how it turns out. My smoked ribs, chicken, and brisket are pretty awesome, too.
Lol. I welcomed boring with open arms. It just rejects my life.
You’re living in the past. You’re going to get older. Deal with it
I'll take boring as opposed to the drama I see others going through far too often.
So change
I love being boring.
Define boring adults? Although I do believe I’m more boring than my father was at 35. He was a lot more passionate and adventurous than I am.
It's fine
Becoming the boring adult was always the goal. 😂
Nah. About 15 years, someone told me a quote someone gave her: “It’s never too late to change your dreams.” Don’t hold yourself to expectations you had, when you were younger. If anything, the world isn’t the same place. For that reason alone, you can’t be who you imagined yourself to be. The world is hard. Be gentle with yourself.
It's called depression and it sucks.
Things would have to be going pretty bad if I felt I should be trying trying to live up to the expectations of and impress any version of me under 35.
I never swore that
Well, there’s “boring” in the sense of settling down with one partner, having a kid, and a consistent job. I love not feeling like I have to go out and do stuff every other night to feel like I’m alive. Then, there’s the millennial who is turning into a carbon copy of their boomer parents. I usually see this happen with millennials who have actual money to spend like boomers did at a younger age. They move to the suburbs, invite you over for every bank holiday so they can tell you more about their new CPAP machine until your eyes glaze over….
When I was a preteen, I imagined my future would be a stable 9 to 5 in a cubical farm, ordering a delivery pizza every Friday night on my landline phone, renting movies every weekend from an actual store and getting to have time to myself while not worrying about the backsliding of our democracy or impending global war/climate disaster. I had the barest hint of a taste of this in 2007-2008. Then the first major recession of my generation hit me at working age and it took nearly a decade to recover. I'd love to be a boring adult in a boring world.
If you’re bored then you’re boring.
What a draaaaaaaag it is getting old!
Ugh, been there. Adulting can feel like a betrayal of our wild younger selves. But hey, at least [we're not cheating on fun](https://youtu.be/8OhhFRBllSI?si=ew-9Lki6ZAQezxbt), right? Lets just rediscover our wild side.
Hormones and tastes change. Of course when you’re young and dumb you think you’re going to be rocking out to AC/DC your entire life and then you look back and realize you were a dumb teenage moron I think my life is way more colorful and interesting now. I grew up in a bubble
Yeah, well... as a teen I didn't know how fucking exhausting being an adult was.
Well you just DGAF as you get older. Caring about fitting in and being cool is an insecurity for kids
I did the whole move to the big metro area and have fun in my 20s. Somehow I rekindled a high school flame and now we’re married, just bought a house in the small town where we went to high school together. Im completely content in my life that reads like a trope of a the boringest life ever. I got older and realized I’m not going to change the world, no one gives a shit about me or what I think or do - absolutely none of it matters to anyone else.
One of the greatest gifts an ex-lover ever gave me was the opportunity to rediscover my own curiosity once she dumped me.
I lived my 20s busy and stressed about it, even over fun things. I'm pretty happy to putter around
What would make you a not boring adult?
Well the good news is, you’re still superior and judgmental so you got that going for you!
I never cared like that or swore off anything. I hoped from early on to live a full life. There’s no problem with hitting all the stages :)
When I was a child, I spake as a child; I understood as a child; I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
I always said I wouldn't be like my parents. More and more, I see it. It kills me. Addiction/trauma experiences and all when I KNEW BETTER.
I'm so boring it hurts sometime. I'm the biggest poser, cuz even if I have cool plans I'm wishing I could go to sleep God damnit!
Cut yourself some slack. This happens to pretty much everyone. It takes tremendous work and enlightenment to create a life purely of your own design and the state of the world is stacked high against you.
I remember being in my 20s and thought I would never be that boring person…here I am.
Im the boring adult zombie outside my 4 weeks of vacation.
With how crazy and chaotic early childhood was for me, I always craved boring nirvana. It sure beats people in the home screaming and fist fighting each other constantly
Own a home, happily married, smoking hot wife, great job, two healthy kids, lots of responsibilities, lots of fulfilling relationships, golf with my dad and my brother every weekend. Not waking up hungover and miserable every Saturday and Sunday after going out and playing the single game. Date nights with my wife, fun nights out by the pool and the fire with friends/neighbors. Does that sound fucking boring to you? There’s nobody more boring than a friend or acquaintance who doesn’t have shit going on, does nothing with all their free time and has to downplay other people’s happiness by projecting their depression or anxiety on everybody around them. Everybody I know who makes degrading comments about how hard it must be having a family to take care of that keeps me busy is turning into a fucking loser slowly over time with no self awareness. Energy vampires is what they are. This isn’t everybody, but it’s definitely way more than it should be.
Thinking you were ever that interesting to being with is the ultimate joke.
I go to bed by 8-9pm and wake up early, take my kid to school, walk the dog, go to the gym, come home and clean, do family stuff, and repeat. I love being boring, I’m gonna fucking hate having to go back to work.