I’m 21 and I still mostly look how I looked when I was a teenager, I feel the same on the inside too. I’m worried that when I start to age I’m gonna feel a disconnect when I look in the mirror, cause I don’t feel like my brain is catching up with my age very well.
Comments
Please do not delete your post after receiving your answer. Consider leaving it up for posterity so that other Redditors can benefit from the wisdom in this thread.
Once your thread has run its course, instead of deleting it, you can simply type “!lock” (without the quotes) as a comment anywhere in your thread to have our Automod lock the thread. That way you won’t be bothered by anymore replies on it, but people can still read it.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Yes and no….
In my memories I look like a 50 year old man even in high school. That is to say that my brain apparently just stores a single image for me that it inserts into all memories and that image is what I look like now.
Stop worrying so much. Live life.
I’m bald now (by choice, widow’s peak was getting a bit too crazy) but I still feel like I look the same as I did in my 20s. A bit heavier.
have another hit from the bong brah
You see yourself every day in the mirror, so you dont notice yourself aging, but you are. Nothing wrong with that. It is life. Your brain just recognizes you as you.
Look around at older guys you admire and find role models for those stages of life. You will grow to fit those roles yourself, if you’re honest with yourself. That’s a healthy attitude to have but that’s why we compare ourselves with other people
I’m in my 40s and the aging process is so slow you don’t really notice it. Take good care of yourself and you’ll minimize the physical changes. Mentally I’m still like I was as a teenager and in my early 20s. My wife rolls her eyes, but my kids love it.
Last month I had a guy recognize me. We hadn’t seen each other in 20 years and hadn’t even been in the same parts of our unit-we might have eaten lunch together a few times, but that was it. But he only got my name slightly wrong and it only took me a few seconds to dig his name out of the back of my head.
Of course, I look like myself. I kept hoping I would morph into George Clooney but so far it hasn’t happened.
Work out and avoid alcohol and use moisturizer daily
I think I look more like myself- I looked like a nerd until my 30’s.
White hair creeping in, not only in my hair, but in my beard. It still surprises me when I catch myself in the mirror. Slowly getting grey. 41 yrs old
Completely honest I’m in my earlier 30’s but look like my early 20’s.
Not at all, my residual self image is closer to my grown son
How do you feel compared to your 9 year old self, OP?
That’s how I feel about my 23 year old self
Bruh.
I am 31.
I don’t look the same like I was 28-29.
I’ve aged like hell
I feel like I look more like me now than I did when I was younger. It’s probably just the confidence.
Feeling old is an attitude/health thing. I don’t think about how my face looks at all. I know it has aged I don’t care.
One day around thirty I looked in the mirror and thought, “Well, geeze, that baby face sure has changed into something more mature-looking.”
Now at forty, I am noticing the receding hairline. Not going bald, but the receding hairline is becoming more apparent.
But I’m in better physical shape now than when I was twenty.
Mentally not a lot changes you don’t just wake up one day and think only about bird watching lol like your brain doesn’t just shift to being old.
I feel like some things definitely change like becoming more empathic or organized but overall we’re all still walking around with the same goofy thoughts we had when we were young.
The difference as an adult is you learn when to put on a front for certain people but overall it barely even feels like I’ve aged in the last 10 years.
You’re only 21 though. Stop worrying about the future and just enjoy the moments in front of you. Best advice I could give to anyone at your age.
Au contraire — I actually feel more like myself at 30. I’m hoping that’s because I’m doing the introspective work and not because this is my physical prime and it’s all downhill.
But hey, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. It’s a part of life.
I’m late forties. Occasionally I’ll have an extra long stare and think… fuck you’re looking older. And then forget about it.
I’ve seen current pictures of people I knew from high school, which is quite a while ago, and I would not have recognized them. Others I absolutely would recognize. I recognize myself and feel like I look like myself because I see myself every day, but I don’t know if I ran into someone from then if they would recognize me. I mean, I did not have a beard then, much less a white one. I guess it’s mostly if you see the person frequently, then you don’t notice the aging. You just see the person that you know.
I always look like myself. It’s impossible not to.
Since I stopped drinking I feel as if I look 12 years younger again. My face now resembles my face in my early 20’s. More defined, less red and healthier skin. When I compare photos from a year ago in my partying and heavy drinking lifestyle, I looked like a fatter less healthy version of myself.
Yes. Iooked 30 when I was 20. Hasn’t changed just a few more wrinkles
Jesus man, vain much? Just focus on enjoying your time and being a positive force in the lives of others. Stop with the navel gazing.
Takes time. At 30 I didn’t look the same as when I was 20. Some people would say that I looked fantastic at 30-34.
Lots of changes in 40’s lost most of my hair, gained a few pounds, etc.
Strangely, I was on a FaceTime call with a friend about 2 years ago and her 33 year old daughter was on with her – I showed them a picture of me at 34 and her daughter sort of blurted out I think he’s a lot more handsome now.
Who knows. Different people have different opinions.
I never got wrinkles or crows feet until I hit my late 50’s. Still not super pronounced. I do have a decent amount of grey hair but it’s still mostly blended silver on the sides and still primarily dark. As a mostly bald guy I do keep my hair very short.
I think a lot depends on your overall features, skin type and facial fat content.
My observation is that people who are very lean or who have very angular features tend to age more extremely.
I look more like my dad now.
I look the same but with gray hair.
Yea. I look like myself, I’m just older.
To those of us in late 30s/40s you probably look 12. It will creep up on you. I’m still told I look much younger than I am, which is nice.
I’m near 40. When I have a beard I look my age because it has a lot of white. My hair has no white and my face looks youngish still. I actually got carded last year which made me laugh. When I went back with a beard the lady remembered me, laughed and let me right in.
Not so much aging per se but weight gain. I gained a fair bit of weight in my late 20s and 30s. I have also had a beard almost without interruption since I was 20. A couple years ago I shaved off my beard, only to find that under it I didn’t look like myself, I looked like a fat guy. It was freaky. I grew it back ASAP.
Yep. In my early 40’s and definitely aged five years in the past two. I had heard of this but can now say I’ve experienced it. I definitely look a little older but I’m still very much me.
Yeah. In my 30s and I’ve aged like fine wine. You just gotta steer into it. I’m bald with a beard… A lot of my friends try to keep their shotty hairlines or dye their beards and they look bad. Accepting yourself is the hottest thing you can do
It happens so slowly that you barely even notice it.
Me too!
My looks have changed so slowly that the only time I’m surprised or shocked is when I see a picture that is a different angle than my view in the mirror.
Now that’s a good question – and one that I can answer differently today than I could two years ago. I’m nearly 50 and spent around 30 years trying to drink myself happy. I achieved sobriety in 2023 and it’s the greatest single decision/achievement of my life.
One of the most noticeable things is that – since sobriety – I look like myself again. When I was drinking, I looked like a red, bloated, squinty-eyed old man. Now I’m sober, I look like a 49 year old version of me – greyer with more wrinkles… but exactly how I should look.
All the best OP. If my message isn’t clear – don’t drink too much and if you find that you really like alcohol, don’t drink at all.
Yeah, it’s a slow burn so I never really notice it except on bad days when I look like shit lol. When you hit 40 you look way different than your Senior High School photos but it never felt weird to me.
Visibly aged, feel like shit. Feels pretty accurate.
i see myself in the mirror every day so i don’t notice small changes.
only when i occasionally see old pics of myself, that’s when i see the difference.
OP you are in your prime. You are in THE years of life. Be brave and confident. The hair loss and body pains are coming but not yet for you. Existence and consciousness are philosophical reflections that everyone has to face as they age. You will always feel like you no matter how old you are and there is plenty of time for you to think about those things later but there is no use dreading now when you are in the summer time season and prime of your physical health.
I Iook much more like myself. With every year.
You can see my efforts to stay fit. You can see my soul in my wrinkles, which were formed by laughter, not anger. My interactions with others will stand out as peaceful and understanding, the more I learn about their motivations. Which reflects my desire for a life without conflict.
I was a shallow hull when I came to this world, with no relevant features. None of them said anything about me.
My body now is a traveling suitcase with a ton of memories in it, some scars and a lot of unique features. It shows who I was for the past 46 years.
I felt like 30 for a while. I’m back to 25 now.
You’ll still look young for another decade provided you take care of yourself and have decent genetics. Around 30 a lot of people age very fast, especially those that do not exercise and live sedentary lives, or paradoxically those that over train.
Part of it all is to accept aging as a part of life, and make sure you stay active and healthy to look as good as possible for your age.
Oh for sure, just a beat up version that somebody found between the couch cushions after 10 years
Like myself, yes. Different, also yes.
Take lots of pictures! Its fun to look how you’ve changed
lol at my age (37) 21 year olds typically still look and sound like teenagers. Especially if they are police officers.
Your brain never catches up to your age. Why do you think 30 40 50 something men always take the opportunity to act like a kid. We look old but we ain’t actually old
Don’t worry about it lol, it’ll take so much away from your quality of life if you do. Just enjoy life
Your brain doesn’t “age” in the same way your body does. It’s odd to have to give things up, but it’s wise in the long run.
I would LOVE to do the things I did when I was 30. Ain’t happening, though.
Nah, I don’t think that I look like myself anymore.
I look older than my age, and even then it’s all going downhill fast.
It’s mostly just a little disappointing to me, though. I’m trying to embrace my new look.
I’m 43 and I look 43 despite being in pretty good shape. I dont feel anywhere close to 43 and some people tell me this is just how life it until you die.
How you take care of yourself greatly affects the aging process. Not just diet and exercise, but mental and emotional well-being too. Stress will age one as badly as severe drug and alcohol abuse even if you’re active and eating right.
At 43 I don’t think I look much different from my 20s except for the inescapable symptoms of aging- some greys, some wrinkles, and some hair in the ears (disgusting). I still look like that other guy, but I actually prefer this version. Young me was kinda gawky and had no sense of how to present himself to maximize his appearance and boost his self-confidence. Aside from the lack of chronic pain due to a few injuries, there’s nothing about my 20yo body I’d prefer to the one I have now.
36m here. My eyes were the first thing I noticed. The bags make me look 50. Otherwise I still feel and look like I’m in my mis 20s for the most part.
I probably would consider cosmetic surgery but I’m afraid of looking strange so I just deal with very tired eyes.
That’s not meant to talk down on anyone who has had surgery, it’s just a fear I have and risk isn’t worth the reward for me.
69 and other than my eyes; I look nothing like I did at 17. Granddaughters saw my bootcamp graduation picture and asked “Who is that?” I was 17 and in uniform.
My granddad’s appearance on the other hand never changed. He looked exactly like he did when he was in the Navy (our pictures were side by side).
I honestly don’t think about this. I still am me.
Bro stop looking at the mirror and focus on making money