Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Is 22 too late to start life all over again? , Lukas Schwekendiek

Of course, it is. After all, your life is basically over at 22.

If you did not find what you wanted to do until 22 then you better pack your bags and start living on the street, as there is no way to catch up on all those successful kids that are already self-made millionaires.

If you haven’t found love by this point, it is unlikely you will, and who you are is pretty set in stone, so if you do not like yourself: Tough luck.

I mean, no one really changes past 22 anymore. There are no life-changing stories that happen afterwards, no one tries a new career, and people just do not change.

It’d be better to just live your life out for the next 60ish years in the way you are.
Hope you enjoy it.

Now, Sarcasm aside, there is nothing saying you cannot change your life other than yourself.

People do change all the time, find love at all walks of life, and become successful or change their careers at the drop of a pin.

It is not a time-based thing as much as it is a will-based thing.

If you asked any younger people they would say that your life is over, but if you ask those that have lived for 10, 20, or 50 years more… they will laugh in your face.

To them it feels like you are saying you started watching two episodes of a season, and are stuck watching it now as it is “too late to start over” with a different show.

But I get it, there are a few problems with just starting over:

1. You have invested a lot into this life - Your entire life has brought you to where you are now. You spent a lot of time working, struggling, and grinding for this and want to keep it.

2. Starting over would mean giving up everything you have ever known - That is hard for most people. You would lose the bad things but would need to sacrifice some of the good as well.

3. It takes courage to admit you made mistakes - Starting over would also entail admitting that you screwed up. That takes a lot of courage and is something most people are too proud to admit. They feel it makes them less of a person doing that, when in fact the only thing that will matter is your life in the end, not the one you have now.

4. You have no idea what you want instead - Most people that want to start over do not know what they want, but they do not want what they currently have. They want to change, they want to be different, they want to not be them, but do not know where to turn instead.

5. It will be you who has to do the work - Tough news is that you have to figure it out, and you have to do the work you didn’t do the first time around. Starting over is not free and it is not easy. We say we want it but most people aren’t willing to take the steps to do it.

Besides all of that, let’s take a look at the alternative: What if you did not start over?

If you didn’t start over, all those things I mentioned at first would become your reality.

You would stay who you were, would stay in the job you have, with the passions you have and the love, whether it is there or not, that you currently have as well.

If you weren’t happy with that: Tough luck. Enjoy the next 60ish years.

If that sounds pretty awful to you then it might mean you have to face some of those problems and start at least certain parts of your life over anyway.

That likely means a lot of work.

But wouldn’t that lead to a better future? Is that not what matters?

The thing is, you cannot start the dream life of yours any earlier than now.

Right now is the best time to begin again because you cannot start over yesterday… it doesn’t work that way.

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life” - Charles Dederich

The question is: Are you going to live the same life? Or are you going to start leading a different life?

When you decide on this does not matter one bit.

The quote will be as true when you are 22 as it will be when you are 89.

You will still live the rest of your life with either the life you have or the one you create.

And while that may not be much time, you will never know, so you might as well work towards the life you want now.

In this sense, it is never too late, but, in fact, always the perfect time to start your life over.