Is it normal or common for late bloomers to feel this way?
WantToHaveALife
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you could also say, i envy people who lost their virginity in high school, and had a decent, fine enough sex life in their late teens and early 20s, 20s, etc.
Something else related to this, one of my aunts, who is my Mom's youngest sister, she didn't get married for the first time in her life until her 50's, her husband is the same age, they were both almost 50 when they met. While my aunt had dated before and been in short-term relationships, don't know how long, but nothing serious until she met her husband.
Her husband has made this comment towards her, saying "I wish we met 20 years ago, or just met 20 years earlier".
That comment hit me hard mentally, emotionally, i didn't cry though but it was very touching.
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Yes & no.
It's probably fairly common - it does get griped about on these forums a fair bit.
Way back when I was a teenager it bothered me more, but then once I was sexually active it didn't bother me much.
Does it bother me that I'm 38 and never been in a relationship and the prospects of that ever happening are relatively slim being gay & autistic? Sometimes. But not to the degree that it used to, that's for sure. I certainly don't dwell on it. In part because I can at least be as sexually active as I want to be, I'm sure. But still, friends/family in long term relationships, married, many with kids etc.. and my path is very, very, different. *shrug* Oh well, is what it is - there are things they may envy about my lifestyle, too.. like my sex life w/o relationship difficulties, being able to do whatever I want with my time like go ride motorcycles or drive up to Squamish and go kiteboarding, or head to the beach every day after work etc. The grass is always greener, as they say.. so, I'll do my best to enjoy my own lawn whatever it looks like and not worry too much about anyone else'.
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While yes, they are absolutely correct, but at the same time, i strongly believe its part of human nature to wish we got to experience certain things or events, milestones in our life, before we actually did.
People that were late bloomers in dating/relationships, does it ever depress you that you didn't date or have relationships earlier in life?
For example, i sometimes feel bitter and have feelings of resentment whenever i see teen couples and early 20's couples, couples in their 20s, etc. I feel it will always hurt that i didn't have a high school romance or girlfriend in my early 20s, etc. It depresses me a lot, like i say to myself, why couldn't i have a normal or typical dating life/sex life growing up like most people do it seems?
Honestly .. Yes .
But it is What it is . The Past is Gone . The Future Can Still Unfold
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Yes, it definitely bothered me, being single and a virgin throughout my twenties.
My autism has 100% affected my ability to make friends and find a relationship, and a part of that reason is because i'm not a very caring and emotional person in general. It's hard for me to develop an "emotional connection" with someone or actually care about them. I don't really care about people in general; I don't feel other people's hurt or pain nor do I feel sadness when people go through hard times, in fact I don't really feel much emotions in general.
And it's kind of hard to make friends or a relationship when you have a hard time connecting with people.
While yes, they are absolutely correct, but at the same time, i strongly believe its part of human nature to wish we got to experience certain things or events, milestones in our life, before we actually did.
People that were late bloomers in dating/relationships, does it ever depress you that you didn't date or have relationships earlier in life?
For example, i sometimes feel bitter and have feelings of resentment whenever i see teen couples and early 20's couples, couples in their 20s, etc. I feel it will always hurt that i didn't have a high school romance or girlfriend in my early 20s, etc. It depresses me a lot, like i say to myself, why couldn't i have a normal or typical dating life/sex life growing up like most people do it seems?
I am sad that i did not have a girlfriend at my high school and did not go to prom and i also wish i would of married when i was in my early 20's instead of being single currently so i understand your feelings,OP.
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My autism has 100% affected my ability to make friends and find a relationship, and a part of that reason is because i'm not a very caring and emotional person in general. It's hard for me to develop an "emotional connection" with someone or actually care about them. I don't really care about people in general; I don't feel other people's hurt or pain nor do I feel sadness when people go through hard times, in fact I don't really feel much emotions in general.
And it's kind of hard to make friends or a relationship when you have a hard time connecting with people.
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i'm bumping this thread, just to let everyone know, i've been dating someone since February this year, i'm still dating her, and these thoughts still go through my mind at times, i get depressed and bitter, resentful, jealous, whenever i see couples out there younger than me.
Especially teenage couples and early 20s couples, high school and college age couples, because its a reminder that i was single during those years, i don't know what its like to be in love when your young, it reminds me of a youth i didn't have.
In other words, i'm sad and depressed that i didn't have a serious girlfriend until my early 30s, she's the first woman i ever introduced to my parents, and sometimes i feel like breaking up with her, because i feel its not worth it to experience these things later in life.
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Especially teenage couples and early 20s couples, high school and college age couples, because its a reminder that i was single during those years, i don't know what its like to be in love when your young, it reminds me of a youth i didn't have.
In other words, i'm sad and depressed that i didn't have a serious girlfriend until my early 30s, she's the first woman i ever introduced to my parents, and sometimes i feel like breaking up with her, because i feel its not worth it to experience these things later in life.
Well, that seems like a terrible idea.
Unless you are unhappy with the relationship or something, then it certainly is worth it even if you didn't have success earlier.
I guess I can understand still feeling down about missing out on things in teens and 20's, but it's best not to dwell and let it wreck the things you have going for you now.
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Especially teenage couples and early 20s couples, high school and college age couples, because its a reminder that i was single during those years, i don't know what its like to be in love when your young, it reminds me of a youth i didn't have.
In other words, i'm sad and depressed that i didn't have a serious girlfriend until my early 30s, she's the first woman i ever introduced to my parents, and sometimes i feel like breaking up with her, because i feel its not worth it to experience these things later in life.
Well, that seems like a terrible idea.
Unless you are unhappy with the relationship or something, then it certainly is worth it even if you didn't have success earlier.
I guess I can understand still feeling down about missing out on things in teens and 20's, but it's best not to dwell and let it wreck the things you have going for you now.
easier said than done, sometimes i feel like life is not worth living if you didn't grow up having a normal youth or just didn't experience certain things in life around the time most people do
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Especially teenage couples and early 20s couples, high school and college age couples, because its a reminder that i was single during those years, i don't know what its like to be in love when your young, it reminds me of a youth i didn't have.
In other words, i'm sad and depressed that i didn't have a serious girlfriend until my early 30s, she's the first woman i ever introduced to my parents, and sometimes i feel like breaking up with her, because i feel its not worth it to experience these things later in life.
Well, that seems like a terrible idea.
Unless you are unhappy with the relationship or something, then it certainly is worth it even if you didn't have success earlier.
I guess I can understand still feeling down about missing out on things in teens and 20's, but it's best not to dwell and let it wreck the things you have going for you now.
easier said than done, sometimes i feel like life is not worth living if you didn't grow up having a normal youth or just didn't experience certain things in life around the time most people do
Why should missing out or being a late bloomer on things mean life isn't worth living? You can start making new experiences you do enjoy...to sorta make up for it. At least it's the way I see it.
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Especially teenage couples and early 20s couples, high school and college age couples, because its a reminder that i was single during those years, i don't know what its like to be in love when your young, it reminds me of a youth i didn't have.
In other words, i'm sad and depressed that i didn't have a serious girlfriend until my early 30s, she's the first woman i ever introduced to my parents, and sometimes i feel like breaking up with her, because i feel its not worth it to experience these things later in life.
Well, that seems like a terrible idea.
Unless you are unhappy with the relationship or something, then it certainly is worth it even if you didn't have success earlier.
I guess I can understand still feeling down about missing out on things in teens and 20's, but it's best not to dwell and let it wreck the things you have going for you now.
easier said than done, sometimes i feel like life is not worth living if you didn't grow up having a normal youth or just didn't experience certain things in life around the time most people do
Why should missing out or being a late bloomer on things mean life isn't worth living? You can start making new experiences you do enjoy...to sorta make up for it. At least it's the way I see it.
because it just doesn't feel right or doesn't feel natural, doesn't feel whats supposed or meant to happen
Having a relationship as a teenager just simply wasn't possible for me. To do so would've been social suicide and I already wasn't exactly popular. I had a fake relationship. Looking back, it was kind of funny because we'd pretend to be exes who hated each other but then after we were done insulting each other in public, we'd switch to direct messages and just spam each other with memes. The relationship increased our popularity a bit because people really wanted us to get together (not knowing we were both gay and closeted, we were best friends at the time) so we went along with it. People loved a bit of drama, so throwing in a break up scene every so often kept people invested. It was kind of nice having people come to me for relationship advice and giving me a bit of a break from the bullying.
I came out in my late teens, I suppose I could've had a relationship at this stage, but I don't think I was mentally ready. Personally it took me a while to find my footing and feel comfortable expressing my sense of self. I was quite used to playing a part, so it took a bit of time to figure out who I was outside of that.
So far I've lost my twenties to this pandemic, but I'm still in my early twenties...I'm hoping we'll come out of this thing soon.
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Especially teenage couples and early 20s couples, high school and college age couples, because its a reminder that i was single during those years, i don't know what its like to be in love when your young, it reminds me of a youth i didn't have.
In other words, i'm sad and depressed that i didn't have a serious girlfriend until my early 30s, she's the first woman i ever introduced to my parents, and sometimes i feel like breaking up with her, because i feel its not worth it to experience these things later in life.
Well, that seems like a terrible idea.
Unless you are unhappy with the relationship or something, then it certainly is worth it even if you didn't have success earlier.
I guess I can understand still feeling down about missing out on things in teens and 20's, but it's best not to dwell and let it wreck the things you have going for you now.
easier said than done, sometimes i feel like life is not worth living if you didn't grow up having a normal youth or just didn't experience certain things in life around the time most people do
Why should missing out or being a late bloomer on things mean life isn't worth living? You can start making new experiences you do enjoy...to sorta make up for it. At least it's the way I see it.
because it just doesn't feel right or doesn't feel natural, doesn't feel whats supposed or meant to happen
Well, what are you supposed to do just be miserable and bitter for your remaining years? where's the fun in that. I understand it can be hard not to reminisce on what could have been in your youth(I do it to) but not like you can go back and change it so better to remain in the present than get lost in the past.
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Especially teenage couples and early 20s couples, high school and college age couples, because its a reminder that i was single during those years, i don't know what its like to be in love when your young, it reminds me of a youth i didn't have.
In other words, i'm sad and depressed that i didn't have a serious girlfriend until my early 30s, she's the first woman i ever introduced to my parents, and sometimes i feel like breaking up with her, because i feel its not worth it to experience these things later in life.
Well, that seems like a terrible idea.
Unless you are unhappy with the relationship or something, then it certainly is worth it even if you didn't have success earlier.
I guess I can understand still feeling down about missing out on things in teens and 20's, but it's best not to dwell and let it wreck the things you have going for you now.
easier said than done, sometimes i feel like life is not worth living if you didn't grow up having a normal youth or just didn't experience certain things in life around the time most people do
Why should missing out or being a late bloomer on things mean life isn't worth living? You can start making new experiences you do enjoy...to sorta make up for it. At least it's the way I see it.
because it just doesn't feel right or doesn't feel natural, doesn't feel whats supposed or meant to happen
Well, what are you supposed to do just be miserable and bitter for your remaining years? where's the fun in that. I understand it can be hard not to reminisce on what could have been in your youth(I do it to) but not like you can go back and change it so better to remain in the present than get lost in the past.
yes i know thats obvious, that also makes me mad because i like to feel that its only guys, men, that are the only gender that need to take or accept responsibility for their lives in order to get into a relationship or just have results in their dating life, feels like only the male gender is dealt with that card, burden.
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