Like everyone else here, I was an indestructible tank for most of my twenties. I could easily shrug off bad sleep habits, bad eating habits, and all kinds of general inattention to my body. Now if I stay out late, I suffer for a week. If I sit in a chair for too long or sleep in the wrong position, I limp around arthritically for days or longer. Taking care of myself is no longer optional; I feel the effects of any neglect and am slower to recover from injury and illness.
But the physical losses have been more than made up for by the emotional and mental gains. I have incomparably deeper self-knowledge, wisdom and ability to connect with other people, from my family to new acquaintances and strangers. I've spent my thirties happily married, while I spent my twenties mostly miserably alone. I have a sense of clarity and purpose in my professional and creative undertakings that only appeared in fits and starts in my twenties. I'm more confident, self-possessed and intellectually ambitious, kinder to myself and others, slower to anger, quicker to forgive. I wouldn't go back to my twenties for anything.
Read other answers by Ethan Hein on Quora:
- What is it like to grow up with professor parents?
- What is it like to take the MTA?
- What is it like to have perfect pitch?
from Quora http://ift.tt/29uOoPI
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