https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/1h2hze3/how_did_you_calm_the_rebel_down/
created by TheHellWithItToday on 29/11/2024 at 09:18 UTC
25 upvotes, 90 top-level comments (showing 25)
How did you come over the way you live yor life and your job? I kind of enjoy the easiness of my office job. I am physically well enough. But the rebel in me... how did you calm that dude down?
Comment by AutoModerator at 29/11/2024 at 09:18 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See this post[1], the rules, and the sidebar for details. Thank you for your submission, TheHellWithItToday.
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Comment by 2x4x93 at 29/11/2024 at 09:46 UTC
47 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Running against the wind gets tiresome
Comment by PandoraClove at 29/11/2024 at 09:59 UTC
25 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Last rebellious thing I did was quit my job, with mixed results. Didn't hurt anyone but myself. On reflection, that's often the case with rebellion...
Comment by Mysterious_Bobcat483 at 29/11/2024 at 11:32 UTC
24 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Back then rebellion was giving the finger to the cops. Today it's going to the grocery without a bra on. You pick your battles as you can.
Comment by Aware_Welcome_8866 at 29/11/2024 at 09:33 UTC
16 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I just got old. I was a rebel into my early 30’s, but then I bought a house, got a puppy, got married, had a kid. There was no time and no $ to continue to be cool. I wish I had pix of that time bc my kid can’t even imagine me ever being that cool.
Comment by PHChesterfield at 29/11/2024 at 10:45 UTC
14 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I am still a rebel in many ways. Just slower. Ageism is all around us and now I am fighting that social ill.
Comment by CollegeFine7309 at 29/11/2024 at 10:30 UTC
13 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The rebel was just my defense mechanism to help survive an unstable and sometimes dangerous childhood.
Once I was safe, that persona could be retired. The rebel only ever looked after themselves and that’s a lonely place. I much prefer being a wanted part of my community, friends and family.
Comment by Prossibly_Insane at 29/11/2024 at 09:58 UTC
12 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Still there, just debatably better judgement.
Comment by CoxswainYarmouth at 29/11/2024 at 10:59 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I Had a child, in good conscience I could no longer be one
Comment by [deleted] at 29/11/2024 at 11:05 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Sixty plus years ago an elementary school teacher wrote that I was defiant, nonconformist and disobedient on one of my report cards. Hey, leopards don’t change their spots.
Comment by [deleted] at 29/11/2024 at 11:15 UTC
7 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Nope, can’t do it. Recently asked to describe myself in 3 words I said, “I am a rebel.”
Comment by [deleted] at 29/11/2024 at 11:11 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Work for 30 years getting up at 5am and working until 6 or 7 everyday listening to executives droning on about value proposition and strategic reorganizations for the 70th time of your career and then you have a mortgage to pay for and kids and car payments and some of your rebellious ideas you still believe in and others go by the wayside and your rebel friend Eric who’s never held down a job successfully but represents the rebel in all of us turned into an alcoholic and is on his 3rd wife and can’t hold down a job because he mouths off to everyone…..and retirement is coming up so we keep working and saving to prepare for the future . Etc etc etc etc etc etc etc
Comment by SubatomicGoblin at 29/11/2024 at 09:48 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The passage of time pretty much took care of things, as it often does.
Comment by Utterlybored at 29/11/2024 at 12:03 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I always had outward appearances of a rebel - counter culture vibe, musician, progressive agitator. But just under the surface, I’m a risk averse institutionalist who honors family and structure. Had my first kid right out of college, so I neither felt like the rebel nor could afford to indulge what little rebel was in me. Now, I’m retired and ready to lead the resistance, right after college basketball season.
Comment by taliawut at 29/11/2024 at 10:14 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I didn't. I'm not quite in my dotage but I can see it from here. Even so, the fire is still alive.
Comment by Major-Winter- at 29/11/2024 at 10:37 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Got old and tired. Picking my battles didn't always go well.
Comment by Ok_Piglet_1844 at 29/11/2024 at 11:51 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I’m 63 and more rebellious than ever!
Comment by [deleted] at 29/11/2024 at 11:55 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[removed]
Comment by PunkCPA at 29/11/2024 at 12:36 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You can't stay angry for 50 years.
Comment by Adventurous-Window30 at 29/11/2024 at 17:51 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
At age 70, I’m still a rebel Dottie. I’ve just outlived everyone who cared.
Comment by Substantial-Spare501 at 29/11/2024 at 10:18 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Jerry Garcia’s death did it for me. Headed into grad school after that.
Comment by pyates1 at 29/11/2024 at 12:10 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You need something in your life that makes you want to be responsible, it could be a goal or aspiration like an apprenticeship or a savings number you want to achieve.
The most common is kids, you have to provide for them so you need to put your head down and just trudge through the working experience and then go home and take care of them. That will subdue any tendencies to be "wild and crazy"
Comment by [deleted] at 29/11/2024 at 13:05 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
For me, it was realizing what part of rebelling I actually liked and then finding out ways to still do it without self-destructing. I realized the thing I really liked was ridiculing ass-clown behavior, so I went into a field (law) that pays me to destruct ass-clown argumentation.
I also liked loud punk music, which I can still listen to, and tattoos, which I keep covered up professionally but no one gives a shit at the gym.
Comment by Christinebitg at 29/11/2024 at 13:17 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I met and then surpassed my financial goals. Living within my means turned out great. It also made me less tolerant of people who "live for the moment."
There are always people who were dealt a bad hand. But I'm not particularly sympathetic to those who got a good deal and p1ssed it away.
Comment by Criticaltundra777 at 29/11/2024 at 15:49 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You don’t calm it down. You get older, wiser. You learn to hide it better. It’s always there. 🤪🤪🤪😱