Do the young of today feel optimism for their future?

Hades

Hades

Hades

Man of Honour
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
29,875
Location
Surrey
I'll lay my age on the table to start with. I'm 41 with two young kids. My wife and I met today with another couple who we haven't seen for around 20 years. I'm now back at home and trawling youtube for all the great songs of the 80's and 90's to relive my youth. It got me thinking about how I felt when I was in my teens and early 20's... I was optimistic and looking forward to the future.

I had such optimism back then. Tonight I listened to the music that I once loved and remember how I felt the world was there for me to take. But I've certainly become more realistic and, in honesty, quite jaded and cynical. I've done quite well in life; good job, nice house, wife, kids, etc. But that enthusiasm of youth has certainly ebbed away. And in the current climate I find it hard to imagine young people today having the feeling I once had that it was their time in life and that the future was bright and for the taking.

So... do you youth of today feel optimism or trepidation for the next 10 to 20 years?
 
I'm very young, and rather optimistic. I know i'll have a good future, because i'm going to make myself one.
I'm not gonna settle for anything less because that's just the way I am, unlike many people who aren't really bothered.

Realistic you say, yes maybe i'm thinking too wildly, I have many dreams that I hope to one day to accomplish, some I have already done.

Like skydiving for instance, always wanted to do it, and I have and I continue to do it. I believe you have control over your own destiny. Being optimistic may take you away from the realistic truth of what 'may' happen, but i'd rather go through life thinking "It's going to happen" rather than "It will never happen".
 
Im 23, realistically I have a huge amount of options open to me but other things are dictating my decisions of course (financial side, gf in terms of location, scared i'll head down the wrong career path.)

Probably just hangover depression....
 
Age 20, studying Civil Engineering. Job market is not what it was a few years ago or so I am led to believe. Still think my prospects are fairly good and the economy should be back on course in the next few years, currently planning a years work in Australia which should be good!
 
23 and generally considering a move abroad within the next few years - science is better outside the UK.

I'm generally hopeful about where I can go myself, but I'm pessimistic about society in general - a short bus ride in London will tell you that the majority of people have no aspirations, cannot survive or dress themselves without emulating a z-list celebrity and that apparently the breakfast of choice for primary school kids (as promoted by their mothers) is crisps and a mars bar.
 
Last edited:
It's a bit confusing for me. I feel optimistic and I know I 100% do not want the typical lifestyle of going to work, coming home, going to sleep and repeat. I want so much more than that, and I know that I won't really be happy with myself until I've become rich and successful; it's the way I've been brought up. On the other hand, nostalgia hits me hard a lot of the time. I really miss the past and would do anything to start again from different points in my life, despite looking forward to the future at the same time. This makes me feel miserable a lot and quite negative about things to come.

Told you it was confusing, so I guess I'll just say I'm optimistic to an extent. :p
 
19 and I honestly don't know. I'm sure I could do great in life if only I could stop procrastinating, but I can't :-(. I have always been smart and that fact is pretty much the cause of my procrastinating ways. I got something along the lines of 12 GCSEs, 6 being A*s, 5 As and one B without spending any more than five minutes revising. Unfortunately, the knowledge I picked up in my life in general did not allow me to do so well in my AS levels, which meant I was playing catch up all through my A2s and didn't do as well as I should have - I was so used to not having to work.

It is important to say that in my opinion how well I will do in life really hinges on myself and whether I can kick this nasty habit of mine or not. Honestly, it doesn't matter if the UK economy implodes (it won't, it is healthier than the doom and gloom outlook propagated by the media) because I am free to find work anywhere in the world. I really do beleive that many people end up in a negative mindset and begin to beleive that they cannot do anything and blame that on exterior entities, rather than looking at how they can improve themselves.
 
No. Not at all. I was chatting to a friend the other day and we agreed that there really isn't anything to look forward to. There's nothing more I want to do in life than maybe see more of the world, i.e. travelling, and with my career, I don't envisage ever having enough time off in order to satisfy that, so basically nothing to look forward to. No optimism, no real aspirations beyond what I've already achieved, not really that fussed if I have children or not. I'm 24. I am a miserable git aren't I :o
 
17 (18 in march).

Not optimistic in most cases, always find myself just giving up when i start something. Even when i get motivated and pumped to do something i tend to drop it the next day. Guess im set for the future (job wise) since there is a family business but still feel i could have done better.
 
I was optimistic about life until I graduated, then realised that life was **** (no decent job, no friends at home and a GF that dumped me...). I'm now back at uni again and life is fun again, hopefully when I graduate again I'll be able to have the above like I wanted... :p

So semi optimistic, but also maybe with a bit of realism thrown in...
 
I'm 27, I currently live with my in-laws whilst the wife and I save as much as we can and pay off some of the 20k debts that we have accumulated to get married and pay for her car etc... We have no prospects for a future of owning a property, we cannot see ahead far enough to a stage where we will be financially able to support a family, and I personally can't see myself ever getting out from the dead end career I seem stuck in. When I was in my teens I could see a pretty decent future. Now all I see is missed opportunities and an inability to move forward in life.

This country really is a depressing place to live at the moment.
 
Not particularly. I don't doubt I shall be in a well paid job as I am doing a maths degree and looking to further it to a masters. However I fear the world of commuting and the fact that the jobs I am in do not really promote strong friendships outside of the work place like others might.

So really I kind of see graduating as the start of a long boring life haha.
 
im not worried at all about the future. things will soon turn out to be right. the banks and the big corporations of this world cannot keep continuing to brainwash the younger generation. they just cannot aford it. things will have to go back to the way they were one way or another

ill give you an example. the younger generation of today have this idea that if they dont move out of their home by a young age they will " still be living with their parents "

the government just cannot afford building new houses every year. they just cant afford it and the amount of land left will be limited for construction of new buildings.

sooner or l8er we will go back to where a family will live in 1 house for years to come Kids will soon have to learn to live in a house with their parents for a majority of their life


the elite of this world have tried to push the balance of power in their favour but i know it will just not work.

age:18
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom