[Loud Silence]

I read a post from someone on another forum who asked this same question.. they said they were almost 25 and still felt like they were stuck in the way they used to think when they were 16. I have no actual age I feel like I am stuck in, but I sure do not think in my mind that I am an adult. I constantly think everyone has authority over me, and that I need their approval.
People think I am smart, and I am usually really good at convincing people I am smart... but I can't convince myself that I am smart. I don't feel like I ever actually know anything, I am just walking around mimicking what I have seen someone else do.

If I were to explain why I mimic things.. no one would understand when I say "because I still feel like a child in my mind" because honestly I am clueless my self.

Does anyone else have this problem? And if you do, what kind of interactions with people or situations bring it out?

[Lunammi]

I think a lot of people have this problem, including me.

[zibber]

My parents were loving but super lax, so I got to develop myself. You never stop learning, but I'm content with where I'm at.

You need to snap out of that. That is no way to live. Assert yourself.

[MrFlaneur]

Yeah, but a very cynical one. The problem is that society has been so infantalised, we have no other duty but to work and pay bills, no other real options or decisions are available to us other than what flavour toothpaste to buy. Modern life sucks. Most people don't know their arse from their elbow.

[Midhiel]

I know what you mean. Granted, I am 18, but in a lot of ways I still feel like I'm younger than my peers (mostly when it comes to social interaction, going out and doing things on one's own, taking responsibilities, etc.). In other ways I feel much more mature, though, so I guess it balances out alright.

[Huxley]

To a point yes, but in a good way.

Im still just as curious as i was then, and on occasions a bit mischievous.

I don't see the bad side at all, what's the harm in having a bit of fun?

Im not going to turn miserable, just because im getting older like many do.

[Loud Silence]

Yes I agree, but I am more speaking on the insecurities of being a child not necessarily the expression "I am a kid at heart" like allot of people say when they are referring to having fun.
It's for example, more of a feeling of inadequacy when given a responsibility (not that you don't want it, you just don't ever feel like you are fit enough to handle it)

[Warrior]

No, but I can't recall any specific time where I went from "feeling like a child" to "feeling like an adult". I suppose it occurred over the course of my college career.

[Huxley]

	Originally Posted by Loud Silence To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	It's for example, more of a feeling of inadequacy when given a responsibility (not that you don't want it, you just don't ever feel like you are fit enough to handle it)

Can't say i do, though my job hard as it is i know my capabilities though the boss as always asks for more, despite my having limitations.

If i don't feel capable, then i make my point known thus avoiding such a problem.

My problem is seeking acceptance, when i know damn well i shouldn't be but that's another thread.

[Reizu]

I feel very young and extremely old at the same time. I feel smarter than others, but yet very naive and stupid, and pretty much everything I do is polarized towards both "little girl" and "old lady"

[Fevered Dreams]

Hell no, I've changed so much.

There's one thing where I still feel like a child, though. It's where I think of my mother, or another older person, and I forget they are people just like me. For example, I might think, "Okay, she's 60 years old, she should know better than that!".

But what I should be thinking is "She is 60 years old, but this is the first time in her life being 60 years old. She wasn't born a 60 year old. She had challenges in her life just like me. And like me, she's still learning about life. The fact that she's lived longer than I have doesn't mean she knows everything."

The whole time I was living with her as her daughter, I would think "she's the adult, she's the mother, she should know how to be a good mother!". But the truth is, she is a person who is imperfect, trying to do the best she can given her life experiences.

Does that make sense?

I think this relates to what you said on your first post. You think that if you were an adult, you would be like one. But remember that every adult out there is going through the same thing, even your grandparents weren't born knowing "how to be their age". They're just learning along the way.

[FruitLoop]

I'm 46 and Type 7 (Enthusiast) so I'm pretty laid back on what I should REALLY be doing, and quite interested in any new buzz. I'm also not particularly concerned for my own safety (I always seem to get away with it), and pretty competent with anything at all (paragliding, jetboating, scuba etc), so people look at me in disbelief - which of course makes me just do more risky stuff. So yeah I feel like a big kid and I like it. And I have an ice cream truck lol!

[KeithP]

Most of my child is gone. I miss parts of him.

[BobtheINTJ]

"When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things." I Cor. xiii. 11.

It is pretty rare when my child comes out but I love doing childish things every day!
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[PRBori]

No,I do not. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I was forced to grow up quickly as a child and therfore I'm probably a much more old school type of person. I didn't really had a childhood and I guess I've not missed it either. I honestly believe that my "inner child" was killed instantly at age 5 as I was always much more mature than your regular 5yr old back in school.

Would I want to act like it now? nah, I got too many responsibilities to be acting like a child and I cannot reach my goals if I did.

This is one of the main reasons why my SO and I keep beating each other up, he is in his 40s but still act like a child sometimes which drives me bananas.

[rud28]

When I was 16 (two years ago) I went through a very hard existential phase, almost like a mid-life crisis without the actual physical changes that occur at that age. After that I've always felt that many of my peers are a bit immature because they never like to talk about deep subjects at all, just things that seem kind of vain to me (this is all subjective on my part of course). I'm short though and scrawny so while I've always felt physically younger than everyone else, I haven't felt like a child in a long time.

[Loud Silence]

Allot of people have mentioned their parents as a factor of why they do/do not feel like somewhat of a child, or how well they handle responsibility/social things. And most that are saying they have no trouble at all, seem to say or give the impression that there parents were very free and allowing. I basically had the exact opposite, my parents were christian no less...and sheltered my siblings and I from basically any experience that could be "worldly or ungodly" which could have been anything they didn't want to be bothered with at that time. I didn't want to immediately conclude that it was from my parents. But the root of it very well could have started there...

[silicon212]

	Originally Posted by Huxley To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	To a point yes, but in a good way. Im still just as curious as i was then, and on occasions a bit mischievous. I don't see the bad side at all, what's the harm in having a bit of fun? Im not going to turn miserable, just because im getting older like many do.

This. I think I was in my mid 30s (I'm 43 now) before I was 'comfortable' being an adult. I still like to mess around though. I don't think I could ever lose my curiosity - I still have a childlike enthusiasm for learning new things.

[storm eyes]

After the age of 5, I never felt like a child, so that would be a "no".

[motu821]

I lack common life experiences of someone my age, don't have any finely developed skills, nor financial independence. I have never had a real job or my own little self governed world. These things make me feel childish. In other ways (mostly the ways of my mind) I feel Old

[True Rune]

Only because I can't drive.

[Tviksas]

Answering only to the topic title:

Yes. I am feeling like a child sometimes. But mostly because I just love doing fun "childish" things as buying lots of candies, going to the zoo alone and staring at animals there, running around like crazy, trowing snowballs at random people in winter and just acting playfully.
Currently I don't see a problem in that. Though some people look at me strangely sometimes. :D

Worth a note is that I don't THINK as a child. Only sometimes do childish-fun things. c:


Edit: Oh, the curiosity, the curiosity too!

[Autumnleaf]

I have curiosity where others don't so I don't take the same things for granted that they do much of the time. It makes me come across as naive or clever depending on the situation. The curiosity is child like but the cynicism is jaded adult to the core.

[theiceman]

No but I wish I was again. I feel like everybody around me acts like a child though.

[Autumnleaf]

	Originally Posted by theiceman To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	No but I wish I was again. I feel like everybody around me acts like a child though.

Many act like retarded children who don't learn.