Post B6M94wtBQvquMiFQXI by edgeofeurope@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by edgeofeurope@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #B6Lu65B0bj8n2tfTpA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-05-16T11:03:06Z
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If you know a teen who is a senior in high school, and if they are a "high achieving" sort of kid please remember this can be a tough time of year and tough time of their life. It can seem like the whole world hangs on the decisions they cannot control. It can seem like doors are closing forever. Everything.Never.Always.Forever.These words can dominate their thinking. I don't know how to tell them isn't true. We love that you want to win so badly, we love you when you lose.
(DIR) Post #B6LuQ0gwzXVSvb6vZY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-05-16T11:06:42Z
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It always feels like it's minimizing those feelings which are very real. They are important feelings. I'm having a long hard think about how this pressure is created. How it's sustained. Because everyone says the right things all of the time, but some young people don't think we are being sincere.
(DIR) Post #B6LuU7XtS0mJLLpnMG by stevewfolds@mastodon.world
2026-05-16T11:07:23Z
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@futurebird Spring of senior year was not stressful after college acceptance letters arrived. Fall semester with SAT tests and applications was.
(DIR) Post #B6Lucx1vuspDKv60ci by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-05-16T11:09:02Z
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@stevewfolds Different kinds of pressure. In the fall there are tests to study for, and things they can do that give them the impression that they might be able to control their future. The spring can be worse in some ways. Because it's over. Or it's just getting started.
(DIR) Post #B6LuuAiMI9kohU9SO8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-05-16T11:12:04Z
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@bright_helpings It doesn't help that it can be hard for anyone to understand that there are some things they can't control. I still struggle with this, if we are honest. And it's not a bad thing to try your best to bend the world to your will. However, the blowback from all that pressure of pushing and trying? You can't take a direct hit when it fails. And it *will* fail for all of us at some point. It's worth thinking about how to process that.How to be fair to yourself.
(DIR) Post #B6Lv6XhqdQ5FU0oNZw by stevewfolds@mastodon.world
2026-05-16T11:14:21Z
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@futurebird I recall that graduation was called “commencement”.
(DIR) Post #B6LvJhupzHKKubAH7A by Taco_lad@aus.social
2026-05-16T11:16:42Z
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@futurebird examples help sometimes - my grandma went to uni at 61.Colonel sanders invented KFC very late in life.Waffle house was made by veterans.Demon Hunter voice actors and singers were approaching the job from what they had considered their career twilights.Samuel L Jackson got a criminal record and addicted to cocaine before becoming a megastar.In the book of life, the table of contents is *always* written last, never first.
(DIR) Post #B6LyuYcToRSiepqDHU by anubis2814@friendica.myportal.social
2026-05-16T11:51:48Z
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@futurebird "These are the best years of your life" Biggest lie ever.
(DIR) Post #B6LyuaGZgr81lTbkPo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-05-16T11:56:53Z
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@anubis2814 Massive lie. I thought being in my 30s was going to be the best but 40s are even better. I no longer care what irrelevant people think. I have not felt the fear and despaire that was all over my 20s... which were the WORST. I assume in my 50 my body may start getting on my nerves a bit but I love getting older. Never liked how I look more more than I do now. Never liked how I spend my days more. The only good thing about being 20 was running fast. That was nice.
(DIR) Post #B6LzuZEJdxlUVL6hw8 by rhempel@cosocial.ca
2026-05-16T12:08:10Z
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@futurebird @anubis2814 Wait until you get to your 60s and you approach retirement with nothing more to lose :-) The freedom to say what you are really thinking is liberating
(DIR) Post #B6M0nPOTuo7JvS0pou by peachfront@toot.community
2026-05-16T12:18:07Z
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@futurebird @anubis2814 truly the 40s ae the best of life, finally the money, experience, & DGAFness to know what you want & to go after it + the health / energy to follow throughi think the U-shaped studies of happiness (claims that folks are happiest in childhood-and old age with a huge dip in middle age) are missing somethingi mean, childhood was just hell, no doubt it's different for some but you have no freedom & it's random whether you get parents who are even decent people
(DIR) Post #B6M1GDWN8XdfV7RM4u by epicdemiologist@wandering.shop
2026-05-16T12:23:16Z
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@futurebird @anubis2814 45-55 was my best decade (so far).
(DIR) Post #B6M1e92vQTqoZX4nD6 by jmax@mastodon.social
2026-05-16T12:27:38Z
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@futurebird To be fair, it is very hard to sort out who to trust, and why, at that age. It's one of the bigger challenges of shifting to adulthood.
(DIR) Post #B6M1xLVRKBjkiZZMrw by jannem@fosstodon.org
2026-05-16T12:31:07Z
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@futurebird @anubis2814 I'm 56. My body is indeed starting to fall to pieces. And yet, I have never been happier or more fulfilled than these past few years. And that seems to be the general trend: you become happier as you grow older, and it seems to continue into your 80s at least.
(DIR) Post #B6M3kHWJ27DWV0sB7o by Max@corteximplant.com
2026-05-16T12:51:08Z
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@futurebird @anubis2814 I think with inquisitive, creative minds each decade brings a larger pallette of experience to draw on when trying new things or confronting life challenges.I was so stressed and worried in my twenties, thirties were more anxiety and illness. Forties were self discovery, sprint triathalons and starting a family and now fifties are rock climbing and far more inner peace than I've had before even with a six year old mischief.
(DIR) Post #B6M94wtBQvquMiFQXI by edgeofeurope@mastodon.social
2026-05-16T13:50:56Z
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@futurebird we urgently need to slow down, to make societies for all and not just the "winners," and to respect and value all jobs.