I turned 33 a few weeks ago and realized that life doesn't seem to be getting any better. When you consider the following, I think it's pretty safe to say that I've already peaked:
- I'm at the "sweet spot" of my career. I've got enough experience (10 years) and pay ($110K/ year) to keep me happy. I can advance further if I want, but the extra stress, hours, and responsibilities aren't worth it to me.
- I ran competitively since I was in middle school, but I hung up the spikes last year. I only jog once in a while to stay fit since I have no hope of setting any more PRs unless it's for obscure distances. My last PR was at age 29.
- I've tried out and have become somewhat decent at quite a few non-running activities like water skiing and riding my dirt bike. They're all fun, but I don't have the same competitive passion for those hobbies as I did for track when I was in my teens and 20s.
- I've been to a bunch of different states and countries. I definitely don't mind travelling to say, Colorado, for the fourth time, but it's just not exciting as the first or second time. I sometimes feel like a drug addict trying to chase that first high (hey, what do I know, I've only done booze and weed). It seems that almost all the places I haven't been to are places I have no interest in going, like most third world countries.
- I'm fairly happy with my home, the car I'm driving, and the stuff I've got in my home. Chasing after bigger or fancier stuff is just diminishing returns, with a possible temporary increase in happiness at the expense of a permanent increase in maintenance or depreciation costs.
- I'm hanging out less and less with my friends, as they've been busy with their wives and/or kids (neither of which I'm interested in).
So, is there anything exciting I can look forward to besides retirement? The only other thing I can think of is possible technological advances. Hurry up and get me my flying cars, intelligent robots, and trips to Mars, because thinking about this thread for too long is becoming depressing.