I seen questions from people who like me have expressed feelings of missing out on things, comparing to others and so on on forums like Reddit, quora etc and one was by someone feeling like they are missing out on the 'typical experiences of early 20 year olds" and didn't spend time doing hard drugs, smoking and partying and so on on the weekends because this particular individual had social anxiety and preferred to play games, read a book or watching films but one response was...
It depends, are you going to look back in 20 years and wish you had done more things which are extremely hard to do when you're older/have kids/work a 9-5?
There's nothing wrong with not wilding out, but if you really like travel, or being active outdoors, or playing sports or whatever, it gets harder and harder to engage with those as you get older.
Additionally, realize that a social network doesn't just magically appear, and does slowly go away without actively engaging in it. It tends to become harder and harder to build one as other people have more and more obligations as they grow up, so it's easy to end up suddenly very lonely of you don't foster this. Some people it doesn't bother at all, some people wake up at 35 and wonder why they have no friends they still engage with regularly after basically never doing anything to build/foster connections they have since college.
And another was drinking and drugs are not the end all be all of the young adult experience, but when you're 30, 40 etc and look back on your early 20s, you WILL wish you had better memories, wish you had dealt with your social anxiety and done more than just stayed home alone. If you dealt with your problem and still chose to live this life then you're not missing out, but avoiding it due to anxiety/fear probably isn't you living your best life.
07 Feb 2026, 1:17 pm
