Looking back, the best decade for you?

[Lsbcal]

If you could go back to then, what was the best decade?



P.S. I will post later what inspired this thread.

 

[HenryD]

If I go back to 1972 am I a little kid again, or the age I am now?

 

[ShokWaveRider]

1990s for me, they were my highest earning years.

 

[W2R]

Now that I am retired, I feel like I have finally "found my niche" in life. I am so happy. I have everything I have ever desired, including my Dream Home, the house I always longed for. Frank is a wonderful companion and his treatment of me is simultaneously so kind, caring, and respectful. I can do whatever I want to all day every day, and have very few responsibilities.

So, to me the 2010's and the 2020's are both in the running for the best decade. Despite the pandemic I chose the current decade because it has the surprise factor, in that most of it hasn't happened yet.

 

[braumeister]

There are a few things in my life that I would like to have done differently, but going back would be meaningless unless I knew then what I know now.

Honestly, I see each new decade as being better than all the previous ones.

 

[Aerides]

There are a few things in my life that I would like to have done differently, but going back would be meaningless unless I knew then what I know now.

Honestly, I see each new decade as being better than all the previous ones.

and TBH, if you dropped me back at 22 knowing what I know now, I'd probably say "can we skip to maybe 45?"

Unless knowing stuff means lottery numbers, how to avoid all the bad choices I made, and buying apple and google stocks early.

 

[Aerides]

1990s for me, they were my highest earning years.

I don't think I think of my personal "best" years in terms of income. More where was I happiest, personally satisfied in life (relationships, family, health, etc.)

 

[W2R]

and TBH, if you dropped me back at 22 knowing what I know now, I'd probably say "can we skip to maybe 45?"

I'd probably start being oh-so-sweet to my late father (for a change) and telling him I agreed with his politics (I didn't). Then he might actually consider funding my college or hooking me up with a good job or some such thing. But oh no, in real life I was too busy shooting myself in the foot. We argued all the time.

Honestly I was a real handful at that age!

 

[kcowan]

In the 80s, my career growth and personal satisfaction were both at a peak.

Currently my career is finished but my personal satisfaction continues to grow.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Really depends on what activity counts. I loved being a kid in the late 70s early 80s (outside of smokers) and NO WAY I would want to be a kid today. Early 90s when I first joined the Air Force was a blast, but I didn't make a lot of money. Later in my career, money and w*rk was best in the 2005-2015 period but now retirement is awesome.

I think it would be great to "go back in time" at my current age, but only as a visit. Perhaps a week would be good.

 

[Sojourner]

Even though I love the 2020s (just got married to my sweet, lovely young bride last summer!), and the 2000s were very good to me, there is no way any decade could ever beat the 1970s for me. I would give anything to go back and relive my idyllic childhood. What a magical time! As great as ER has been so far, the innocence and wonder of childhood has it beat by a mile, IMHO.

 

[Lsbcal]

Of course there is no right answer here.
Try not to read the stuff below before posting your choice in the poll.



I posted this thread after reading this article titled Golden Age Thinking :

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2022/02/golden-age-thinking-2/

Nostalgia is denial – denial of the painful present… and the name for this fallacy is called golden age thinking – the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one one’s living in – it’s a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.

...

Psychologists say that this kind of nostalgia is natural and sometimes even useful: Anchoring our identity in the past helps give us a sense of stability and predictability. For individuals, nostalgia is especially common when we experience rapid transitions like puberty, retirement or moving to a new country. Similarly, collective nostalgia—a longing for the good old days when life was simpler and people behaved better—can also be a source of communal strength in difficult times.

Another reason is that historical nostalgia is often colored by personal nostalgia. When were the good old days? Was it, by chance, the incredibly short period in human history when you happened to be young? A U.S. poll found that people born in the 1930s and 1940s thought the 1950s was America’s best decade, while those born in the 1960s and 1970s preferred the 1980s. In the 1980s, the popular TV show “Happy Days” was set in a nostalgic version of the 1950s; today, the popular series “Stranger Things” fondly conjures the fashion and music of the 1980s.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Even though I love the 2020s (just got married to my sweet, lovely young bride last summer!), and the 2000s were very good to me, there is no way any decade could ever beat the 1970s for me. I would give anything to go back and relive my idyllic childhood. What a magical time! As great as ER has been so far, the innocence and wonder of childhood has it beat by a mile, IMHO.

I also had a fantastic childhood and love thinking of those innocent days, but here were simply too many rules. For me ER has been like being a kid, but not having to go home when the street lights come on.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

So far each decade has been an improvement over the preceeding one.

 

[Midpack]

All of them I've been alive for, albeit each for different reasons. I'd hate to live believing I'd rather be at some time in the past, just make the most of the time you're in and every decade can be your best. I may not enjoy my last few years of life as much, but I'm not going to worry about that now. YMMV

 

[Sojourner]

Nostalgia is denial – denial of the painful present…

IMHO, this seems like something of an oversimplification, or generalization. I feel like I can be fondly nostalgic about my childhood in the 1970s, while at the same time thoroughly enjoying my life at the present moment. And, in fact, I do feel this way! My life is pretty great right now, all things considered.

... and the name for this fallacy is called golden age thinking – the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one one’s living in – it’s a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.

Again, IMHO, I don't think it's either a "fallacy" or an "erroneous notion" that my childhood was a very special, magical, wonderful time compared to other decades of my life. The decade of the 1970s was a better time in my life, for me, not necessarily better in general or for other people. Now, of course, some might say that I'm merely being irrationally nostalgic, and that I'm forgetting all the negative stuff that happened when I was a child. There may be some truth to that, but obviously it must be the case that for some people, a prior epoch of their life was actually, objectively better than their current one. My elderly father, for example, who is suffering from dementia, certainly lived though much better decades than the current one, and the same is true for his long-time companion and current caregiver.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

One of my favorite podcasts, "Build for Tomorrow" has an episode that fits a bit. I've become more and more content with the "now" and more skeptical of my memory of anything before. -not just from this podcast but it gives some points to think about. There is also a "covid nostalgia" episode that was interesting and sort of inline with this one.



https://www.jasonfeifer.com/episode/when-exactly-were-the-good-old-days/


I didn't vote as all had ups and downs and I can't say I have a favorite. I'd say the 80's as the energy was more optimistic.. I think things are better today in almost every way BUT the constant stream of negativity from media seems to have everyone hating everything and everyone else. Add in social media and FOMO and it's really sad.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I chose the 2000’s because I was in a wonderful new relationships, had come to Reno for a job I loved 3 years before, had made new friends and my kids were launched. I had so much fun.

 

[ncbill]

This decade is the first one in which I am retired, so it is by definition the best one so far. It is true that I did not work in childhood, but I wouldn't wish those years on anyone for other reasons.

Ditto...though as I've said before given my age versus the traditional retirement age I prefer instead to tell people I'm unemployed...and then see how they treat me.

I'd be happy to be dropped back into my body at age 22...just married, no kids, I'd have made sure we traveled a h*** of a lot more.

Or even at 42...would take my bride back for our 20th anniversary to the Carribean resort where we honeymooned.

Was planning to do that at 30 years, but a hurricane wiped it off the map around 5 years ago & I don't know when it will be rebuilt, if ever.

 

[aja8888]

I didn't vote. No obvious selection.

If I had the chance, I would start all the decades over (including picking parents if that was possible). In each decade there were some bad choices/decisions on my part (and also from others). But like said earlier, you can't go back.

I suppose everyone has to make the best life they can given the situation they are at today, and that's what I am doing. But, never in a million years did I ever imagine I would be where I am today and with the people I am with. Maybe that's something anyone/everyone can say.

 

[RE2Boys]

I voted 2000.

I retired February 2000 with one and three year old sons. It was so great to not have a career to tend to, just being a Dad (with minivan) who could always make myself available. Twenty years of pure enjoyment watching them grow.

 

[2017ish]

Now that I am retired, I feel like I have finally "found my niche" in life. I am so happy. I have everything I have ever desired, including my Dream Home, the house I always longed for. Frank is a wonderful companion and his treatment of me is simultaneously so kind, caring, and respectful. I can do whatever I want to all day every day, and have very few responsibilities.

So, to me the 2010's and the 2020's are both in the running for the best decade. Despite the pandemic I chose the current decade because it has the surprise factor, in that most of it hasn't happened yet.

Very well put.

I would put mid-2017 to the present. (Hence, "current") We retired and, as long hoped for, we are healthy, have all the time that we wish together, whether traveling or at home and planning future travels.

 

[MichaelB]

Every decade is a good decade if we’re alive when it ends.

 

[REWahoo]

Every decade is a good decade if we’re alive when it ends.

^ This.

The past eight have been good for me and I'm hoping the current one continues the streak.

 

[Music Lover]

I accidentally voted current but meant to choose 2010's. I retired in 2016 and met the woman I'll probably spend the rest of my life with in 2018.