Gen Xers share how old they really feel, and the same number keeps popping up

We all know time flies, but there are moments when the realization really hits you hard. Artist and coach Rick Osborn recently had one of these moments and made an astute observation on Instagram. He was getting ready for a wedding when he realized, “Our generation, Gen X, might be the ‘older people’ at the wedding now.” The problem was that, even at the age of 59, Osborn said he didn’t feel like he should be that old. His universal realization sparked a fascinating discussion. “Apparently I’m 59. The person in my head strongly disagrees,” he said. Gen Xer asks his generation: How old do you actually feel? After sharing his story, Osborn put out a call. He wanted to know whether others in his generation felt the same way. Depending on who you ask, Generation X is roughly defined as anyone born in the late 1960s through about 1980, making most of them about 46-61 years old. “Gen X, don’t tell me your real age,” Osborn wrote in the caption. “How old are you in your head?” Same ‘magic number’ pops up again and again Feeling younger than your age is a near-universal experience, and the comments were proof. Almost everyone who chimed in was in disbelief at their actual age. What’s interesting is that almost everyone who engaged with the post had an eerily similar “spiritual age”—35, to be exact. “This resonates. I am GEN X. I look 35 (black don’t crack) and I feel 35. I will ride this until I go completely gray.” “So true!!! I’m 35 in my head. Turning 60 in November, any I can’t believe it!!!!” “I had an urge to do cartwheels last weekend, but because I have broke both of my wrists in the past, I thought I better not lol I’m 35 in a 63-year-old body” “I’m gonna be 63 in November!… I don’t feel it though i literally feel I look 35 until I see myself in a store window or in the morning in the mirror” Even Osborn pegged this exact age. “In my head, I swear I’m maybe 35,” he says. Thousands of commenters weighed in, and the consensus was clear. On average, Gen Xers feel around 35, with a few suggesting that they feel like they’re in their early 30s or, in some cases, their late 30s. But 35 was the clear winner. Feeling young is universal, but Gen X takes the cake Research has found that adults over 25 tend to feel younger than their age. Interestingly, people under 25 were found to have older “subjective ages.” But for the over-40 crowd, in particular, people usually feel about 20% younger than they are. For a typical Gen Xer around 45, that would “spiritually” put them in their mid-30s. Gen Xers responded in overwhelming numbers to Osborn’s post and observation, in part, because they may just be the generation that feels this discrepancy more than any other. It’s partly because of how Gen X has chosen to age. They’re the generation that rejected Baby Boomers’ modest, conservative dress—suits and dresses—and held on to the more casual style of their youth longer. They also came of age at a time when conversations around health and longevity were shifting. Many Gen Xers smoked heavily as youths but quit in adulthood as the dangers became more publicized; compared to Baby Boomers, many of whom quit later in life. Gen X also uses sunscreen more than their predecessors, so they may quite literally look younger than previous generations. As for the number 35? It’s an age that comes with many mental associations that make it appealing. At 35, you’re young but somewhat settled, grown up but energetic and full of possibility. You’ve lived a good deal of life, but you’ve still got more ahead of you. It’s a comfortable age to see yourself as. Gen X is in no hurry to feel like they’re aging into retirement and watching the sunset on their best years, and they’ve been independent and on their own far too long to still feel like they’re in their teens and twenties. In that context, yeah, 35 sounds just right. Osborn put it best. “I know I’m getting older. It’s that, the person in my head hasn’t kept up. I still feel like me.”