Let's start out with a little background:

A thing that has bugged me all my life is that I always tend to learn things either too late, or the hard way. I don't know why, but mabey I am just a terrible learner when it comes to advice on how to run your life. This happened to me lots in highschool, where I had about 3 or 4 gorgeous girls during that time take some liking to me, but I was too stupid to even notice, or make a move.

It was not until a few years ago that I finally clued in and met a girl that fell for me pretty hard and at least made it painfully obvious that she liked me. Was quite a good relationship and we both lost our V-cards to one another. However after only a year or so we had to break up due to time and some personal differences (she started to get the insecure thing and it got really annoying real fast).

Anyways, I am single now and now 22. The problem is that I feel like I am getting old but have barley even lived my life. I can see people my age settling down into more long-term relationships and 2 of my friends are already getting engaged. At this time to me it seems like If I do get with someone that they might be so jaded or full of emotional baggage since everyone at this point seems to have already gone through so many damn relationships (interesting thing was my GF was only 18 but had tons and tons of emotional baggage from previous relationships and other stuff; furthering my point). It's like everyone has been taken, or impossible to be with.

Which brings me to my second thing on how I can't seem to let the past go, about "what could have been" back in highschool. In the fast-paced post-secondary world now everyone is so damn buisy with jobs, university, drama, ect and there is like no time for anything (I struggled to find time with my past GF during the last few months of the relationship). and I feel like I have missed out on a carefree time for relationships when there was all the free time in the world and people were not so loaded down with drama from tons of past relationships, and I cannot seem to get over it.

The only thing I think I kind of got going for me is that I still look like I am about 17/18 so but I still feel like I am getting old, and feel like I have let a shitload of my life slip away. It seems that I am approaching a point where it is going to be next to impossible for me to find another decent relationship; hence the title "too late."

Thoughts? Or am I just bastshit crazy?

If you are wondering if it is too late, it isn't.

You will KNOW when it is too late.

I didn't read your post.

I'll let you know now that it's NOT TOO LATE.

The real world makes everything seem different. High school is like a different planet, where there's no responsibility's etc.

You're not crazy. I'm 18 years old and I feel the same. I dropped out of highschool and have been working full time for a year and a half and I feel well beyond my years. I think about returning to study and it all sounds like it'll take too long. "I can't take two years doing something or rather, by the time I get out I'll be old and should be settling down!" ... I'd be 20. I'm in a committed settled down relationship, and because I'm around people much older than me all day I feel like I should be getting married and popping out babies already. I'm running out of years!!

I can't really offer you much advice, seeing as I'm stuck in the same sort of rut myself. But anyone who takes past emotional baggage into a new relationship probably shouldn't be starting a new relationship. Sure, there's often going to be little things, but there should never be something major (Unless something major has happened to them, like some form of abuse, etc). You really should just get out and try to meet the right sort of people for you. But just because your friends are settling down, doesn't mean you should be. Try to get out and have some fun and meet some new people.

I'll be interested to read other responses too, to see if any can relate to me too. :)

It's not too late. The only thing stopping you is your doubt in finding another reasonable relationship.

Let the past go. You learned a valuable lesson, now apply it to your ife.

Confidence. That's the key.

When ladies your age pass you by in a bar for someone clearly younger then it is to late..............................you've got a long way to go.

Yeah I guess I am letting the idea get the better of me. I'm not that old; except by internet standards :p

But yeah, I do know confidence is the key. Funny thing was before I met my past GF, I was getting a little desperate and screwing up certain chances that I had, untill one day I just said to myself "fuck it. Ill focus on something different like my schoolwork or a hobby". From that point any girl I met I treated the same as every other friend I had and could talk to them calmly about stuff and not care about what she thought of me, and basically didn't care about anything, and only had time for myself.

Of course that's right when I met her and we just happened to hook up to my surprise.