If you think long-term relationships, marriage and raising children are predictable endeavors, you clearly have no idea of what you're talking about. Like you could predict what I've been through? And make no mistake, I'm not blind or arrogant enough to think that my life tragedies are rare.
But my parents raised to the challenge and in the end, I can safely say that they succeeded at raising me. I admire them for that, and they admire me for sorting myself out in extremely harsh circumstances.
I could play the same game with the pursuit of hedonism, what usually (always?) happens to people who put all their chips on short-term impulsive pleasures? They crash and burn because they constantly have to increase the dosage to get the same dopaminergic response.
Then comes the depression, the anxiety, perhaps the panic attacks all wrapped into a major existential crisis. And that is not trivial, so I think it's a bit irresponsible to say something like "long live hedonism" without thinking it through.
As if once you had taken the responsibilities of getting educated, getting married and having children, your life was only that and there won't be any room left to travel the world, enjoy your hobbies and whatever hedonistic pleasure you want to engage in.
Of course it isn't the case, that's why I was baffled by
@buckthorn saying that at least this year, he traveled, learned an instrument, had cool experiences etc. and that it wouldn't have been possible if he had a girlfriend. Bullshit, I have a girlfriend, a social life, I work 40 hours a week in big corporation and yet I still managed to travel a lot, play my instrument and have great experiences.
To me it's just laziness combined with resentment against people who manage to make it work. So based on my own experience in the past year, what I'd say to people to you and buck is: aim high guys! You don't know what you're capable of until you try.
Edit: inb4
@CopeForLife chimes in, first make sure that you're tall, white and that you have a big dick. If you don't tick those boxes, follow this
link.