Putting social life on hold, joining military

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Hey guys, I've been sort of struggling with this dilemma I've been thinking lately.

I'll be 25 when I join and i'll give 4 years of my late 20s to the military. I'm not really doing anything with my life as of now and my game is not really great.

I feel like when I get out at 29 ill be getting too old as ill have at least 6-7 years left to date and mess around with women. This gets me depressed because I wasted my 20s not pursuing or dating any one, only two girls but I did go to school and got my degree. And to be honest I'm not sure how military life will effect my dating life (the one I barely have anyways)

What do you think about this situation?

I'll like to hear different perspectives/philosophy about it as it seems my age to be a contributing factor to this dilemma.

 

[Mr. Kalikoat]

Okay, first of all, I've never been in the military, so I can't speak from experience here, but I'm going to give you my thoughts and pose a few questions for you to think about:

First of all I want to say that I have great respect for people who serve their country in the military. It takes balls to just put everything you have on hold for the sake of serving your country and there is great honor in that.

Second, I think the military can be a great opportunity to dive deeper in yourself and learn more about yourself. I've heard from people who came back from serving that during their service, they really got to know themselves. There is something about serving in the military that will make you reevaluate yourself, your life, your morals, what you have to lose and what you have to gain, especially if you're send out on active duty and come face to face with the enemy, which is what my friends who served went through. They went in as one person and came out as a different person.

But it's not all rainbows and sunshine. One of my friends who has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan is currently suffering from PTSD. He sees a psychiatrist every month and he suffers from insomnia.

So you have to ask yourself; what do you hope to gain from this and what are you willing to give up? Are you prepared to end up like my friend, or worse? Are you prepared to give your life for your country if it comes to that? These are things you have to seriously consider for yourself.

If the only reason you want to join the military is because you want to become a better man, or become better with the ladies, or because you have nothing better to do, then I would personally advice against it. There are better, less dangerous ways of improving your life and luck with the ladies.

If you wouldn't have a degree and were too poor to go to college, I'd say go for it, because people who served often get state-funded scholarships and other benefits, but considering you already have your degree it's not really a factor for you.

What have you gotten a degree in if I may ask? And why is it that you're currently doing nothing with your life?

Maybe there are better, more efficient ways to get your life back on track, ways that don't require you to sacrifice 3 or more years of your life.

 

[Red Legg]

I was in the Army for twenty years,went in when I was 18 was retired at 38 with full benifits.This awesome retirement system has been done away with for newbies and replaced with a not so good system.I also served before all the social experimentation bullsh!t came to the military,my advice do not join.