I think the older you get, the less fun it is.
Young people have little to no responsibility. And really young people, kids, have it the best because things are still so much fun. Holidays, cartoons, toys, family vacations, all of the distractions which keep them ignorant of the rest of the world. Even if they don't have that much, a child's world is still based largely upon their own realities and whatever they can imagine them to be. Even dirt can be fun.
But as you get older. Something happens. Things start to change.
I remember when I first got out of college I got a job as a research analyst for a brokerage firm. Basically a fact checker position, but I didn't care. I thought I had finally made the big time. I was in all the meetings with the VPs and got myself some nice new clothes and a new car.
Everything was new and exciting. Then the real world started to creep in. I wasn't making "that" much money (the houses that I wanted to buy were out of my price range so I had to continue on in my crappy apartment), I had to sock even more of it away into a 401K program and taxes. A good friend of mine had a guy that kept harassing her until she finally and reluctantly talked to HR about it. That guy was let go. A VP's office was broken into (and something was stolen from my desk) by one of the security guards who had stolen some company checks and forged them. All the company employees were white, but the security people were black (and considerably lower paid). After that, a new secuirty firm was brought in that had white guards. Then after about a year and a half, the company was sold to a larger bank and almost everyone was let go.
I think that first year of working, I experienced almost everything that I possibly could have about the traditional "working world". Monday morning meetings, office gossip, people just going through the motions towards retirement, burn-out, firings, lay-offs, you name it, it was there.
I think the thing people have to watch out for is "the routine". When you find yourself in this, years can slip by practically unnoticed. Don't focus your life around that "traditional" world. It won't notice you (much less even care), and won't be the thing that will really stand out when you're older. It'll just use you up and spit you out.
Instead, do something daring. Something challenging. Something that you can be proud of and feel integrity in. Take a risk and find a dream to follow. Don't fall into the trap of a routine just because society says if you don't, you'll be a failure.