This is a very interesting post, thank you for writing it. I'm still quite a few years away from 50 but I have been feeling like this since I graduated. The days after graduation felt like the party would keep going but I quickly noticed that my friends were becoming less and less available.
I think this happened because:
1. They got married and therefore priorities changed.
2. They got kids and responsibilities increased.
3. They got older and interests changed.
4. Most of us moved to different cities and/or countries.
But I think the party can, indeed, keep going (with a little effort). There is a reply here that recommends joining different activity groups and I think that is the right thing to do. In school, you didn't have to work hard to meet new people and make new friends because the community is large and full of interesting people you can relate to.
Outside school, the best way to mimic that kind of life is at places like work, Church, sports clubs, etc. [finances permitting :)]
I just installed Brave this week and it has a setting to simply mute the cookie questions (and others) while, at the same time, maintaining your privacy.
There is a lot that has been said in the comments and one thing I hope you can see is that your situation is not unique. Many of us have beaten it before, and many more will beat it again (including you) ... be encouraged in that.
In my case, I ascribe my escape to my unshakable faith in God and I'm not ashamed to say it. Without that, I'm 100% confident I would not be where I am today.
For me, it helped that I develop for a platform like the Google Workspace Marketplace.
That helped me get users from those (many individuals) who regularly browse such websites. In fact, there are others who develop for the mobile apps stores who have reported similar stories; the market looks "ready-made".
In my case, this was enough to give Flookup the initial boost it needed.
I think this happened because:
1. They got married and therefore priorities changed.
2. They got kids and responsibilities increased.
3. They got older and interests changed.
4. Most of us moved to different cities and/or countries.
But I think the party can, indeed, keep going (with a little effort). There is a reply here that recommends joining different activity groups and I think that is the right thing to do. In school, you didn't have to work hard to meet new people and make new friends because the community is large and full of interesting people you can relate to.
Outside school, the best way to mimic that kind of life is at places like work, Church, sports clubs, etc. [finances permitting :)]