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I just wanted to express the period from when I was born to my recent days until I realized something.

I initially put "in my earlier years." Then I wasn't sure if the meaning of the phrase that I made communicate precisely as I intended.

So I looked up and got few more similar expressions such as, "my early years", "In my early life", "In my younger and vulnerable years", "in my younger age", etc.

Yet, I sensed all of them insinuate more like a childhood, not necessarily includes, for instance, my few weeks ago until I realized something.

Is there any proper expression or phrase for a such case?

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    I think you might have to rephrase this to something like "Until recently/until a few years ago" or "I always used to [think/believe] but recently I ....". It might depend on how old you are now. If you are 87 you would say "All my life I have [believed ]....". But if you are 21 you could say "As I grew up I always [thought]...."
    – Mynamite
    Commented Aug 20, 2014 at 23:22
  • Before the scales fell from my eyes: idioms.thefreedictionary.com/The+scales+fall+from+eyes
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 0:14
  • I'm with @Mynamite that it's relative. If you're very old, early years or younger days could easily include everything up to middle age. But if you're just a young adult, they would mean childhood.
    – Barmar
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 4:16
  • I think the phrase, "for my whole life until recently," conveys what you're after. A slight variation would be, "for most of my life until recently," which I suppose is technically more accurate.
    – G Tony Jacobs
    Commented Aug 23, 2014 at 17:11

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Summary of the comments:

"Until recently/until a few years ago" or "I always used to [think/believe] but recently I ....". It might depend on how old you are now. If you are 87 you would say "All my life I have [believed ]....". But if you are 21 you could say "As I grew up I always [thought]..."
-- Mynamite Aug 20

"for my whole life until recently," conveys what you're after. A slight variation would be, "for most of my life until recently," which I suppose is technically more accurate.
-- G Tony Jacobs Aug 23

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