Aging; a process we look forward to yet somehow also dread. While it does have its own pleasures, there’s no denying that certain parts aspects of being a senior truly suck. According to Reddit users, here are the 15 worst consequences of getting older:
15. Increased Cynicism
“The slow drain of idealism. When you think you can’t get any more cynical, you find more things to make you cynical.”
“Yep. I used to have this dumb, child-like light in my eyes. Last 4 years, boy has that dulled.”
“Wholeheartedly agree. I looked for my inner child recently, he appears to have run away.”
14. Keeping Your Interests Alive
“Trying to stay interested in the world. The older I get, the less ***** I give…about pretty much everything. Trying to stay engaged with what’s happening in the world is frustrating and exhausting.”
“This. I did a 4-year degree in politics because, at that age, I was very interested in current affairs and loved engaging in what was going on in the world. Now I just grind as many hours as possible at work to make ends meet, and I’ve not watched or read the news in years.”
13. Getting Less Attractive With Time
“And knowing you can never get it back…”
“It’s not superficial when your social value is heavily tied to your physical attractiveness, which is contingent on remaining “youthful.”
12. Losing Weight Gets Difficult
“Trying to lose weight is a challenge. I’m over 40, and I’ve been told I need to lose weight. And I’ve been doing exercise for a couple of months now, and I’ve found my knees just pack it in under any sort of stress. After 2 months of light to medium cardio and resistance training, I’ve gained 1kg.”
11. Regrets About Past Choices
“Therapy therapy therapy. I am 51. At 42, I finally did therapy and holy ****. I had done [bad] things when I was younger and always walked around with this guilt. I finally found a therapist I liked a lot (it took me sitting with 3 before I found him), and it was life-changing. I don’t have that guilt; I came to terms with it and even found that some of the stuff I was hanging on to wasn’t mine to live with.”
10. Hair Loss and Body Aches
“See, I knew that happens to guys, but no one talks about how that happens to girls; it just looks different. I’ve recently discovered that female pattern baldness exists, that I’m starting to show signs of it (basically, hair thinning out in the front), and that it migrates to your chin! I’m a woman and have to pluck my chin hairs! I hate it!”
“As a dude, hair thins out on top. Apparently, it migrates to your nose/ears/eyebrows. Not a ton, just a wild hair here and there. I have to pluck my f*****g eyebrows, what the f**k. The other is being sore. Sleeping wrong can ruin your morning. Who thought resting could make you sore.”
9. The Battle Against Despair
“The overwhelming desire to just give up, lay down, and cry/sleep/die, but you can’t. Because of bills.”
“Sometimes, the only thing we can do is take it one day at a time. Occasionally, I’ll tell my wife, “Oh well, I’ll try again tomorrow.”
8. Realizing You’ve Wasted Opportunities
“Oh man, that’s a good one! And realizing that you’ve lived your best years without even appreciating or knowing they were your best years.”
“Realizing all the opportunities you missed.”
“I didn’t realize until years later that there was a girl l hung out with in college who wanted me. I thought she was way out of my league, but somehow, she kept finding ways to hang out with me, and I never realized all I had to say was, “Hey, you wanna go out sometime?”
7. Feeling Like You’re Way Behind On Societal Expectations
“I feel like getting older is confirming my suspicions that the idea of life milestones is pretty dumb and narrowly built around a certain type of person. I’m happy for anyone who genuinely wants and can achieve those things by a certain time, but the idea that we are failing (when those goals are either undesired or out of reach) isn’t helpful.”
“I feel this insanely hard. I’m 26, and while I have my bachelor’s degree and great work experience, I just dropped out of law school after only about a month because…I realized I absolutely do not want to do this with my life…While I’m applying to jobs & was even offered to return to my former job, I still can’t help but feel publicly embarrassed by taking what feels like steps backward. It’s very frustrating & I feel time is just slipping away.”
6. Maintaining Relationships and Building New Friendships
“Maintaining friendships and developing new ones, especially if you relocate or travel extensively for work. Not impossible, just not as easy as teens and twenties (41F).”
“The one true miracle Jesus performed was having 12 close friends after age 30.”
“Your friends will drift away and disappear from your life for no reason. Time starts moving fast, and every single day just starts blurring together. There is no “next big stage of life to look forward to.” You just begin this blurry repeating pattern of apathy, existential dread, and anxiety, and all your hobbies and entertainment just become mere distractions from it all.”
5. Realizing Grown-Ups Were Often Right
“Coming to the realization that all the **** the adults told me when I was younger eventually came true and that despite these efforts, today’s youth will ignore my advice just as I had ignored it.”
“I see my nephews [messing] up their lives (19 yo) how I did when I was their age, and I want to preach to them so badly, but I know they won’t listen to me. It’s very upsetting.”
4. Possibilities No Longer Seem Endless
“This. Struggling with no longer feeling like I have options. Just live the rest of my life like this and try to make it to retirement.”
“What knocks me off my feet is how much hope I don’t have now. It’s not that I don’t have goals; of course I do. It’s that I’m working with a more defined set of options now. The world is not my oyster. The possibilities are not endless…I’m not dissatisfied; it’s just a very different feeling. There’s a finality about it….”
3. Understanding That Moments Don’t Last Forever
“For me, it’s coming to grips with the impermanence of the moment. I feel like we’re hardwired to operate under the assumption that we always have more time. But windows of opportunity do close permanently. People you neglect will leave, never to return. Everybody you know will leave, one way or another. The good times never last (nor do the bad times), but the impermanence of my life and the things I cherish have been kicking me in the d**k lately.”
2. Health Issues That Prevent You From Doing Things You Love
“I woke up with a knee injury that’s kept me from working legs at the gym for a month now. I think I just slept on it wrong.”
“Dude, it’s like as soon as I get one thing solved/under control, another health issue pops up like a week later. I swear, it’s so frustrating.”
“The things you used to do without breaking a sweat now result in 3 days of pain and the inability to function properly.”
1. Watching Parents Get Older and Losing Elder Family Members
“Watching your parents and family members age, and losing them, is the most difficult thing to deal with as you get older. We lost my dad in December, and losing a parent leaves you feeling untethered, in a genuine way.”
“My father passed away last year. I remind myself that everyone feels this way if they’re lucky. The only way to avoid this pain is never to experience love.”
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Source: Reddit.