Truth time, Pandas: being an adult is super difficult. I know, I know, this isn’t anything stellar or groundbreaking, but it’s the truth. Frankly, schools and universities ought to have courses on how to be an adult. I for one would have gone to every single seminar because there were tons of things I had no idea about: from how to correctly pay taxes to how looking for a job actually works and beyond.
It’s stressful, it’s overwhelming, and it might make you want to hide away from all of life’s responsibilities (at least for a little while). What do you mean, I have to cook, exercise, work, study, maintain my social life, and aim for my dreams at the same time?! Isn’t that a tad too much for a single person to handle? And that doesn’t even cover the emotional challenges that come with dealing with true loss as we grow older.
Redditors have been discussing the adult problems they weren’t prepared for in a viral thread and we’ve collected some of the best comments. Have a read through them below and let us know which ones you agree with, Pandas. I know that I’ve run into most (if not all) of these problems when I made the jump from ‘teenager’ to ‘clueless young adult.’ Odds are, so have you.
#1
Going from having tons of friends to really having no one.
Image source: eternalrefuge86, Tim Bogdanov
#2
How f**king dark life actually is. Like, is this all we do, just grind away at jobs we try to care about, but no one else cares about, barely able to afford our bills/houses/debts, constantly struggling with relationships and trauma and watching our political system fail us, our country fail us, our systems fail us, like… this life is not what happy, adolescent me dreamed it would be. Sorry to get real dark on y’all.
Image source: choadally
#3
How ignorant so many people are. And seemingly pleased with being so
Image source: ohiojeepdad
#4
How often you have to clean to maintain a clean house.
Image source: DecadenceXO, CDC
#5
Aging parents
Image source: dabocake, Simon Godfrey
#6
Cliques and bullies are just as bad in the office as they were in school.
Image source: pulpexploder, Alex Kotliarskyi
#7
Dealing with untreated childhood trauma.
Image source: caelosentire, Kelly Sikkema
#8
Losing people. Loved ones passing away is the hardest. Then there’s the nasty breakdown of personal relationships, family relationships and friendships. Then there’s the sad drifting apart that happens when life takes you on a different path to a person you were once really close to.
Image source: BlackCaaaaat, Rhodi Lopez
#9
Deciding what to eat for 3 meals a day 7 days a week
Image source: coltonious
#10
Back hurting just from sleeping wrong
Image source: badninj4, Sasun Bughdaryan
#11
People rely on you. Both your parents and your kids. You become the filling in a responsibility sandwich and the weight of it is crushing at times.
Image source: smolspooderfriend, Nikola Saliba
#12
The snowball effect of poverty. Every major bill or unexpected emergency ($500+) takes you back 6 months to a year. It feels like you’re on an escalator made of mud.
Image source: curiousnaomi
#13
Realizing some friends are s***ty and you shouldn’t be friends with them anymore
Image source: swampy13, Korney Violin
#14
The ignorance of people in high places. I used to think at a younger age that someone was where they were due to being the best person for that position or the most qualified. Now I see its more about who you know, tenure, false perceptions, and ratios to name a few.
Image source: DiddlyDoRight
#15
How quickly fruits and vegetable actually go bad when you buy them yourself
Image source: sea_ewe_in_tea, Alexandr Podvalny
#16
I lost my wife of 35 years. There is no way to prepare and really no way to describe that loss
Image source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/gzytb3/comment/ftjt5ti/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3, Matt Botsford
#17
Falling in love at an older age but watching life speed by so fast.
Wished I’d met her 30 years ago.
Image source: NightMgr, Joanna Nix-Walkup
#18
The depression dude, the depression
And the feeling of loneliness, even when you have people around you.
Image source: unknown
#19
Not being able to leave a job you hate because you might just become homeless without it
Image source: Go_J, Christin Hume
#20
Dealing with your parents acting like children.
Image source: rchaw, Georgijevic
#21
Trying to make friends
Image source: Poka_poke, Kimson Doan
#22
The increasing speed of passing years.
Having nieces only makes the problem worse. Their age and the perceived number of years past doesn’t align at all for me
Image source: QuarantineTitans
#23
Not being able to sleep due to stress. Yet here I lay, exhausted but wide awake.
When I was younger I could sleep anytime, anywhere.
Image source: JonnyWax
#24
My job is destroying my mental health but I need a job so I can pay my bills.
If I reduce my hours for better work/life balance, I lose my insurance during a global pandemic.
Image source: Qjfomentl , Nik Shuliahin
#25
It’s entirely possible to lose your job through no fault of your own
Image source: Aperture_T
#26
In my mind, my Momma should be about 40. She has always seemed to be so strong but sometimes I want to fall apart when I see her take several attempts to stand up or make excuses about driving on the interstate. She will be 70 soon but to me, she is still young. I don’t know what I’ll ever do without her.
Image source: LG0110, Eduardo Barrios
#27
Just how hard it is to lose weight once you’re past your 20’s.
Image source: DeathSpiral321
#28
Pain.
Arthritis is f**king horrible and early onset autoimmune arthritis is worse than just having an ache in one or two joints. I hurt all the time, everywhere, and everyone just assumes you’re faking it or you’re a pill popper. I am not going to live another 20 years with this pain like my dad did
Image source: porcelina99, Towfiqu barbhuiya
#29
Preparing for retirement. Of course everyone knows they will stop working at some point but now that I’m 40, it feels like I really need to get it together. Am I going to continue bad habits that negatively impact my health or will I finally make changes to be healthier later?
My new favorite worry – will I really have enough money to retire AND live comfortably enough to have a good of quality life? 10 years ago this all seemed so far away. Now, it feels like I’m speeding to the next phase of my life.
Image source: LizLemonSpaceman, Diana Parkhouse
#30
Adults never actually growing up.
Image source: unknown, Helena Lopes
#31
The lack of clear objectives in life. As a kid, your parents tell you to do x so you can do y. School is about chasing grades and measured accomplishments with clear and distinct steps to success. After school, it’s all [freaking] arbitrary. Yeah, people say work hard so you can make money, but there’s no clear pathways. Everything seems circuitous and having goals barely helps inform how to achieve them. Also, you can work your [freaking] ass off and still be broke.
Image source: jcpearce
#32
You have to buy insurance but can never use the insurance or else no one will sell you insurance.
Image source: scarlett_o_o
#33
The lack of time for myself. Life is all work, housework, yard work, child care, bills, emails, phone calls…
Image source: HawaiianShirtsOR, christopher lemercier
#34
The amount of family get togethers you don’t want to go to after you get married.
Image source: bebebaker
#35
You can work full time and still not have enough money for everything you need. I never worried about that as a kid because I always figured I have a good job (and I do!)
Image source: TheHarperValleyPTA
#36
Dealing with people, so stressful
Image source: My_reddit101
#37
Having a presentable place, and debating myself on why it matters. It always frustrated me when my parents had a guest over and we had to deep clean the whole house. Like if it’s my close friend of 8 years visiting, why do I care what they care about my cleanliness? And yet, every time people are over I find myself cleaning the apartment up for some reason.
Image source: slothbarns7
#38
Having others rely on you as an emotional ballast. I can barely stay sane myself, let alone carry the weight of someone else’s sanity.
Image source: unknown, Brooke Cagle
#39
Dental costs. Not only is it just expensive it is so much more choice. Unlike say a broken arm where you have to get it fixed a chipped tooth or other minor need is on you even the dentist will be like “up to you man”. Then on top of that the insurance for dental is just about the worst thing on the planet, it also seems arbitrary. 900 dollar night guard that doesnt actually fix the problem and will likely still lead to major issues in the future sure no problem insurance paid in full. 2000 on realignment to actually fix the thing causing the grinding issue? No way in hell, you are over 19!
Image source: unknown, Diana Polekhina
#40
The constant obsessive feeling that I’m fast running out of time to have an enjoyable life even though I’m only in my twenties
Image source: DeathBat92
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