Adulting is hard, not just because you can no longer depend on your parents and be sure where your next meal comes from. Often, adulting is realizing that things are way different from what you imagined them to be when you were little. When you are older, you first learn that it’s not Santa who puts all the gifts underneath the Christmas tree or that your beloved pet did not actually “leave to live on a farm in the countryside.” Though learning truths as such is often sad and disappointing, those are still seemingly innocent facts we learn early in life.
However, you know you are getting older when you start to understand why Peter Pan never wanted to grow up, why Squidward just wanted peace and some alone time, why Garfield hated Mondays, and why Moe might be the most relatable character in The Simpsons. Adulthood is full of discoveries, and learning harsh truths about life is a part of it. To learn more about those, some time ago, a user on AskReddit asked, “What’s a sad truth you only realize when you’re an adult?” And hundreds of people jumped on the thread to reveal the many harsh truths they only learned once they became older.
Below, we’ve compiled the many adult realizations and sad facts about life that many have learned once they become adults. Any sad truths about adulthood that you can relate to? Give those an upvote. Also, what’s a sad truth about life that you have learned only recently or years into becoming an adult? Share your thoughts in the comments!
#1
“At some point doors start closing and some of those things you thought you’d do “someday” are no longer an option.”
Image source: PMMeUrHopesNDreams
#2
Wildlife_King said:
“You never finish cleaning your kitchen.”
Fighting_Patriarchy replied:
“I recently saw where someone referred to it as “resetting the kitchen” instead of cleaning, and that’s helped me a little.”
Image source: Wildlife_King
#3
moto_x_crash said:
“Very few people actually know what they’re doing.”
flyingninja129 replied:
“Actually it’s pretty encouraging, because I too have no idea what I’m doing.”
Oxygene13 also replied:
“My career is IT, and the field is filled with jokes about people googling answers and just turning it off and on again. However also horrifically prevalent in all the chat rooms and groups about career IT people is the constant sense of Imposter Syndrome. The ever-prevalent feeling that any second someone is going to discover that you don’t actually know what you are doing (despite regular evidence to the contrary). Such a high percentage appear to suffer from this, probably because there is so much to know in the field. Just because you are ‘good at IT’ doesn’t necessarily mean you are an expert at programming, or network engineering, or hardware repair or excel.”
Image source: moto_x_crash
#4
“Nothing is truly “free”. Everything either costs time or money.”
Image source: IcyAKpanda
#5
whatwoulddiggydo said:
“That your happiness needs to come from you. You can’t depend on others for it. If you’re going to find joy, you need to find it in yourself every day. Your choice.”
allsoldoutoflimes replied:
“Change your way of thinking. You can be happy now without doing anything physically different. Hold gratitude for the things that make you feel happy and warm, whether your family, friends, pets, bed, blankets, coffee, wine, whiskey, playlist, car, hobby, book, nature, exercise, whatever. Embrace and be thankful that you have it, and that you can smile from it. Happiness is an ongoing attitude, it isn’t a destination.”
Image source: whatwoulddiggydo
#6
“The serotonin doesn’t floweth as easy in adulthood.”
Image source: Big_Aardvark3726
#7
“You’ll be more exhausted than before.”
Image source: lugarius1990
#8
“Not everyone thinks like you.”
Image source: kilothedefenestrator
#9
“Most things about life suck. Honestly. Bills, work, taxes, maintaining a car, getting nowhere, fear of poverty… screw it all.”
Image source: SmilingSkitty
#10
HopelessTrousers said:
“The simple act of existing is incredibly expensive.”
StoicEnglishMajor replied:
“Existing is not simple, it’s probably the most complicated thing you’ll ever experience.”
BurpYoshi replied:
“I find it odd that humans are forced to live in society. Like, I personally like it and wouldn’t choose to leave, but it’s strange that you can’t just go book a flight to an untouched region of the world, renounce yourself from society and live as a wild animal like the natural way humans once were.”
samwoo2go replied:
“You can though. You don’t have to file tax returns if you make under the min amount required to pay taxes and there is nothing stopping you from just withdrawing from society and live off of BLM land somewhere. I’m sure there are people out there doing exactly that right now. Someone told me once that there are only 3 kinds of people in Alaska, those who don’t like people, running away from something, or both. Seems to be top destination for disappearing from society.”
Image source: HopelessTrousers
#11
“Life is much more expensive once you got to pay for s**t.”
Image source: fried-dumplings
#12
“You don’t get wasted time back.”
Image source: gn0xious
#13
thumbwarvictory said:
“At some point, everything you do, you’ll do it for the last time, but you won’t even know it.”
babyybirch replied:
“I think about this a lot with final interactions/touches/conversations with people, how you never know when it’s the last time. It’s really sad.”
Image source: thumbwarvictory
#14
“Growing up watching movies and hearing stories and seeing the good things in life only as a kid, but growing up and realizing that quality of life is actually really sh***y for people, and being an adult is hard. Everyone wishes life was a simple as being a kid again.”
Image source: ChampagneET
#15
“Superpowers aren’t coming.”
Image source: Username_Checks-In
#16
PieBarm69 said:
“The older you get, the faster time appears to pass by. A year when you’re 10 is a tenth of your whole life, a year when you’re 40 is much less significant.”
imbuzzedatm replied:
“Especially if you have kids. The days get longer and the years seem shorter.”
BOSH09 replied:
“School weeks are forever and the weekend is a blink. I hate it. I’m tired.”
the_stoned_ranger also replied:
“Having children permanently warped my perception of time. You won’t notice much of a change in appearance when catching up with an old friend after a year or two, but kids development and change at such an exponential rate that it blows my f***ing mind. Then you get into the day-to-day grind of work, cooking/cleanup from dinner, baths, bedtime, and once the kids are asleep trying to catch up on laundry or in general tidying up. When your days are full they go fast. When I worked as a line-cook I’d look up and 7 hours had flown in by. Having kids is kind of like that. Wouldn’t change it though. There is a reason people say, “Cherish it — it goes so fast.” It really does. My days are full and crazy, but I’d rather them be that way than empty and lonely.”
Image source: PieBarm69
#17
lilapplesaucy said:
“There aren’t any really safety nets for people with mental illness and disabilities and if you don’t have a support system to lean on you’re pretty much f***ed. I’m bipolar and ADHD and have no healthcare or family that can help me. I live alone and most days can’t even get out of bed. I’m lucky to have found a job that I can handle but it’s not consistent work and I often have to let bills lapse or go without things. The older I get, the harder it gets because I’m supposed to have more security when increasingly I have less and less. If I were hospitalized at any point, I’d likely lose my apartment and my cat. There’s not much I can do except keep trying to get on Medicaid so I can get back on meds and back into therapy. When I was a kid I thought I’d get treatment and then be able to live somewhat normally while managing my meds. My experience hasn’t been anything close to that and as a result, has led to me being a lot of traumatizing and toxic situations. It’s relatively impressive I’m not addicted to any hard drugs at this point. But yeah, I’ll just read Enders’s game and keep trying really hard.”
FutureNostalgica replied:
“I have a family member who is a rapid cycler- I wish no one had to deal with such issues, and there absolutely should be support and more options than figure out how to take care of it or be hospitalized. Not that does anything for you, but If I lived near you I would absolutely take care of your cat for you if that ever happened. With my family member animals are a big part of keeping him grounded/ reminding him to here is a reason to keep taking care of himself when he wants to give in to the depression (and when he’s manic he shops, so they get a lot of treats.”
Image source: lilapplesaucy
#18
goatsandwich43 said:
“That old age isn’t a sudden drop off of a cliff, it’s a constant process that you will never be able to stop, you might not even notice it’s happening until you look back at old photos of yourself.”
UnicornPanties replied:
“Or all the clothes you’re no longer willing to wear. I have a bunch of skirts and dresses that seem a bit too short for my tastes and inappropriate for my age now.”
cleo_wafflesmack also replied:
“My BF and I have been together for about 12 years and we’re in our early 40s. 2 nights ago I looked across the table at him and for the first time he looked middle-aged to me. Not saying that I didn’t notice him getting older over the years and I certainly look my age, but it just really hit me that night.”
Image source: goatsandwich43
#19
“That life is mostly pointless.”
Image source: TheGxdsAreWatching
#20
Redditor said:
“For 99.99% of us, within about 3 generations, no one will remember you and no one will care to remember you.”
smolspooderfriend replied:
“I don’t quite know why but I find this comforting.”
Probablyprofanity replied:
“I think it’s because all the mistakes you make will sort of be erased. If nothing matters, then all the bad stuff doesn’t matter, and that’s comforting when your life is mostly bad stuff.”
Image source: reddit.com
#21
“My father wasn’t hard on me because he wanted the best for me; he was hard on me because he saw me as a reflection of his self-worth.”
Image source: Namealreadytaken0909
#22
Redditor said:
“Work until you’re too old to enjoy life. What kind of bulls*** is that?”
Rebel-Yellow replied:
“I type out of my a** because I really have no idea but the majority of us in the workforce now will never really get the opportunity to retire and those accounts we’re paying into just ensure even more comfort to those already guarenteed a cushy life. People get mad when I “joke” about never getting to retire so why the f*** care about putting any and all spare money into an account for later. I make highly specialized meds for fringe case child cancer patients, yet I barely break 16 an hour. The idea of ‘retirement’ is hilarious and I can only hope I’ll be long dead by the time it’s projected ‘retirement’ could happen. I daydream about winning the lottery and either throwing huge chunks of it at paying off local student debt or trying to do things that might make living accessible. 850+ for the baseline 1BR apartment that’s probably infested with problems is ridiculous, what the f**k kind of income can support that on just base rent alone?”
Image source: reddit.com
#23
“As much as we hated school, we should have tried taking it seriously and learning all the subjects to the best of our ability and, if possible, requested extra study or programs, learning later on life is hard as there are less programs available to brush up or become more skilled, and most certainly, these programs can be moderately expensive to very expensive as there’s very few programs that are government funded that will help much, and if there are some, they are usually very busy and have wait times. So, any kids reading this, even if you hate school, grab all the subjects by the balls and milk them and do the best you can.”
Image source: Skydome12
#24
sharpy_626 said:
“That school wasn’t as bad as you thought it was. So much you could do as a kid just isn’t that possible as an adult.”
olearygreen replied:
“I disagree with this. Could have done 6 years of school in 4. High school is a giant waste of time. Even more so looking back than I already thought it was going through it. School was not bad but such a giant waste of time.”
Image source: sharpy_626
#25
“We can’t avoid bills.”
Image source: reddit.com
#26
endofthedamnrope said:
“Ultimately, you’re on your own. Sure people might love and care for you but when it comes down to it, it’s just you.”
fjongfasong replied:
“Agreed, I realized this at the age of 39, with the sole responsibility of two kids.”
69No-Satisfaction69 also replied:
“I realized this now during Corona. I also lately became anxious about my mother dying from high blood pressure, if I wouldn’t have her, there wouldn’t be another one, who unconditionally supports and loves me. We are so far removed from this big family of a tribe, humans used to have, which makes me so sad because I always wanted something like that.”
Image source: endofthedamnrope
#27
polzkaa said:
“Your paychecks are always disappointing.”
Redditor replied:
“And they’re spent too quickly.”
KotexAvenger also replied:
“The week is long and the check is short, that’s for damn sure.”
Image source: polzkaa
#28
User No 1 said:
“Accepting yourself for wanting a partner. I feel like in this day in age, we glorify independency. But supreme independence isn’t ideal, at least for me. Of course, it’s good to do certain things on your own but having a partner by your side is great also.”
ultravioletblueberry replied:
“I feel it’s the opposite. I find that most people are obsessive about needing to find love and be with someone. I think it’s important to learn to be okay being alone with yourself before you enter into a relationship so it doesn’t create a toxic codependent dynamic.”
UnicornPanties also replied:
“I’m in your lane. Similarly, I don’t want to be stuck/trapped with someone who I don’t enjoy being around just because we decided to move in together (and breaking up/moving out is HARD), yikes. Then what if they betray you in some awful way? Being single is pretty easy-peasy really.”
Image source: reddit.com
#29
“The adults aren’t any brighter than children, things make less sense in the “adult world”.”
Image source: ihatepeasoup
#30
“The world will most likely never improve.”
Image source: GurpsWibcheengs
#31
“You have fewer friends in adulthood. Also, when you’re at school or university, pretty much everyone is the same age as you so you have lots in common. When you work in an office when you’re older there’s a good chance that everyone will be different ages and few will have the same things in common.”
Image source: fletchindubai
#32
“Everyone you’ve ever met will die someday.”
Image source: Sizetengoofyboots
#33
“That a lot of what you are told is the point of life in the US is a lie. It is there to make you a reliable workforce for the wealth.”
Image source: TechFiend72
#34
“Generally, no one’s going to take care of all your needs.”
Image source: Brundleflyftw
#35
“Maturity has nothing to do with your actually age, and you’ll start to notice many of the adults you looked up to are just children who are pretending. To me it felt like losing some connection that I felt was always understood until… I grew up more, and now I see all those connections were just kinda… faked/misunderstandings or something. It’s hard to describe kinda.”
Image source: Professionalchump
#36
Jesmer8490 said:
“That there are very few people that truly care about you as a person.”
buddhabuddha replied:
“Christ this is so depressing. I think this is made worse by how much our society has expanded. In small groups everyone has a role to play and the well-being of one member is important to everyone else because it directly impacts the whole group. Once you get into populations in the thousands, it’s impossible to care about everyone and each person is more expendable/replaceable. It’s easy to become invisible and just coast through life only being valued for the work you can do, or when people need something from you, and forgotten the instant you’re no longer useful.”
Image source: Jesmer8490
#37
Redditor said:
“Being around the wrong people can seriously decrease your quality of life.”
freeloadingcat replied:
“That’s why the rich goes to private school and ivy league…”
AverageSizeWayne replied:
“I pretty much did. It’s worse than being around normal people.”
JohhnyTheKik also replied:
“From my experience private schools are often way worse in terms of bullying and toxicity.”
Image source: reddit.com
#38
“It’s sad to say but sometimes how shallow people can be (myself included). People easily like to make quick judgments about you based on your ethnicity, race, gender, beauty, income, and profession thinking they know everything about you and who are you; when in fact these factors don’t define a person’s character, intelligence, capacities and who they truly are as a person.”
Image source: KeyBathroom516
#39
“That “Happily ever after” is a complete crock of s***.”
Image source: Only_Way2774
#40
“For a period of time, you will find yourself in the cycle of “need a car to go to work; mostly going to work to afford my car”.”
Image source: Crayonalyst
#41
“All injuries are permanent.”
Image source: SoCalFelipe
#42
“Going to school is the easiest thing you’re going to have to do.”
Image source: ShadowyConspirator
#43
paletapt said:
“Everything seems to be too expensive when we have to work for it.”
Raskolnikovo replied:
“This depends on many things. One factor is how much money you received from your parents growing up. The other is how high the purchase power in your country is. I was raised in Colombia by very restrictive parents (in terms of money), then I moved to Germany and started working minimum wage and I feel I’m rich lol.”
Image source: paletapt
#44
OptimalBeans said:
“That you’re going to college to work at a job that cares absolutely nothing about you or your family. Meaning that if you’re a good employee it means nothing. You have to switch from job to job if you ever want to make more money which is the dumbest thing in my opinion. If you’re a good employee and do your job right you should get raises.”
UncleSub replied:
“I dunno, I worked at a hotel, went from server to manager and could’ve probably gone up after that. left for another job, went from assistant to a real position (currently in training but still a new title and a huge raise) will then be a fully trained employee with a raise again. And if I do well I can most likely become a manager there too. If not, then yeah I can move… but yes, I work weekends and extra hours all the time because I want to move up. I get it, you can move higher and faster by switching jobs, it is proven I am not saying it is not. Just saying it is not dead, at a lot of jobs if you do amazingly well you will move up. However yes, at some, you won’t move up no matter how well you do… I agree with that.”
OptimalBeans also replied:
“It depends where you work. When you work for a company like I do (IT) with 150,000 employees that’s stationed in France and outsources most of its employees it’s dif. If you work for a hotel that is basically run by the staff there it’s a little different. Try working for a multinational corporation and tell me you can move up easily and raises are guaranteed.”
Image source: OptimalBeans
#45
“You will never find more than 1, maybe 2, people who actually give a s*** about you or your well-being.”
Image source: fyrfytr310
#46
“There is no point, and you are not special.”
Image source: puckmonky
#47
DM-Hollens-117 said:
“Even parents with the best intentions will still f**k you up.”
Redditor replied:
“My parent’s “love” and “care” was disguised as verbal and emotional abuse to get me to comply with how they wanted life to be like. If I didn’t work with it, I would have things taken away (including pets,) and would have to work for their love and attention. It has sadly affected me as an adult, though I have worked through it and now acknowledge how it affects me (I was a huge people pleaser for a long time.) The sad part about all of it is, that my parents still think they did the right thing and that it was “tough love” though looking back it was mostly arbitrary. Like, who the f**k rehomes a kid’s pet because they aren’t interested in playing an instrument?”
Image source: DM-Hollens-117
#48
“Seconds are constantly ticking away and we’re all dying as we speak. Also the world keeps spinning and people keep growing. People you once knew and loved grow without you. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
Image source: Amy-Paradise
#49
COVID-69420bbq said:
“Life in general is an endless version of high school, it’s just that people’s bodies continue to age and the setting changes.”
Agorm replied:
“Really? I work in a school nowadays but other than that I don’t see the similarities. Haven’t been bullied at work. I’m not trying to be cool or whatever to fit in. People don’t really care what you do in general as long that their work doesn’t suffer from it(colleagues). Have to pay taxes. Have to pay bills. It just day in day out the same basically. I remember high school as a much more carefree period tbh. But with a lot more social drama…”
Image source: COVID-69420bbq
#50
“Adult life is literally just working 9-5, eating, sleeping, showering, and fu***ng. Everyone is literally s** crazed as adults, I didn’t realize it until I was like 25.”
Image source: DRealLeal
#51
“Time is relative and to us. The last decades of our life, although a longer duration will speed by faster than our youth. As time runs out it also speeds up until you realize at the end that you should of done more and now its too late.”
Image source: groovy604
#52
“That for better or for worse life goes on. Something good happened today? Great, today ends and tomorrow comes. Something terrible happened today? That sucks, same thing. Moments good and bad are fleeting, nothing ACTUALLY matters. The sun will rise tomorrow with or without you. Your loved ones may remember you but when they are gone you will Be lost to the sands of time.”
Image source: Internal-Stable-9162
#53
“Every person you will ever know only likes you for what you can give them. Money, food, love, a place to stay, conversation, a car… what it is doesn’t matter, but you have to give them something. You are the same way with everyone you will ever meet.”
Image source: virgilreality
#54
“I’m only 18 and I was at a family diner the other day for my grandpa’s 70th birthday. At this diner was also my little cousin who’s 2 years old. And a couple of times through the whole night I realized how happy and excited she was about anything and everything only to notice the adults just half-heartedly giving a smile at these things including myself. Like in many aspects, I’m still a kid and I’ve already lost the ability to feel like that it’s kinda sad tbh. Like many people are saying again still only 18 but just how incompetent people are. I’m a first-year uni student in chemical and computer engineering and a lot of my classmates are impossible to work with or just have no clue what’s going on. It makes me worry for the future.”
Image source: Terrodice
#55
“Life is punishment, it’s designed to hurt you as much as possible for as long as possible.”
Image source: jbf430
#56
mrsguyliner said:
“You didn’t ask to be born and now you’re forced to work for the rest of your life with no guarantee you’ll be safe, secure or happy.”
ArthurshatHasAplan replied:
“If I had the financial security in making a baby I would but if I know I don’t have the funds for it I would be f***ing f***ed. I wish my parents would have thought about that but I guess I learned don’t make a baby when ur broke as s*** & can’t make it live a comfortable life. Most of my friends are getting to that age where they have babies. Like I feel being 20 years you need to have fun and enjoy the moments to yourself you are only in your 20s for a bit don’t f*** yourself over by having children.”
Image source: mrsguyliner
#57
“Human relations are fragile and can be killed but memes are forever.”
Image source: yaboi69uwu
#58
BrnInD80s said:
“Not all adults are nice.”
More-Masterpiece-561 replied:
“In general, most people are horrible and awful. And if they felt that they are not being watched they would do even more horrible things. Most people stay away from doing the wrong thing not because of their conscience but because of the accountability. Most of the people stay away from driving under influence to avoid getting a DUI, not because they think it’s dangerous. And the people closest to you are more likely to hurt you than a random stranger. Physically or mentally.”
Image source: BrnInD80s
Follow Us
