10 Times People Realized They’d Totally Just Settled

“Our youth is fleeting
Old age is just around the bend
And I can’t wait to go gray

And I’ll sit and wonder
Of every love that could have been
If I’d only thought of something charming to say

Bop-ba (bop-ba)
This is the sound of settling”

That song, literally titled The Sound of Settling, is a weirdly upbeat emo-pop anthem from back in my day. I don’t think I ever really understood it as a teenager, but as an adult who’s experienced more of what it’s describing – it can be a pretty unsettling (ha) tune.

Because settling is never fun, as these anonymous folks found out.

10. “For so long…”

It can take forever to get there.

9. “It was a mistake”

It always feels that way in hindsight, no matter what’s going on in the present.

8. “Never again”

This I swear to me.

7. “Because we had sons”

Turns out, kids aren’t really better off with parents that can’t stand each other.

6. “Can’t believe I settled!”

The cry of exes and lawsuit-bringers alike.

5. “It turned out terribly.”

It pretty much always does.

4. “I see it”

Yes, that is literally the definition of the phenomenon.

3. “Just didn’t work”

“He hated all my friends. Didn’t even hide it.”

2. “I learned my lesson”

But it’s a lesson hard-taught.

1. “Idk any other explanation”

Go you.

Guess it’s better to just live alone than to settle.

Or is it?

Tell us your opinion in the comments.