I remember when I was young and I couldn’t wait to grow up so I could drive, explore, and generally do whatever the hell I wanted.
And then I became an adult…and it wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Let’s be honest, being an adult can really beat you down in a lot of ways.
But you gotta stick at out and keep moving forward!
Let’s take a look at these personal stories from folks on AskReddit about adult problems they were not prepared for.
1. Better late than never.
“Falling in love at an older age but watching life speed by so fast.
Wished I’d met her 30 years ago.”
2. A big letdown.
“Adults never actually growing up.
I used to look at 30 year olds and be like “they got it figured out.”
Now i am 30, i feel as useless as i did when i was 17.”
3. Making friends is hard.
“Drifting away from school friends because moving away, but then struggling to make new friends in a new city.”
4. How did that happen?
“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.”
5. Time flies.
“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.”
6. You have to stick it out.
“Not being able to leave a job you hate because you might just become homeless without it.”
7. Oh, boy…
“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.”
8. Big decisions.
“Deciding what to eat for 3 meals a day 7 days a week.
Omfg. So basic, so maddening with a SO and kids in the mix. What would you like for dinner?
What would YOU like for dinner? I’ll eat whatever. What would you LIKE for dinner? I like what you like. FINE trail mix it is! Fucking torture.
And, no, a strict daily menu planned in advance does not work.”
9. A great analogy.
“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.”
10. ALL THE TIME.
“The amount of family get togethers you don’t want to go to after you get married.”
11. What am I doing?
“I have no bloody clue what I’m doing. I surely don’t feel like an adult.
Being single and childless at 30 doesn’t help.
Most days, I feel like a kid playing dress up. I wasn’t expecting that!”
12. Health is the only wealth.
“Medical Issues and the costs associated with them.
I went from a late 20s guy with no issues other than the occasional cavity to a late 30s guy with Spondylolysis, OSA, Anxiety, RLS, and Hypertension in under 10 years.
Its crazy that I am taking medications and trying to improve my health because my doctor said I could die in 20 years if I dont shape up.
Seriously, I just want to drink beer, play guitar, hangout with the mrs and maybe smoke some weed now and then but these last years have hit me like a ton of bricks, and from what it understand it keeps getting worse”
13. Very dark.
“How fucking 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…”
14. True for some places.
“Cliques and bullies are just as bad in the office as they were in school.”
15. Where do I go from here?
“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 fucking 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 fucking ass off and still be broke.”
16. A part of life, but very sad.
“Aging parents. 😔
I still remember being a little kid around 5 or 6 watching The land before time and crying over Littlefoots mom dying. I cried to my mom saying I didn’t want her to go anywhere and she said don’t worry because it’s something that won’t happen for a really long time.
Cut ahead almost 30 years and that time is almost here. I still remember it so vividly and losing my parents is probably the scariest thing in my life. Seems like time flew by and I’m worried with how quickly it’s all moving.”
17. Tough times.
“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.”
As we said before, being an adult can be pretty rough…
How about you?
What do you think are some of the hardest things about being an adult.
Talk to us in the comments!