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A 2019 survey found that globally, we think old age begins at 66. When asked to describe it, we usually use the term wise (35%), followed by frail (32%), lonely (30%), and respected (25%).
People believe we should prepare for this period of our lives by exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet (60% and 59% respectively), saving enough money for an adequate pension (51%), and avoiding smoking as well as having a good circle of friends and having a sport or hobby (45%, 44%, and 44% respectively).
But sometimes no matter how much you plan, you still don't fully understand what lies ahead until you start experiencing it.
Interested in the challenges that come with the years, Reddit user Fainne-Wu posted a question on the platform, asking "What's the hardest part about getting older?" Here are the most popular answers.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
With each passing day, my chance to see the world passes. I don't have the money to travel as much as I want, and I know I will die missing out on so much. It's a sad reality for everyone, but it's still hard to handle.
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#2
I’m really old...the two hardest parts are having almost everyone you've ever known die, so your entire history dies with them, and losing mobility one way or another. Sucks.
#3
For me, it's just losing that feeling of innocence you had in your youth. Like seeing your crush in class and imagining a relationship in your head. Hanging out with good friends and all it was was swimming, eating junk food, watching movies. No alcohol or d***s, just a family sized dorito bag and Dr. Pepper. It's hard to put it into words, but I miss that feeling when you and your crush would sit on some bleachers and you felt nothing could go wrong. No worrying about sex or marriage, just you and the person of your affections just talking about life, nearly holding hands. When you get older you lose the excitement of so many firsts. Your first kiss, your first time sneaking out, your first time walking around a mall without parental guidance, first this and first that. Life just felt so exhilirating. The feeling begins to fade out as you get older and it's hard. Those times were so happy and stupid.
Floeckchen 2 weeks ago
I beliefe this feeling of innocence is a retrospective feeling when you get older and think back to your childhood and youth. I think these things felt way more serious when you actually were at that age since you didn't have much to compare it with.
#4
Your body changes in ways that you don't want it to.
#6
Realizing your death is getting closer and your dreams will not come true.
cerinamroth 2 weeks ago
I nearly died when I was a kid, so this one doesn't really worry me. Every day of my free life is a gift.
#7
I could sound like a broken record that's been heard by all generations but the truth is, as you get older, the healing process gets slower and you end up in pain for longer periods of time, you'll hit a threshold where trying to work out the pain only makes it worse.
#8
When I (female) was young I spent a lot of energy fending off unwanted attention and harassment. Not every day but enough.
Now that I am older and have started to naturally age I feel pretty much invisible to everyone.
There are pros and cons to this of course.
#10
Time is perceived faster for some reason. Everything speeds up and you're still trying to catch up. In some ways it's good, like making the work day go by quicker, but it's bad in other ways like having less time for friends and the hobbies you used to be able to devote many more hours to.
#11
I'm only 24, but seeing people you care for die has to be the one.
One quote that hit me hard is: "One sibling will never have to bury his brothers and sisters, while one will have to bury them all".
#12
The complete inability to sleep in.
The older you get the earlier your body wakes you up. You don't necessarily need to be up for anything on Saturday or Sunday morning but your body has decided you need to go to work on your off days. When you're a teenager and in college sleeping 12-14 hours when you have nothing to do is completely normal and acceptable.
I would pay $100 a night if I could get 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep and actually feel well rested when I wake.
#13
Losing my voice. I used to have a nice singing voice. I sang harmony well and enjoyed singing along with the radio and alone. It brought me a lot of joy, but now, my voice sounds like I have a permanent cold. I also used to play the flute competently, but now I can no longer reach the high notes. It's hard to accept. I don't think younger people realize that the talents you had in your youth might not be there after the age of 70.
#16
My husband and I opted not to have children. I still don't regret the decision, but I do wonder what will happen to me when I'm older. I'm 65 now, but if I lose my husband, I will be alone, and that scares me.
#17
Feeling your body get worse while your mind doesn't seem to age.
#18
52 here. It's a real toss up. First, our only kid is grown up and gone and we really liked being parents. I'm truly proud of him, but miss him desperately.
Second, taking care of my elderly mother who has dementia has made me feel old like nothing else, ever.
similarly 2 weeks ago
Right there! When my youngest moved out, for about six months I was really depressed. Didn't know what to do with myself. For over 20 years, my whole existence had been raising my children, making sure they had what they needed, etc etc, etc. When they were grown up and gone, and felt like "Now what?" I felt that all that was left was to grow old and die. I got over it though. I got some hobbies.
#19
The potential of the future gets smaller.
When you're young you could potentially achieve so many things at some point in the future.
The worst part about getting older is when you reach a point where you realize that realistically some of those things are off the table for good now, and you're never going to be able to do them. It's like climbing a tree and each branch you take closes off some of what's at the ends of the other branches.
Slowly your destination is narrowing down. Slowly you're reaching what will turn out to be your full potential, what your life will turn out to be, and all those other things are just dreams.
similarly 2 weeks ago
There's one great potential in being older that is not to be underestimated: the ability to guide the young. I often think of advice to the young like planting seeds. A lot of times, young people have no idea what I'm talking about. But someday, when experience catches up with them, they will. Hopefully it will be BEFORE they need the advice, and not after.
Mia Black 2 weeks ago
I think this is part of the roots for my depression...I somehow knew from a young age all this stuff. I knew my life would be average or below but I have to be and am grateful it's not worse. I knew I would not reach something special, have to keep my dreams small to at least reach a few of them and that I will never have a good retirement. I always felt a barrier in myself that stops me at being average and nothing more. Even physical - I really felt the blockage when swimming for medals. I just couldn't get any faster but during and after the race I felt, that there was still unused energy. I just can't reach it. I tried hard but someday the disappointment was to big to handle so I felt I need to let it go and just exist with this averageness.... I'm fine with it. There have to be just average people. What bothers me is the feeling of potential in me that I can't reach. It feels so stupid to not use it. Now I just try to make other people happy and live through their happiness
kristina law 2 weeks ago
I really could never actually put how I feel into words where others might understand but you said exactly what I feel. The barrier line most of all. It makes me so sad when I think about it but I also feel like there's no point in trying harder when I truly feel like "this" is all I will ever amount to. Sorry for rambling lol but thank you for making me feel as if I'm not alone in this :)
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Sarah Suelzle 2 weeks ago
"The worst part about getting older is when you reach a point where you realize that realistically some of those things are off the table for good now, and you're never going to be able to do them." Exactly this. I have been trying to accurately articulate how I've been feeling the last few years and you nailed it.
ArtistinResidence 1 week ago
Why do I think he has a picture of himself in the attic? 😏
Load More Replies... cerinamroth 2 weeks ago
The potential for appreciating time and the beauty of the world increases, though.
David 2 weeks ago
Late term / final term presidents are referred to as lame duck presidents because they don't have enough time left to accomplish much. Currently that is Biden but in about 4 years that will be trump. Anyway - that's how I feel about my life. Like I'm a lame duck senior. Getting old enough where the inconvenient aspects of travel are a bigger deal. See cool tools for my shop, but then realize I'm winding down on projects and probably wouldn't get much use out of them. Stuff like that.
#20
It becomes more difficult to make new friends, even as your closest ones move away, die, or just "drift apart" over time.
#22
Not being allowed to eat all the good things you enjoyed when you were younger: sweets, salty things, fries, bread, etc. When you're older, all those things either get you sick or sicker.
#23
Grey pubes
looks like i have a badger stuffed down my undies
life is cruel.
#24
Someone on here said something before like "not knowing when the good ol days were"
And it's true. You don't know those days are over until they're behind you. And sometimes, if you're lucky, you can have multiple times in your life that are like that. I hope that rings true for the rest of you.
Corvus 2 weeks ago
There can be multiple instances of "good old days," I think. For me, it could be the summers in my grandma's neighborhood when I spent whole days outside, just doing all sorts of mischief. But it could also be my college years when we had so much fun, went for road trips/picnics, stayed up all night, supposedly to study, but goofing off instead, etc. Years from now, I may even look upon today as some sort of "good old days."
#25
The condescending attitude of young people.
#26
Facing and overcoming shortcomings you didn't know you had.
#27
Feeling that I no longer have anything of value to contribute. No one really cares about my life experiences. I'm yesterday's news.
#28
It is increasingly more difficult, expensive, and complicated to do something about a career rut and/or the need to break out and retrain for something else. That, and discovering real talents and passions for things that you realistically have no time or possibility to pursue because you wasted your younger years working jobs you hated to chase someone else's dream.
#29
Getting both more responsibility and freedom.
Like you could do anything, but that could also f**k you up. And there's no one to stop you from doing that.
Did I say that out loud? (he/him)cis/het 2 weeks ago
You can make bad decisions that will follow you for a long time at any age.
#30
Picking things up from the floor without yelling something out.
What do you think ?
similarly 2 weeks ago
Getting old isn't all bad. I like to say that old age takes with one hand and gives with the other, and I like to think what old age has given me is worth more than what it's taken.
Janissary35680 2 weeks ago
"Getting old isn't all bad." (1) Growing old certainly beats the alternative. (2) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
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Susie Elle 2 weeks ago
The only thing I miss about being young is the lack of responsibility. For the rest, almost everything is better now than it used to be. Almost.
Corvus 2 weeks ago
The lack of responsibility + the ability to never get tired.
Load More Replies... Ron Mael's devoted wife. 2 weeks ago
It's knowing that the world you belong to has all gone, your living in a younger generations world, and, a lot of places and experiences are gone.
Captain Grump 2 weeks ago
I'm sorry you feel that way. The world belongs to all of us. There are always new experiences and places to be discovered and enjoyed, if you stay open to such things.
Load More Replies...
Mäandertal 2 weeks ago
I'm only going on 40 but I've never been perfectly physically healthy my entire life, so aging to me feels like a gift already. The friendships you maintain age with you, the neuroses of trying to fit in or please others shrink in relevancy with each passing day. So apart from the physical health it's all great. Things being finite gives me an appreciation for the here and now.
Bertha Madott 2 weeks ago
It is a rare and special gift to grow old with someone you love. We (F76 and M86) still have fun together after 48 years. Just love going out for lunch.
Charles Kormos 2 weeks ago (edited)
At age 48 I was built like Bruce Lee with the looks of Patrick Swayzee. 14 years later I'm still fit but now I'm invisible in public.
Jumping Jellyfishes 2 weeks ago
Had a reset after having cancer. When those old age blues start creeping in, I just remind myself that I GET to become old, and that makes feel pretty happy :)
JayWantsACat 2 weeks ago
I've never been a morning person...until I got older. Now, if I sleep in I feel groggy and like my day is already half gone.
Chich 2 weeks ago
Guess I am in some ways lucky. I wandered through life and have done many things that are on most bucket lists. Now I'm closing in on 70 and health is starting to fade a bit. One thing I have a bit of trouble with, if I let it get to me, is that many of my jobs were exciting and I was often in charge. Never let it go to my head but I enjoyed working with a group and seeing a task worked out and completed. Now I'm a retired old guy who putters around the place and creaks a bit when I move. Oh well, it was a grand ride. Go places and do things. No one, including you, is going to fondly remember how well you filed those TPS reports.
Captain Grump 2 weeks ago
Oh FFS. Old age ain't cancer, it's part of a process. Are there really so many people who didn't think aging would happen to them? Who didn't look around at, I dunno, OLDER PEOPLE, and understand that we're all on the same journey? I have sympathy for those who live to a very old age and have to cope with losing most/all of their friends - that's hard. But for the rest of it, most of these complaints just speak to a life lived with delusion. Don't like getting older? As my grandfather used to say, 'it beats the alternative.'
Megan Humphries 2 weeks ago
I do think that younger people do look at older people and think that they won't be that way. They don't listen to older people and then seem surprised when things happen exactly how older people said, or would have given the opportunity.
Load More Replies...
Beak Hookage 2 weeks ago
I hit thirty and BAM - overnight, I suddenly became tired. All the time. I'd already done a hell of a lot with my life, but on that birthday I suddenly felt this horrible sadness and desperation as if I had wasted it. And after that I never again enjoyed celebrating my birthday. That was quite a few birthdays ago with another one coming up soon. Now I'm tired all the time and I get my own personal fireworks sound effects every time I stand up. And I think my eyesight is starting to go.
Helsten Morgan 2 weeks ago
My pet peeve is that some younger people treat older people, especially women, as if we are stupid and incapable. I am so tired of being underestimated and treated like a moron.
AnnaB 2 weeks ago
Not being seen as a 'real' person anymore by the younger generations. If they pay any attention at all, it's just to give you a sympathetic look. They don't seem to realize that we were once young like them. The stories this grey-haired old lady could tell them about my wild, crazy adventures in my twenties and thirties would probably knock them off their feet.
BookFanatic 2 weeks ago
Well, that was mildly depressing. One good thing about getting older? I can eat chocolate chip waffles whenever I want to!
similarly 2 weeks ago
Getting old isn't all bad. I like to say that old age takes with one hand and gives with the other, and I like to think what old age has given me is worth more than what it's taken.
Janissary35680 2 weeks ago
"Getting old isn't all bad." (1) Growing old certainly beats the alternative. (2) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Load More Replies... Susie Elle 2 weeks ago
The only thing I miss about being young is the lack of responsibility. For the rest, almost everything is better now than it used to be. Almost.
Corvus 2 weeks ago
The lack of responsibility + the ability to never get tired.
Load More Replies... Ron Mael's devoted wife. 2 weeks ago
It's knowing that the world you belong to has all gone, your living in a younger generations world, and, a lot of places and experiences are gone.
Captain Grump 2 weeks ago
I'm sorry you feel that way. The world belongs to all of us. There are always new experiences and places to be discovered and enjoyed, if you stay open to such things.
Load More Replies... Mäandertal 2 weeks ago
I'm only going on 40 but I've never been perfectly physically healthy my entire life, so aging to me feels like a gift already. The friendships you maintain age with you, the neuroses of trying to fit in or please others shrink in relevancy with each passing day. So apart from the physical health it's all great. Things being finite gives me an appreciation for the here and now.
Bertha Madott 2 weeks ago
It is a rare and special gift to grow old with someone you love. We (F76 and M86) still have fun together after 48 years. Just love going out for lunch.
Charles Kormos 2 weeks ago (edited)
At age 48 I was built like Bruce Lee with the looks of Patrick Swayzee. 14 years later I'm still fit but now I'm invisible in public.
Jumping Jellyfishes 2 weeks ago
Had a reset after having cancer. When those old age blues start creeping in, I just remind myself that I GET to become old, and that makes feel pretty happy :)
JayWantsACat 2 weeks ago
I've never been a morning person...until I got older. Now, if I sleep in I feel groggy and like my day is already half gone.
Chich 2 weeks ago
Guess I am in some ways lucky. I wandered through life and have done many things that are on most bucket lists. Now I'm closing in on 70 and health is starting to fade a bit. One thing I have a bit of trouble with, if I let it get to me, is that many of my jobs were exciting and I was often in charge. Never let it go to my head but I enjoyed working with a group and seeing a task worked out and completed. Now I'm a retired old guy who putters around the place and creaks a bit when I move. Oh well, it was a grand ride. Go places and do things. No one, including you, is going to fondly remember how well you filed those TPS reports.
Captain Grump 2 weeks ago
Oh FFS. Old age ain't cancer, it's part of a process. Are there really so many people who didn't think aging would happen to them? Who didn't look around at, I dunno, OLDER PEOPLE, and understand that we're all on the same journey? I have sympathy for those who live to a very old age and have to cope with losing most/all of their friends - that's hard. But for the rest of it, most of these complaints just speak to a life lived with delusion. Don't like getting older? As my grandfather used to say, 'it beats the alternative.'
Megan Humphries 2 weeks ago
I do think that younger people do look at older people and think that they won't be that way. They don't listen to older people and then seem surprised when things happen exactly how older people said, or would have given the opportunity.
Load More Replies... Beak Hookage 2 weeks ago
I hit thirty and BAM - overnight, I suddenly became tired. All the time. I'd already done a hell of a lot with my life, but on that birthday I suddenly felt this horrible sadness and desperation as if I had wasted it. And after that I never again enjoyed celebrating my birthday. That was quite a few birthdays ago with another one coming up soon. Now I'm tired all the time and I get my own personal fireworks sound effects every time I stand up. And I think my eyesight is starting to go.
Helsten Morgan 2 weeks ago
My pet peeve is that some younger people treat older people, especially women, as if we are stupid and incapable. I am so tired of being underestimated and treated like a moron.
AnnaB 2 weeks ago
Not being seen as a 'real' person anymore by the younger generations. If they pay any attention at all, it's just to give you a sympathetic look. They don't seem to realize that we were once young like them. The stories this grey-haired old lady could tell them about my wild, crazy adventures in my twenties and thirties would probably knock them off their feet.
BookFanatic 2 weeks ago
Well, that was mildly depressing. One good thing about getting older? I can eat chocolate chip waffles whenever I want to!
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