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Despite access to thousands of people’s life experiences, we tend to not really understand something until it happens to us. There is really no proper substitute for just living through something, but the magic of the internet allows us to at least try.
Someone asked “What’s a truth about aging that no one prepared you for?” and netizens shared the surprising examples. So get comfortable as you read through, upvote your favorite stories and be sure to share your own experiences, ideas and thoughts in the comments section below.
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#1
I’m 61 and sometimes I feel like this world is not for me anymore. I feel almost like an imposter. For example, I can’t find clothes I like that fit correctly, tv is abhorrent, only old music sounds pleasant, shoes are uncomfortable, I don’t recognize most celebrities or famous people in the news or tabloids, and I don’t understand the need for most new and supposedly exciting products.
I’m an educated person, I still work and have an active life. I’m not a recluse. But a little at a time, I feel the world is moving on without me. I finally understand why, in her final years, my mother only watched movies from the 1950s and reminisced about the past more than she talked about the present. Her world was long gone.
Never Snarky 2 months ago
Like OP, I'm active, but I'm 73 and am getting tired of trying to keep up with all the changes.
#2
The world becomes more beautiful and people become less necessary.
keyboardtek 2 months ago
In retirement I am finding out that human contact is crucial to keep the brain functioning well.
#3
How much I don’t give a f**k anymore! In a good way.
Tabitha 2 months ago
I stopped wearing makeup, stopped straightening my wavy hair and let it go natural, and wear clothes that fit well and are comfortable, regardless of whether they’re in style. I don’t chase fads anymore, because I know what I like and what my particular style is.i stopped trying to be what I thought I should be, and started cultivating who I actually am—-and always was tbh, even back in the day when it didn’t make me very popular—-which is a whip smart, funny, nice looking woman who doesn’t take s**t from anyone, and has no qualms about calling them out for it. Love me or love me not. I’m not going to beg you to change your mind. I’m just as happy in my own company as I am in the company of others. I like the real me, now that I found her.
#4
Your body really does just start hurting out of nowhere.
Michael Largey 2 months ago
By family history, I should have died twenty years ago. So any current aches and pains seem like small time wannabes.
#5
You will realize that you hate planning meals and making food every single day. It's boring and to easy to fall into monotony. But you have to make lunch again and then plan for dinner again then make dinner again and what do you want to eat tomorrow so you plan for breakfast tomorrow and get up and make breakfast again and then plan for lunch again.....
I am so tired of planning and making food.
StrangeOne 2 months ago
This is why there's been so many days I've lived off of take aways, mac n' cheese and just buying whatever looks interesting at the grocery store just to bring it home and let that eggplant sit to mold.
#6
Just how horrid menopause is and how little the medical community cares about how much you're suffering.
#7
How your mind stays young while your body starts to slow down. You still feel like the same person you’ve always been but suddenly you notice little things changing.
Kremidas:
When I turned 40 I was asked by a younger person what that felt like. I told them I just feel like a 27 year old who has been hanging around and doing stuff for 13 years.
StrangeOne 2 months ago (edited)
Repetitive movements, over-exertion, pushing your body to it's limits catch up to you in seemingly small ways that end up with big problems, such as physiotherapy and surgeries. It could be wearing the wrong size, wrong fitted shoes for years. Trying to crack your back by twisting around. To an untreated issue you've been holding off forever. Take care of yourself now so you can enjoy a good retirement later.
#8
Your friends start to die. It's something I never thought about.
#9
Doors start closing once you reach a certain age.
Frozboz:
Ageism is real. I just turned 50 and am in a young person's career (software development). I feel how hiring managers look at me when asked to turn my camera on, during an interview that was going very well and suddenly it's "we'll get back to you".
StrangeOne 2 months ago
Isn't ageism illegal when interviewing? I this treatment being 40 at work. It's not so much they won't hire me or look at me as too old. More like, my younger manager tries too hard to one-up me, either ignores me when I tell her I need to ease up on my tasks so I don't injure myself or turns it into a personal comparison. "I did it alone when I was in your position. And I was pregnant." And I also get the "You need to watch your tone. That's part of growing up, you know. Learning how to control how you sound to others." Then 30 seconds later shouts at the other team while laying an F bomb. Yeah, real mature. /s I mentioned this to my mom. She told me she's gotten the same treatment at her jobs, telling me that people are intimidated by strong women who command boundaries. Not sure if she's entirely right that it's just something fellow women experience as we get older, or if men experience it as well. But I do get the authoritive, firm tone=b***h mentality unfairly placed on women. js
#10
Time f*****g flies.
nor_cal_woolgrower:
The days are long but the years fly by.
devotedtodreams 2 months ago
This. As I'm writing this, how the hell is it September already?! Seems like in the blink of an eye, it'll be Christmas again... (not that I have a problem with that, but the fleetingness of time is unsettling sometmes)
#11
How much time you wasted in your life trying to make others like you.
JoeKing 2 months ago
I don't.. I treat people how they treat me. So if they are nice/supportive during hard times as well as good times etc... Then it's no trouble for me to be nice and support them during their hard times and good times. If I don't bother with someone (Family included) because they treat me badly.. So in that respect, it's not a waste.
#12
Time for the hard truth.
One day, and yes it will happen to you, you will see a box... and you won't just throw it away because IT'S A REALLY USEFUL BOX.
iseefractals 2 months ago
My wife is 35. We have...just so many f*****g boxes, broken down and stuck in the garage "just in case" I was in the garage a couple weeks ago, and discovered a box (filled with other boxes) from FOURTEEN YEARS AGO. Why do i know it's from 14 years ago? Because it's something we bought the first week i moved here. It's a sickness, and it's avoidable.
#13
Adults aren't real. At least not in the way they're viewed when you're a kid.
When you're a kid you can't wait to "grow up" and then you do and you're still you, just older. That voice inside your head doesn't change, but what you see in the mirror does. Only now you're just older and saddled with bills and stress and all of life's "surprises".
On top of this, everyone is winging it. Absolutely everyone. Because the idea of order and a civilized society is an illusion. We're all playing by made up rules and making imaginary money and all the rest of it. A one dollar bill costs just as much to print as a hundred dollar bill. Hell, ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLAR BILLS used to be a thing (not in circulation, but they still represented their face value). Same principle applies.
In short, everyone is just doing whatever until we die.
Joshua David 2 months ago
The kids don't realize that birth to around 21 years old will have been the longest part of your life. The rest comes fast and hard.
#14
I'd just turned 40 and wasn't happy about it when I happened to talk to a couple in their 80s. Oh 40 they said, eyes misting up. What I wouldn't give to be 40 again. Made me feel better and now that I'm 60 I'm beginning to see their point of view.
#15
You start to realize the older you get that the end is closer than the beginning and you still feel like you have so much more to do.
#16
It’s really lonely being an adult. I mean you have friends and co workers etc but it’s just incredibly lonely because you only ever have surface level conversations with most people.
#17
The fatigue.
Resistant-Insomnia:
I haven't felt rested in over ten years. Always tired. The moment I open my eyes I'm exhausted.
#18
How much it hurts to fall.
I fell off the roof of a house as a kid and just got up and walked away.
Now I'm careful when stepping off of a tall curb...
#19
Hair grows where you don't want it and falls out where you wanted it.
#20
Things that seemed so important when you were younger, really are not important.
#21
No one prepared me for how much energy and time it takes to maintain everything—like health, relationships, and just staying organized. It’s way more work than I expected!
UncleJohn3000 2 months ago
On the other hand, quicksand has played far less a role in my life than we were warned about.
#22
It will hit you unexpectedly, you think you're still young but your body just won't cooperate and will show some signs.
#23
It's not just you who is getting old.
Your parents are getting even older.
Annik Perrot 2 months ago
And then they die, and you realize you're on the frontline, now, the next one to go.
#24
Remember when you were younger and you'd ask your Dad: "What's wrong?" And he'd say: "Idk, I must've slept funny."
That's you now.
ILoveMySon 2 months ago
The real question is how many times did you have to get up to go to the bathroom?
#25
The point where you start evaluating friendships and find that most friendships are merely transactional. I've dropped a lot of "friends".
#26
Waking up at least twice a night to pee.
Mel Colley 2 months ago
Don't forget the time you lay there contemplating if you should get out of bed or not hoping you can hold it in. You can't and you eventually get up and do your business.
#27
Your face looks older than your body, your soul feels younger than your mind ...
#28
That it seems to happen overnight.
I was young the day before yesterday.
I'm turning 60 in two months.
WTF.
Duncan McCann 2 months ago
I had my 61st birthday last month. Being 60, the 'Big Six-O', didn't feel so bad, 'hey I made it to 60' - now however I'm 'in my sixties' - not so keen on that feeling.
#29
When you get a flashback of a good memory and you realize that was over 10 years ago.
Bonschenverwerter:
I saw a former classmate the other day. Did the maths and realized I hadn't seen them in about 20 years. I'm only 35.
Tabitha 2 months ago (edited)
Has a dream about a year ago, where I walked down the stairs in the house I live in now, which is not my childhood home btw, and when I got to the living room, there were all my brothers—-I’m the baby and only girl, my brothers were between 9 and 18 years older than me—-but they were all young men, about the ages they were when I was about 12. I’m 63 now, so that means they looked like they did 50 years ago. That’s also the way they look in my mind’s eye, like they’re fixed in my memory like it’s 1972. The feelings in the dream were warm and happy, and we were all smiling and talking and having a great time. That’s my only memory of the dream. It was nice to be all together again, because of my four older brothers, only one is still living. That’s the hardest part of growing old.
#30
Healthy living is just one part of living longer. Genetics and environmental influences are the two other puzzle pieces.
Healthy living only gets you so far. The last three funerals I went to were for people in really amazing shape before their illness/death. Cancer, cancer, heart attack.
Absolutely, do all you can, but denial of mortality isn't helpful as you age.
Never Snarky 2 months ago
I freely admit I'm old and am going to die at some point. I accept it and life is so much more relaxed.
#31
I started to appreciate lonelines and peace. Priceless..
keyboardtek 2 months ago
Retired, lots of free time and no stress. Bored out of my mind. But there is always that nagging thought wondering when the next health crisis will hit me.
#32
Household appliances start getting really exciting. Had a vacuum delivered a couple of months ago, it arrived while we had dinner guests and everyone was super excited lol.
#33
I'm middle aged and a funny thing is the way younger people get self-conscious or apologize when there is no need. For example, they will apologize for swearing around me or mentioning something like (gasp) drinking, or d***s, or sleeping around. I think it's funny. Why would being on earth longer make me easier to scandalize? I've seen and done things that would shock them, lol, but to them I'm a very proper looking classy older lady.
StrangeOne 2 months ago
That's the least of my complaints. If someone of the younger generation showed me that sort of respect, it shows they have been brought up with a decent amount of respect and consideration. I'm more bothered with coming across younger people who behave recklessly around older and disabled people who can't move as quickly. But that's not limited to older people. My daughter walks with a cane due to lingering injury last year. Some jerk on a scooter swerved within inches towards her, on purpose, with a sarcastic "excuse me". It's painful enough for her to walk. Sorry for the tangent, but that s**t pisses me off. Everyone can always practice using tact and consideration unto others, regardless of age.
#34
If you choose not to have kids, you may end up losing your friends. I turn 40 this year, and my partner and I don't see many folks these days. Parents like to hang out with other parents. And I don't have a grudge, I totally see the value for playdates, etc. But it can be a little lonely.
Ripley 2 months ago
It will only be a problem if you let it. I don't have kids - a lot of my friends have kids and we still have lots of interactions. You do have to be prepared to work around the kids - you don't get exclusive access to your friends, but you do get to be "Uncle/Auntie", which can be pretty awesome.
#35
Everybody thinks you're respectable if you keep a rose garden and a vegetable garden...
...no matter what you used to do at Burning Man.
What do you think ?
Aubrie Allen 2 months ago
It's sad. Your folks get old and can pass at any moment. My dad passed suddenly 3 days ago. It's hard.
Multa Nocte 2 months ago
You spend your entire life fighting against the war culture, championing social causes, championing women's rights, championing gender rights, championing environmental causes, and then you come to Bored Panda and have people call you a Boomer in an ugly way.
Lawrence 2 months ago
Keep fighting the good fights. And don't give energy to ugliness spewed by internet randos.
Load More Replies...
Gregory Hansen 2 months ago
The secret to youth is NOT letting that number define you. I'll be 60 next month. I have a skateboard, I listen to Slayer loud as hell. The first steps ARE like Forrest Gump with the leg braces on, but then I can still fly pretty good. Just do what you do and stop worrying about the number. It's NOT who you are. My kids tell people I'm the real Peter Pan. The most difficult part is caring. I put on weight, I need to drop it off, but mehhh, whatever - is a the beginning of the downturn. If you can avoid that procrastination, keep your mind and body healthy and just live your life, you'll be fine
Aubrie Allen 2 months ago
It's sad. Your folks get old and can pass at any moment. My dad passed suddenly 3 days ago. It's hard.
Multa Nocte 2 months ago
You spend your entire life fighting against the war culture, championing social causes, championing women's rights, championing gender rights, championing environmental causes, and then you come to Bored Panda and have people call you a Boomer in an ugly way.
Lawrence 2 months ago
Keep fighting the good fights. And don't give energy to ugliness spewed by internet randos.
Load More Replies... Gregory Hansen 2 months ago
The secret to youth is NOT letting that number define you. I'll be 60 next month. I have a skateboard, I listen to Slayer loud as hell. The first steps ARE like Forrest Gump with the leg braces on, but then I can still fly pretty good. Just do what you do and stop worrying about the number. It's NOT who you are. My kids tell people I'm the real Peter Pan. The most difficult part is caring. I put on weight, I need to drop it off, but mehhh, whatever - is a the beginning of the downturn. If you can avoid that procrastination, keep your mind and body healthy and just live your life, you'll be fine
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