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Roughly seven in ten Americans think young adults today have a harder time than their parents did when it comes to things like saving for the future (72%), paying for college (71%), and buying a home (70%), according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.

To get a better understanding of the possible struggles, Reddit user Raeraegoawayy asked everyone on the platform to share the "sad realities" of being a grown-up that they believe people entering adulthood should be aware of.

From comments about the daily grind to confessions about their relationships, continue scrolling to check out the replies, and don't miss the conversation we had with mental health thought leader and behavioral economics expert, Joyce Marter — you'll find it in between the entries.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them You can do everything right and it can still go wrong.

crazyditzydiva , Shiona Das / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
80points
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#2

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them The stupid s**t you do to your body adds up. Headphones at max volume? Enjoy your tinnitus. Being a goofball and head banging as hard as you can to Metallica in the 90s? Wake-up with neck pain. Showing off how much you can lift or carry and not lifting with your knees? Have fun with the back spasms after you move too quickly the wrong way.
Take it easy on your body.

debaser64 , Wellington Cunha / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
74points
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To learn how to cultivate resilience in the face of modern challenges, we spoke with Joyce Marter, a licensed psychotherapist, successful entrepreneur, author, and avid advocate of mental health. With over two decades of experience helping individuals, government agencies, and Fortune 500 companies, Marter shared her insights on resilience-building techniques:

"Practice mindfulness strategies such as breath work, meditation, yoga, or unplugging from technology and connecting with nature," she told Bored Panda. "Mindfulness helps us detach from our egos (our minds) and connect with our essence (our spirit, soul, or authentic self), which helps us to drop the defensiveness and cultivate acceptance and resilience—the ability to move through challenges, bounce back and persevere."

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"Healthy detachment is a mindfulness practice where we cultivate healthy separation from our emotions, the negative emotions of others, expectation and outcome so that we can respond consciously instead of reacting emotionally. Having a growth mindset fosters resilience because we view challenges as opportunities for growth and development."
#3

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Being an adult is living with regrets.

It's not only ok to look back and wish you did things different, it's proof of growth.

bugcatcher_billy , Muhmed Alaa El-Bank / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
71points
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#4

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them The advice of "Follow your passion" in careers only goes so far. If your passion happens to align with a lucrative career track, then you're golden. But if it requires a TON of work to get your passions to make money, then keep them as a hobby. Get a job that you can tolerate to pay the bills, and do what you love for free because you love doing it. I wouldn't say that data entry is my passion, but it gives me plenty of free time to rescue animals, garden and travel.

ca77ywumpus , Daian Gan / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
69points
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#5

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them In my experience, the older you get the less people care. Until finally nobody cares. If you don't put in the effort to reach out to people, nobody else will.

2Scarhand , Tavarruk / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
66points
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Marter, author of The Financial Mindset Fix: A Mental Fitness Program for an Abundant Life, suggested these everyday tips and habits to keep your mental well-being in check:

1) Establish a Morning Wellness Routine. "Instead of reaching for your phone and checking your social media, emails, or the news, establish a wellness routine each morning," the psychotherapist advised. "Take at least 10-15 minutes to stretch, meditate, do a short yoga practice, journal, pray or set your intentions for the day. This will help your mind and body ease into the day and set you up for success."

2) Practice Good Self-Care. "Be your own good parent and take care of yourself as you would somebody whom you love very much," Marter said. "Ensure proper nutrition, hydration, rest, exercise, and leisure activities. Sleep, diet, and exercise are key in promoting mental health. Ask your doctor to check your vitamin D levels and thyroid functioning, as these often affect our mental wellbeing."

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3) Replace Your Inner Saboteur with Positive Affirmations. The psychotherapist said we can practice cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) by remaining aware of our self-talk, especially when our Inner Saboteur takes over and puts us down, triggering negativity. "Replace this self-sabotage with self-forgiveness, self-compassion, and self-affirmation."
#6

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them That in the end, you need to be your own best friend and cheer squad. Only you can lift yourself up out of life’s inevitable potholes.

Twilight_Waters , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
61points
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#7

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them That once you live on your own, It cost money every second of your life. Even if you stay in and hide in your bed, The bills are rolling like the counter on a gas station pump.

its0matt , Alexander Grey / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
60points
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#8

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them One sad reality is that life often doesn’t go as planned. Flexibility and resilience become essential skills for navigating adulthood.

Cold-Tomatillo-414 , Sofia Alejandra / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
59points
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4) Become Your Own Best Advocate. "Embrace your worth and live authentically in alignment with who you are at the core," Joyce Marter continued. "Communicate assertively, demonstrating respect for self and others, and set healthy boundaries at home and work. Negotiate to improve your financial health."

5) Access Support. "Nurture your support network like a garden—plant seeds for new relationships, nurture the ones that you cherish, and weed out toxic relationships. Ask for the specific help you need from a person in your network who is capable of providing it. Seek counseling or therapy as a routine and preventative form of healthcare, like going to the dentist or the doctor," the psychotherapist said.
#9

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them You have all the freedom to stay up as late as you want and eat candy for dinner. But you'll feel horrible if you do..

Also, dishes. So many f*****g dishes all the time.

Suitable-Pie4896 , Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
55points
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#10

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Not everything is black and white , most things are shades of grey.

alladinsane65 , Kaique Rocha / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
54points
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#11

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Life is more about how you react to things and less about what happens to you.

Good and bad things will happen in life. What matters is how you react to it.

Oldrrider , TMS Sam / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
54points
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#12

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Everyone is very f*****g dumb.

Other-Stomach1252 , R. du Plessis / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
53points
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According to some estimates, just 4.3 percent of people have no health problems. Additionally, 1 in every 8 people in the world live with a mental disorder. At a certain point, our burden can become too heavy to handle on our own.

Marter highlighted the following as common signs that we might benefit from seeing a therapist, counselor, or other external support:

  1. Physical, cognitive, and emotional signs of stress;
  2. Difficulty sleeping;
  3. Changes in weight or appetite;
  4. Symptoms of burnout, such as feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, apathetic, irritable, frustrated, or unmotivated;
  5. Low self-esteem;
  6. Panic attacks;
  7. Thoughts about self-harm or harming others;
  8. Substance misuse;
  9. Disordered eating behaviors;
  10. Decreased functioning at home or work;
  11. Social isolation or withdrawal;
  12. Interpersonal conflicts at home or work.
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However, it's important to remember that "we shouldn't wait to see a therapist or counselor until we are suffering," Marter said. "We wouldn't wait to see a dentist until our teeth start falling out. See a counselor proactively and preventatively for a wellness checkup, just like you would go to the dentist or the doctor for an annual screening."
#13

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them While you’re growing up, your parents are growing older.

kyr038 , Feedyourvision / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
47points
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#14

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Adulting is mostly just being tired and doing laundry.

kinkyxQueeny , Dan Gold / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
47points
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#15

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Time hits the FFW button after high school... it feels like January was last month sometimes. Next thing you know is been 10 years.

eggz627 , Mike / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
46points
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#16

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them You can prepare yourself as much as you want, life will always throw you a curve ball. Especially as an adult.

Kusanagi60 , Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
46points
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#17

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Life isn’t fair.

You can work harder, be better qualified, but still get passed over for promotion. You can be the perfect partner, but they can choose to drop you anytime.

laurenposts , Yan Krukau / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
45points
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#18

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them You’re not guaranteed anything. Not love, not happiness. I think most people grow up taking for granted that these things WILL happen. Reality is a lot more complex. If you’re lucky what most of us do get looks something more like a comfortable compromise. And a lot of us end up going through life with less.

SomethingWickedTWC , Adrian Swancar / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
39points
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#19

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them The number of possible life paths you have decreases as you get older. Sometimes it actually is too late to start.

Hopeless-polyglot , Ivan Samkov / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
37points
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#20

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them People at work can be just as, if not more childish than those at school. Some folk just wait for the opportunity to stab you in the back or belittle you publicly.

Slopsie , Yan Krukau / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
36points
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#21

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them First, it goes by way faster than you think it will.

Old age doesn't come on gradually. One day you'll just be like, "Dude, I'm old. How the eff did that happen?"

Second, young people are awesome.

Forget all the stereotypes about self-centered, heartless, entitled youth. Young people have an innate ability to say to themselves, "Well, that didn't work out. Oh well, let's do something else."

For young people, screwing up and trying something else, or doing something and realizing it isn't for them, is a part of being young. At some point, we lose that when we get older.

Older people tend to wallow in their mistakes and feel like it's too late to change. They feel trapped in their decisions and obligations.

Working with college students in my 50s, young people have taught me three very important lessons:

1. It's OK to need help.

That's what friends do. My experience has been that young people can be the most loyal and true friends of all.

2. Quit taking life so damn seriously.

There's something funny about pretty much everything, so pull back, take a deep breath, and laugh.

3. It's OK to change and do something else.

You make a mistake? You're not dead! Do something else.

So my advice to young people is: respect youth, learn from them, and they'll respect you back and teach you plenty.

And never lose the qualities I named above.

Philoporphyros , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
35points
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#22

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them 50 years I'm on this planet and I'm sitting here pondering what I can tell you that is a sad reality of being an adult. Nothing really springs to mind other than the daily grind of going to work. Do better in school and you can increase your prospects of having a job that you actually enjoy.

Marybone , Anna Tarazevich / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
33points
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#23

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them You have to stop eating processed foods.

anon , Tim Samuel / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
32points
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#24

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them How lonely it feels. I’m 20, so i’m still in the transitioning period of becoming an adult, and sometimes it’s so lonely because this is where everyone’s life starts to go at different paces & in different directions. You start growing as a person & sometimes that means growing apart from friends you thought you’d be with forever.

leapbaby00 , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
31points
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#25

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Your career can be ruined by other people through little fault of your own.

tomqvaxy , Oladimeji Ajegbile / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
31points
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#26

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them You can do pretty much anything you want, which is great, but you have to deal with the consequences, which isn't great.

You can stay in bed all day and not work, but you will probably be broke. You can have a big party with your friends, but you have to pay for all the stuff and you have to clean up afterwards.

Basically, you have huge possibilities and opportunities, but it is all down to you.

BobBobBobBobBobDave , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
29points
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#27

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them People will dislike you and sabotage you for reasons that have nothing to do with you. Oftentimes you have only three choices - tolerate it, leave, or go to war.

Leaving is usually the best option.

Stargazer5781 , Min An / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
29points
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#28

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them None of us have a clue what we're doing or what's going to happen or what we should actually do.

TheAmazingSealo , Andrew Neel / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
21points
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#29

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Nothing happens unless you make it happen! A blessing and a curse.

bbybbuny078 , Ba Tik / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
21points
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#30

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Remember when you were a kid and summer loomed large on the horizon? It took a while to get there but once you did, it was three months of glorious freedom, adventure, and comfortable boredom. When you’re an adult. You don’t get that anymore. You can look forward to your one or two five day vacations a year, or even just a measly three-day weekend, knowing that you’re going to pay the price when you get back to your job and have to catch up on everything that you missed. It’s an endless, plodding existence in cubicle-land. But maybe your office will have a decent vending machine or something.

timhamilton47 , Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
21points
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#31

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Life is only better if you’re proactive about it. 80% of the time, people who are happy or unhappy are that way because of the decisions they make. You are responsible for your own happiness, and that’s a good thing. 

Parents are no longer signing you up for sports or taking you on vacations. You gotta plan that s**t yourself. But now you get to choose what you do and when. Also, it’s your responsibility to enjoy your rest. It’s all in the mindset.

Xelikai_Gloom , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
11points
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#32

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them The way the world should work and the way that it actually does are sometimes very different things. Don’t confuse them.

For me, this was especially true in the workplace. Being good at what you do and willing to work hard sometimes isn’t what matters.

That said, people skills can be learned and improved upon.

titianqt , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
11points
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#33

No one is coming to help. You'd better pay attention and make good decisions.

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Final score:
11points
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#34

Relationships now require effort to maintain. You need to dedicate energy and time to making plans and meeting friends. It's worth it!

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#35

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them LIfe is a 1 player game. 1 Life...no checkpoints...Your experience stays with you. Treat people well, and they will remember you. Treat people badly, and they will never aid you again.

jezzac_2000 , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
10points
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#36

You often don’t have time to do things you once enjoyed. You either have too many responsibilities like kids, extra shifts or generally working late, errands, grocery shopping, or coming home and just being too tired.

You have to try your best not to “grind” and burn yourself out. Find a comfortable medium and try to find time for yourself. .

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Final score:
10points
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#37

When you're young, you identify as a person who hasn't figured out life yet, but but one day you'll be a functioning mature adult who has all their s**t together.


That doesn't ever leave you. You always feel confused in a big world. You still identify as a clueless young person, except you're body isn't young anymore. It's old and failing. And you don't identify with *these* young people, because they're strange. The young people you identify with don't exist anymore, which is lonely and isolating. The old people who had their s**t together when you were young also don't exist, which is also lonely and isolating. Time speeds up, and each year goes faster than the last. You're in a freight train accelerating towards a cliff and scary fast speeds, but you're still waiting for your life to begin, and you're starting to realize that you might have missed that chance a long time ago.

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Final score:
9points
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#38

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Free time becomes a luxury.

nastywhitecat290 , Loren Cutler / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
8points
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#39

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them Sleeping is a luxury. Sleep well especially at afternoon and also at night when your parents tell you too sleep, just sleep.

Beautiful-Tear7059 , Ivan Oboleninov / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
8points
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#40

You don't have to have nap time but you want nap time and you can't have nap time.

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7points
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#41

That a lot of other adults, even ones that are younger than you, will try to out-adult you or make you feel like you aren't an adult or basically inferior.

Whether you have a career or a job, the amount of years you work there is usually how old (or intelligent) your superiors will treat you, and that's if you are lucky. (Ex. you work somewhere 2 years you get treated like a 2 year old, you work somewhere 30 years, you get treated like a grown up at a nursery home.)

Most other adults will try to judge your character and value based on where you work, how much you work, and/or how much spending power you have. They will put a lot of emphasis on this. They will only care if you are good person or not and your "inner beauty" or lack of it if they can use you and want to use you.

Not only can you not do whatever you want (there are a number of barriers like public sentiment, the law, the government, money, criminals, etc), but you are restricted on what you can do, and you can't even do what you need to do sometimes. On top of that, a lot of burdens and responsibilities are placed on your shoulders suddenly.

To your town/city, county, state, country, continent, and the world, you only matter as a number. You don't even make up a whole fraction of a percentage. On that scale, you might as well not even exists, and no, they don't care about you. They do, however, care about your money and how it's divided up and allocated. So, outside of your small circle, the only thing about you that matters is how much money you are receiving, spending, being stolen, and being collected.

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Final score:
7points
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#42

You'll really understand that your choices matter for you and your ability to clearly decide will either fill you with a sense of power or dread.

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Final score:
5points
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#43

Society kind of stops giving a s**t about you. When you're young they see you as a kid with potential, and most people will go out of their way to guide you and encourage you, and then at a certain age it kind of just stops. No one cares to know anymore about what your future goals or aspirations are etc. Especially if you're a man and average to below average looking you become kind of invisible.

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Final score:
5points
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#44

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them The good: You can eat as much ice-cream as you want.

The bad: You can eat as much ice-cream as you want.

No, seriously. You think that you get all the freedom in the world when you become an adult, but you are trading ALL your free time just for the means to survive...

Strong-Purchase1513 , JÉSHOOTS / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
4points
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#45

You will spend your life working to buy time… what time?…. Time you aren’t actively working to buy more time….

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Final score:
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#46

Adults Are Sharing Life Truths They Weren’t Prepared For And Here Are 30 Of Them The opportunities you receive will always be based on your perceived value, not what you feel you are owed or entitled to.

Educational-Elk-5893 , Kaboompics.com / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
3points
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#47

Those churches are still around for a reason. The real hope and the real joy is there. It doesn’t come in the form of regulations and tax breaks. It comes in the freest form of mind to heal the soul and empower the brain to make society good for all around you.

Some call it religion, God, many other names for God, etc. but what it really is, is a form of self love and preservation.

No government or lover or family or friend can make laws enough to give you that inner peace. That Zen.

You’ve got to find your own spirituality and your own faith, put it to a purpose, and THEN you will be happy.

Simple gifts of random kindness throughout the day is all you need to do.

Realistic-Most-5751 Report

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#48

People nowadays have absolutely no feelings at all. They want the "scoop" on their cellphone to post on social media.

davidinkorea Report

Final score:
-7points
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