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Unfortunately, not everything in life can be flowers and butterflies. And while the less positive things are not something one typically enjoys, they tend to make people appreciate all that’s nice just a little bit more.

Some rather bitter aspects of life were recently discussed by members of the ‘Ask’ community, after one user asked them what are some of the saddest truths about life. Fellow netizens got heartbreakingly honest, covering everything from the downsides of being a good person to time relentlessly passing us by, and beyond. Scroll down to find their answers on the list below and see for yourself what gloomy things tend to balance out the positive in life.

Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy at Wilfrid Laurier University, Dr. Gary Foster, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about dealing with the negative aspects of life.

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    #2

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths Being a “good person” doesn’t absolve you from bad things happening to you.

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    Sergy Yeltsen
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There is no greater proof there is no god/gods at all is bad things happening to good people, and good things happening to bad people.

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    While discussing the importance of thinking about the less uplifting aspects of life, Dr. Gary Foster told Bored Panda that it is important to do it once in a while. “Life is full of sadness and tragedy as well as joy and excitement,” he said. “The ancient Greeks—and I am sure other cultures as well—recognized this, as is expressed in Greek tragedy. Aristotle, for instance, thought that the role of tragedy (in the theater) was to arouse the emotions of pity and fear so that we could experience a catharsis or cleansing of these emotions. I think that sometimes today we read certain kinds of fiction or watch certain movies for similar reasons.”

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    #4

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths You can’t love someone into loving you back.

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    #5

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths "People don't get what they deserve, they get what they get" - Greg House



    Some people are awful humans their entire lives and never suffer a single consequence for it, while others do everything they can to be genuinely good people and get s**t on their entire lives.

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    Hugh Cookson
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Oh the first point in the follow up just goes to show you how the Trumpcunt got into the whitehouse and still manages to convince the less mentally able amongst you Americans that he is the saviour of your country ( spoiler, no he's not, he's a liar, thief, narcissist and only interested in enriching himself and his already financially bloated ugly chums) : I'm not saying that Biden is any better but at least he seems decent. Oh, and you guys really need to put an upper age limit on who can run for president ..... say 65 for openers.

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    Dr. Foster added that sometimes we simply need a good cry. “It is good, I think, to reflect, not only on the good and joyful things in life, but also the reality of suffering and sorrow.

    “Of course, dwelling on these ‘negative’ realities is not healthy any more than ignoring them is,” he continued, “but psychologically speaking, I think there is something healthy about facing the unpleasant realities of life (to the degree that it is possible) and still affirming that life is good or worth living. Nietzsche and Camus both seem to endorse such an attitude.”

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    #6

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths That you can do everything right. Be the best version of yourself. Some people will still leave and you can still fail.

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    Jason
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You fail in life. It's how you learn. Bet you didn't walk at birth. Eventually you can run. Even if you can run you may trip sometimes. Get up and keep going cause there is so much in life to see and experience

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    #7

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths We rarely are aware of our "last" moments, so don't cherish them until they are a fading memory. The last time your dad hugged you back. The last passionate kiss from somebody you love. The last time you ran as fast as you could. The last time you were proud of yourself for accomplishing something. etc.

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    Any
    Community Member
    8 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Why shouldn't I cherish them earlier? Sure I don't know what the last moments are, but I can cherish every good moment nonetheless...

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    #8

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths The odds are that you’re a lowly worker ant, and you won’t really be able to change that. Find happiness in your life, no matter how mundane others try to make it seem….

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    Šimon Špaček
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Also, remember that not all hobbies are there for gain. I have two main "hobbies" now, garden and archery. I will never get anything for archery and that is fine. With garden... well, I have a lots of zucchini every year, but I'm really trying to get bell peppers and tomatoes this year. But even if I will get nothing again, just preparing the garden was well-spent time.

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    According to Dr. Gary Foster, contemplating the sad or tragic aspects of life can benefit a person partly for the reasons that Aristotle offered. “Sometimes we need a good cleansing or catharsis of certain emotions which seem to arise quite naturally during the everyday drama of life,” he suggested.

    “But I also think there is virtue and empowerment in simply accepting the world the way it is and being okay with that. When I say accepting the world the way it is, I don't mean that we shouldn't try to change unjust societies or unjust situations in our immediate environment (with family and friends), but rather accepting the fact that people live and die, experience joy and suffering, and so on. These are things that we have no ultimate control over.”

    #9

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths 80 years sounds like a long time at first, but it's actually very short.

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    #11

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths You could give it your all and come out empty handed. 


    E.g.; Nikola Tesla.

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    When it comes to what tends to upset people the most, the expert admitted that it’s hard to think of things outside of the most obvious. “A sense of injustice often upsets people,” he contemplated. “Also, not being recognized or respected (that often accompanies a sense of injustice, especially among oppressed people).”

    He also pointed out that at the level of everyday interpersonal interactions, people want to be listened to or understood, and if they’re not, a feeling of isolation and other negative emotions might arise. “If this is accompanied by what looks like willful ignorance, neglect, or an unwillingness to really listen or try to understand on the part of another person, this can lead to anger and resentment, of which there seems to be no shortage.”

    #12

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths That sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do. Not everyone can succeed, be wealthy, etc.

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    Vadertime
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Success is not something measured by materialistic gains. It is measured by the amount happiness, friends and family.

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    #13

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths The time you spend with your parents is counted. You may only have 5 more Thanksgivings with them.

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    scotty
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thanksgiving is a great opportunity but not the only one. There are 365 days a year to love your parents.

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    #14

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths Most of those happy little babies and toddlers you see will ground down by life into shallow joyless husks.

    I look at my daughter and wish I could do more for her to protect her from this world.

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    Bartlet for World Domination
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you teach your children to enjoy reading, looking for beauty, being outside, and being creative, they will not be ground down by anything.

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    “So, the very things that can be beneficial to reflect on—sadness, tragedy, what Camus calls ‘the unreasonable silence of the universe’, and so on—can turn quite negative at times, especially at a personal level if the person cannot find a way, through an attitude, disposition, strategy, or whatever, to put the negative into perspective,” Dr. Foster pointed out.

    “Of course, some people experience situations in life that seem so negative that it is difficult to imagine how they can rise above it. Jean-Paul Sartre, at least in his early work, thought that even in such situations, one can respond with a certain ‘attitude’ which can still be positive and which they can take responsibility for. There are times when I think he may have been right, but other times when I am not so sure. Some circumstances seem almost impossible to overcome, psychologically or attitude-wise.”

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    #16

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths Your body does wear out eventually. Take care of it early. 62 male. It won't happen to me, I'm invincible. Superhuman.

    It does and will happen. Listen to your "olders" we have been there done that.

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    Rick
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My parents siblings or relatives never sat down with me and told me how much aging sucks.

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    #17

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths Life is unfair. You can try your best and still not succeed and someone else can have it all without any effort.

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    DRMAGDN
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Money and socioeconomic class mean a lot in success. So keep that in mind as you are grinding to get to the top and be a bit more patient with yourself.

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    #18

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths You will be forgotten.

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    Any
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's good. Who want's to get remembered? After a few generations nobody will remember you. The only people that are remembered long... are mostly the ones who did really bad things.

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    #19

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths All relationships end in loss.

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    Multa Nocte
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Your job is to make sure the plusses outweighed the minuses when the relationship ends.

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    #20

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths We’re all trapped in a dystopian nightmare but it is real life.

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    90HD
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It all depends on where you live. Urban Chicago or New York? Dystopia. Rural south Dakota? Heaven.

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    #21

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths A lot of success relies on luck.

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    The Darkest Timeline
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Random chance is a different story.

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    #22

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths That you gain wisdom when you're too old to steer your life anymore.

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    Multa Nocte
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't agree with this one. While many acquire additional wisdom as they age, I have met children who were wise beyond their years as well as older people who were devoid of wisdom.

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    #23

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths That no matter what you do in some way you will always suffer, suffering is part of the human condition.

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    #24

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths Life isn’t fair, and not everything happens for a reason.

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    #25

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths You are mostly destined for what situation you arrive into. If your Dad has a commercial real estate business when your born. Chances are, more likely than not you will be a commercial real estate owner and be filthy rich and there's nothing you did great or wonderful to put yourself in that position besides being born into that family and then basically not becoming a d**g addict and ruining your opportunity.

    Most of us aren't born into money and that's why most people don't have a lot. It's pretty straight forward. There are outliers and success stories of paupers to princes but the fact is- that's not very likely. I'm sorry. It doesn't mean you won't have a good life, but if you get too fixated on the American dream you will always come up short.

    The American Dream is no longer for any American- it is for the top 10%.

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    #26

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths You spend your life creating memories to look back upon when you get old just to have your mind to forget them.

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    scotty
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A life well lived isn’t about memories. It is about affecting those near you in a positive way, making a small but definite difference in their lives and thereby giving meaning to your own.

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    #28

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths Mine is that every beginning has an end, and everything we hold dear today might be just a memory tomorrow.

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    #29

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths I just created 2 amazing humans who I love with all my heart and they will grow old and die. What's the point?

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    Any
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    To make something of the time, that is given. For themselves. For yourself. There is nothing else.

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    #30

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths No matter what you do, there will always be someone that outshines you at whatever it is. For me it's art.

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    Šimon Špaček
    Community Member
    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Bad attitude. Take me as an example. In 2019 I decided that I want to learn to play some instrument. I decided to buy a ukulele (with thought "how hard it can be, it has only 4 strings after all") and I gave it a try. I learned few chords and gave it a try and I was pretty rubbish, honestly. But who cares? I got little bit better after some time, so I took it to work to practice during night shifts. And after a one or two shifts, I realized three things. First, it is funny instrument. Everyone wanted to give it a try. Second, some of my colleagues were pretty good with music. Third, I didn't make good music, but I pushed somebody else to grab a guitar again and make good music. It even looked like they will start a band (but then Covid happened). You don't need to be great (or good), you can still make a change.

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    #31

    31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths Each person has a ceiling. Some are higher than others.

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