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30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner

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Hindsight is always 20/20, and the Reddit post that asked the question "What are some things you realized too late in life?" is a testament to this fact. Its comment section is filled with thousands of responses from people of all ages, sharing the biggest lessons they've learned so far.

Some of the replies center around the theme of missed opportunities, like not pursuing your passion or spending more time with loved ones while others focus on the importance of self-care and personal growth. But when looking at it as a whole, the thread serves as a powerful reminder that our time on this planet is short, and we should strive to make every day count with intention and purpose.

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#1

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Its ok to catch yourself in your own BS. That's not you failing, its you being self aware and that will make you a better person.

LondonFogAddict91 , Athena Report

Final score:

277points

#2

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Don't set yourself on fire to keep others warm.

-Miss_Information- , Andrew Neel Report

Final score:

268points

#3

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Getting married and having kids is not "the ultimate life goal". Only do it if you really want to. Otherwise you'll do it just because it's expected of you and you'll be trapped in a very unhappy life

Final score:

264points

#4

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Dont try to hang on to a toxic friendship just because of your history.

AlanClan , Budgeron Bach Report

Final score:

250points

#5

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Doing well in school doesn't mean you will do well outside of it.

pajamakitten , Tima Miroshnichenko Report

Final score:

244points

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#6

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Most of the population is far less aware than you think.

swissfrenchman , Riccardo Report

Final score:

225points

#7

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Just because you put effort and energy into a relationship, doesn’t mean the other person will.

usernameeightandhalf , RODNAE Productions Report

Final score:

219points

#8

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Don’t make other people’s lives your standard for living. Love what you have and love the people that support you

swede_fish , Pixabay Report

Final score:

218points

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#9

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Take care of your teeth.

Nitroclover , Ron Lach Report

Final score:

208points

#10

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Doctors are just people, and people are sometimes bias, useless, dismissive and just plain wrong.

Jackatarian , Karolina Grabowska Report

Final score:

208points

#11

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner “I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.”

anon , kat wilcox Report

Final score:

199points

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#12

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner You only get one body. Take care of it.

pinkkittenfur , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:

195points

#13

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner I thought people didn't like me because I was nerdy and all. Turns out the problem was that I never gave them a chance because I assumed they wouldn't like me.

PhreedomPhighter , Julia Avamotive Report

Final score:

176points

#14

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Don't assume people won't do to you what you wouldnt do to them.

PimemtoCheese , Ketut Subiyanto Report

Final score:

174points

#15

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner You don't need someone else to feel complete. There was never a hole to begin with. It was just you finding your way through life. You don't start with a hole, you start with foundation and build up.

MrDextra , Alexandra Schulz Report

Final score:

154points

#16

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Some people are not meant to be in your life forever

BhagavadGina , RODNAE Productions Report

Final score:

148points

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#17

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner 'If something's worth doing, it's worth doing badly.'

It's really easy to get into the mindset of thinking that things have to be perfect, but that's also the kind of mindset that leaves you meticulously editing the first five thousand words of that novel you've been working on for half a decade. Sit down and finish the f*****g thing, *then* worry about fixing it up.

Perfect is the enemy of good.

Portarossa , Pixabay Report

Final score:

145points

#18

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Eating healthy and being active actually matters

AWOL_PSYCHO , Nathan Cowley Report

Final score:

138points

#19

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner That expecting others to act how you would in that situation does not work.

anon , Alex Green Report

Final score:

133points

#20

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner It is impossible to please everyone

Foundry_Man_13 , RODNAE Productions Report

Final score:

128points

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“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

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#21

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner I was so afraid of failing that I stopped trying. I know now it's okay to be afraid but it's no excuse to give up. I'm 28 years old and just finished my first quarter of college with all A's. When I saw my grades I cried for a long time because I realised the biggest thing holding me back was me. It took time and a lot of therapy for me to get here but that's okay. Everyone grows at a different pace.

largestbeefartist , Nicola Barts Report

Final score:

122points

#22

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Nobody has all the answers. Everyone is just trying to make sense of things the best they can

anon , Engin Akyurt Report

Final score:

119points

#23

Being jealous or resentful of other people’s success is a negative weight on your back that serves no purpose.

There’s room for others to succeed as well as yourself. Work hard, be happy for others and patiently wait for your turn to come up.

jesuschin Report

Final score:

106points

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French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

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#24

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner It’s never too early to start saving for retirement

iggy555 , Pixabay Report

Final score:

102points

#25

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Don't let anxiety rule your life.

All those people looking at you at a dance, the gym, the beach, work, school. It just doesn't matter. Half the people won't remember you in five minutes. Very few are actually judging you and even if they are, f**k them. Do what makes you happy and helps you and leave regrets behind you. You are your own best friend. You are the love of your life. If you are happy with yourself, you win.

And if you're not happy, find help to fix it.

fujiesque , Liza Summer Report

Final score:

91points

#26

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Being assertive and taking care of your own needs doesn't make you an a*****e and people aren't going to hate you for it.

memelord-15 Report

Final score:

89points

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Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

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Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

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#27

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner The chances of you growing up to be something big is very unlikely.

And if you do accomplish something huge, it's even more unlikely that you'll keep that success for too long.

Be grateful for being average because it's very hard to do the basic things it takes to maintain a stable lifestyle that's nowhere near the "american dream".

sketchysketchist , Thibault Trillet Report

Final score:

89points

#28

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner That very few people actually wake up in the morning thinking: 'Hey, I'm going to be an a*****e and make someone else's life hell today'. Most of us think our behavior is justified.

oddstew , Ketut Subiyanto Report

Final score:

70points

#29

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Your stomach isn’t supposed to hurt all the time. I was knee-deep in denial for a while when I first started developing symptoms of Crohn’s Disease.

Side note: if you are in your late teens or early 20s and are having persistent stomach/gut pain, go to the doctor as soon as you possibly can. It could save you a lot of pain and surgery down the line.

Napiformity , Sora Shimazaki Report

Final score:

67points

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“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

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#30

I should have traveled more when I was younger and single. If you’re in your early twenties, don’t waste time. Travel as MUCH as you can. If you time it perfectly, you can travel anywhere on a small budget. Don’t make excuses. Just do it.

Final score:

65points

Note: this post originally had 38 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Gabija Palšytė

Gabija is a photo editor at Bored Panda. Before joining the team, she achieved a Professional Bachelor degree in Photography and has been working as a freelance photographer since. She also has a special place in her heart for film photography, movies and nature.

Gabija is a photo editor at Bored Panda. Before joining the team, she achieved a Professional Bachelor degree in Photography and has been working as a freelance photographer since. She also has a special place in her heart for film photography, movies and nature.

What do you think ?

Elvalliant 1 year ago

There's "family" and there's "Family". Took me a while to differentiate the two.

13points

Becca Kuehn 1 year ago

I learned that lesson also. I have the most amazing loving family now. I'm only biologically related to a few members of my family.

3points

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Lytha Hawkeye 1 year ago

It's never too early or too late to start therapy!!!

9points

JD 1 year ago

I lived overseas for 20 years, rarely visited home. On my return, my niece decided on a small wedding. Was getting herself aĺl worked up because we're a huge family. My advice? Can't plse everyone so just please yourself and i got culled from the guest list. Oooff. Least she took my advice.

4points

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Elvalliant 1 year ago

There's "family" and there's "Family". Took me a while to differentiate the two.

13points

Becca Kuehn 1 year ago

I learned that lesson also. I have the most amazing loving family now. I'm only biologically related to a few members of my family.

3points

Load More Replies...

Lytha Hawkeye 1 year ago

It's never too early or too late to start therapy!!!

9points

JD 1 year ago

I lived overseas for 20 years, rarely visited home. On my return, my niece decided on a small wedding. Was getting herself aĺl worked up because we're a huge family. My advice? Can't plse everyone so just please yourself and i got culled from the guest list. Oooff. Least she took my advice.

4points

Load More Comments

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