There’s an old saying that youth is wasted on the young . The older I get, the more I’m starting to believe it. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life dearly but there are aspects of adulthood I could certainly do without.
But that’s what being a grown-up means: understanding that the majority of things you do in life aren’t necessarily born from desire. So without sounding too depressing, here are 15 sad things about growing up that all of us have to deal with.
The mall just isn’t the same anymore.
“It makes me sad to go there[sic] to be honest, my mind’s eye keeps seeing all the neon lights, the fountains, and the small specialty shops, but all that remains are the sterile white walls, the kiosks where the fountains were, and the indistinguishable fashion shops.” – Reddit u/Own-Positive2242
Having to get a job.
Bryan Adams said it best when he sang, “When I look back, now — the summer seemed to last forever. And if I had the choice, yeah, I’d always wanna be there. Those were the best days of my life .”
Watching your parents grow old.
Reddit user EXPERT_SHADOW_L said that when he was young, his father and he used to play Call of Duty for hours on end. They still play every once in a while, but now his dad is much slower and has a hard time keeping up.
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Coming to the realization that your parents aren’t perfect.
Just like you, your parents make mistakes. They’re not perfect and at some point or another — they’re bound to let you down. This is a fact of life that absolutely nobody can escape.
The way that your body begins to betray you.
“Your body slowly breaking on you. Waking up with random pain knowing nothing directly caused it yet your knee hurts, elbow or whatever. Just physically not being able to do what you could before : ( And I’m only in my 30s.” – Reddit u/SDF5150
Hangovers.
Remember when you were in your 20s and you could party all night and somehow still manage to wake up in time for your & AM shift? Weren’t those the days?! Now if I have more than three drinks I’m hungover for two full days.
No longer being able to devote an entire Saturday to watching cartoons.
Don’t get me wrong — I still get my fix when and wherever I can manage to do so. But sadly, those days of waking up at 7 AM and staying glued to the TV until half-past 4 PM are long gone.
Becoming jaded.
When you’re a kid, you’ve got limitless potential and opportunities abound to pursue your passions. Regardless of how tough times might be, you still view the world as a good place filled with good people. As you get older, that becomes harder and harder to rectify.
Video games keep getting more complicated and expensive.
When I was a kid, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn’t have some type of gaming system inside their home. Nowadays, you couldn’t buy a PS5 if your life depended on it and even if you so happened to find one — they cost upwards of $1000!
Forgetting the simple joy of playing.
“Alot[sic] of grown-ups have stopped playing. I haven’t cus I’m a nerd, but normally growing up means you stop using your fantasy and stop playing for just the fun of it. I think that’s really sad.” – Reddit u/daneeth
Coming to grips with your own mortality.
the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. The older we get, the more we tend to focus on the former. I always found it ironic that the only thing guaranteed in life is that which we fear the most.
Saying goodbye to old friends.
A lifelong friend is an incredibly rare and beautiful thing. More often than not, people go their separate ways and never again speak to the person(s) they spent their entire childhood with. Usually, there are no definitive reasons why; people just have a habit of drifting apart.
Understanding that human beings are selfish, imperfect beings.
Reddit user blind-moon-spirit said that one of the hardest things they’ve had to come to terms with is the realization that underneath it all, even the best of us can at times be liars, manipulators, and unapologetically egocentric.
Experiencing loss.
The loss of a family member leaves a hole in your heart that can never be filled. As time goes by, things eventually become easier to deal with, but the hurt is never completely removed or forgotten.
Trading what you love to do for what you have to do.
“Realising that you often need to do more and more things that don’t give you joy, but are necessities for a better life. Say, insurance money, a savings fund, cutting down on certain types of food and so on..” – Reddit u/super_saiyan123
h/t: Reddit
