Some things are difficult to hear or admit even if they’re true. That you’re not meant for some people like some people aren’t meant for you, for instance, or that sometimes love just isn’t enough. These are just a couple examples of pills that are hard to swallow, but people on Reddit showed that there can be plenty more, covering nearly every aspect of life.
The online community discussed the topic in a thread started on the ‘Ask Reddit’ subreddit. They opened up about what they consider the hardest metaphorical pill they’ve ever had to swallow and provided heart-wrenching and thought-provoking answers. Scroll down to find them on the list below.
Bored Panda has reached out to the redditor who started the thread, u/Liteboyy, and they were kind enough to answer a few of our questions. Scroll down to find their thoughts below.
#1
Sometimes I’M the problem. I’M the one who needs to chill out and back away from the situation.
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186points
#2
Your spouse does not exist to provide you with free therapy, laundry, food, cleaning, and sex. You have to respect someone's boundaries even if you don't benefit from them. You have to be able to look after yourself and pull your own weight. You should be able to help them and pull extra weight if they're struggling. If you are looking for someone to serve you or complete you, you are not ready for a relationship and you should not be in one.
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172points
#3
Sometimes your friends don't consider themselves as close to you as you do to them. The hard pill: This doesn't make them a bad friend, it just means that everyone has their own social network and you can't always be at the center of everyone's.
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137points
The OP told Bored Panda that some things are best heard from someone you don’t even know. “I asked this question because I needed to hear something that I did not want to hear. Having a complete stranger say something you’ve been thinking or feeling emphasizes and confirms to you if you’re justified or not in how you feel. That’s because they have no bias, they aren’t even directing something specifically at you, which makes the advice or anecdote all the better.”
#4
No matter how wrong someone is or how painfully obvious a solution to one of their problems is to you, sometimes they have to figure it out on their own and there's nothing you can do to change that.
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123points
#5
Someday, everyone and everything will be dead. It's not just that you won't be alive anymore, you won't even be remembered. Regardless of what you or anyone else does, the end result is the same.
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120points
“The responses I received were interesting and thoughtful,” the redditor told Bored Panda. “A plethora of people engaging and encouraging each other, swapping stories and sharing experiences, was very comforting and nice to see.”
According to them, sharing stories can benefit people in numerous ways. “For example, people may experience something they feel is normal, but without the anecdotes of others and the added opinions of commenters, they would not discover 'x' is actually bad, or traumatic, etc.,” they said.
#6
Heard this somewhere else and liked it. People don’t have to like you and no matter how “likeable” you are some people just wont like you. That’s ok.
You can be the most delicious strawberry but some people just don’t like strawberries.
120points
#8
Don't throw good money after bad. Don't fall for the sunk cost fallacy. Just because you've invested a lot of time, money, effort, emotion into something or someone, doesn't mean that you should continue investing in them hoping that things will change. Sometimes its better to cut your losses and accept that while you may have wasted time and energy on something, that it's better to stop hemmoraging resources when it's clear that you aren't getting the outcome you want. It's still better to have wasted two years on something that didn't work out than wasting ten years on it because you figure you've invested too much to quit.
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105points
#9
You’re not meant for some people like some people aren’t meant for you.
102points
#10
"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness, that is life." - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
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101points
#11
No one wants to talk to a depressed person and depression actively makes you less desirable company to others.
That one hurts a lot, as someone who suffers constantly, I think I've often romanticized the idea that if people see that you're not doing well, then maybe they'll take the time to try and talk to you or brighten your day a bit. That's not how it works though, they just don't want to know. And it's hard to blame them because it's obviously not their problem.
That's a particularly hard pill to swallow for me. The world doesn't give a s**t, it will move on without you.
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90points
#12
Just cause you like someone doesn't make them not a s****y person.
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87points
#13
You do nothing on your own, everything you achieve is a result of other peoples actions helping you be able to be in the position you are today. You stand on the shoulders or giants in every way, this is your inheritance as a human, in the form of infrastructure, society, security, healthcare, technology, vaccination, peace, everything that allows you to have a choice in the course of your life is the result of someone in the past constructing a better world. Take this hard to swallow pill and consider it when you decide what actions to take in your daily life.
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85points
#14
You aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things. People don’t think about you as much as you think. Relax. Don’t sweat your small mistakes.
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76points
#15
Super simple but...some things aren't just meant to be. A relationship, job, whatever. It's not lack of trying or wanting. It's just how she goes, bubs. The f*****g way she goes.
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74points
#17
I grew up religious, and feared sin and temptation. Anything that could be construed as sin, I would avoid at all costs. It took me forever to realize that temptations are healthy, and often point you towards something you need. It's taking the temptation too far that is wrong, not the temptation itself. Like, being hungry is ok, but overeating is bad. It's ok to be attracted to people, but objectifying them is bad. Those kinds of things.
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71points
#19
When I found out I was born with an abnormally small throat and I would never get to live my dream of being a pharmaceutical tester. That was a tough pill to swallow.
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68points
#20
Wanting to help does not mean you aren't making the situation worse.
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66points