People List 30 Hard Truths About Getting Older That They Weren't Ready For

With each passing day, my chance to see the world passes. I don't have the money to travel as much as I want, and I know I will die missing out on so much. It's a sad reality for everyone, but it's still hard to handle.

I’m really old...the two hardest parts are having almost everyone you've ever known die, so your entire history dies with them, and losing mobility one way or another. Sucks.

For me, it's just losing that feeling of innocence you had in your youth. Like seeing your crush in class and imagining a relationship in your head. Hanging out with good friends and all it was was swimming, eating junk food, watching movies. No alcohol or d***s, just a family sized dorito bag and Dr. Pepper. It's hard to put it into words, but I miss that feeling when you and your crush would sit on some bleachers and you felt nothing could go wrong. No worrying about sex or marriage, just you and the person of your affections just talking about life, nearly holding hands. When you get older you lose the excitement of so many firsts. Your first kiss, your first time sneaking out, your first time walking around a mall without parental guidance, first this and first that. Life just felt so exhilirating. The feeling begins to fade out as you get older and it's hard. Those times were so happy and stupid.

Your body changes in ways that you don't want it to.

Seeing my parents get older.

Realizing your death is getting closer and your dreams will not come true.

I could sound like a broken record that's been heard by all generations but the truth is, as you get older, the healing process gets slower and you end up in pain for longer periods of time, you'll hit a threshold where trying to work out the pain only makes it worse.

When I (female) was young I spent a lot of energy fending off unwanted attention and harassment. Not every day but enough.

Now that I am older and have started to naturally age I feel pretty much invisible to everyone.

There are pros and cons to this of course.

You regret not doing things earlier.

Time is perceived faster for some reason. Everything speeds up and you're still trying to catch up. In some ways it's good, like making the work day go by quicker, but it's bad in other ways like having less time for friends and the hobbies you used to be able to devote many more hours to.

I'm only 24, but seeing people you care for die has to be the one.

One quote that hit me hard is: "One sibling will never have to bury his brothers and sisters, while one will have to bury them all".

The complete inability to sleep in.

The older you get the earlier your body wakes you up. You don't necessarily need to be up for anything on Saturday or Sunday morning but your body has decided you need to go to work on your off days. When you're a teenager and in college sleeping 12-14 hours when you have nothing to do is completely normal and acceptable.

I would pay $100 a night if I could get 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep and actually feel well rested when I wake.

Losing my voice. I used to have a nice singing voice. I sang harmony well and enjoyed singing along with the radio and alone. It brought me a lot of joy, but now, my voice sounds like I have a permanent cold. I also used to play the flute competently, but now I can no longer reach the high notes. It's hard to accept. I don't think younger people realize that the talents you had in your youth might not be there after the age of 70.

Accepting it.

Slow metabolism. damn i get fatter as i age.

My husband and I opted not to have children. I still don't regret the decision, but I do wonder what will happen to me when I'm older. I'm 65 now, but if I lose my husband, I will be alone, and that scares me.

Feeling your body get worse while your mind doesn't seem to age.

52 here. It's a real toss up. First, our only kid is grown up and gone and we really liked being parents. I'm truly proud of him, but miss him desperately.

Second, taking care of my elderly mother who has dementia has made me feel old like nothing else, ever.

The potential of the future gets smaller.

When you're young you could potentially achieve so many things at some point in the future.

The worst part about getting older is when you reach a point where you realize that realistically some of those things are off the table for good now, and you're never going to be able to do them. It's like climbing a tree and each branch you take closes off some of what's at the ends of the other branches.

Slowly your destination is narrowing down. Slowly you're reaching what will turn out to be your full potential, what your life will turn out to be, and all those other things are just dreams.

It becomes more difficult to make new friends, even as your closest ones move away, die, or just "drift apart" over time.