25 Harsh Realities Of Ageing That People Were Not Ready For

As we age, we think we’re prepared for the impacts of getting older. However, going through the experience in real time can be a whole other ball game. Recently, someone online asked, “What’s a truth about ageing that no one prepared you for?” Netizens responded with candid observations on the harsh realities of getting older that they were not ready for. Scroll below to read the most unexpected aspects of ageing that people just did not foresee despite all that we know up to now. 

#1 I’m 61 and sometimes I feel like this world is not for me anymore. I feel almost like an imposter. For example, I can’t find clothes I like that fit correctly, tv is abhorrent, only old music sounds pleasant, shoes are uncomfortable, I don’t recognize most celebrities or famous people in the news or tabloids, and I don’t understand the need for most new and supposedly exciting products.

Image source: Odd-Telephone9730, cottonbro studio / Pexels I’m an educated person, I still work and have an active life. I’m not a recluse. But a little at a time, I feel the world is moving on without me. I finally understand why, in her final years, my mother only watched movies from the 1950s and reminisced about the past more than she talked about the present. Her world was long gone.

#2 Just how horrid menopause is and how little the medical community cares about how much you're suffering.

Image source: cbmcleod70, Sora Shimazaki / Pexels

#3 Adults aren't real. At least not in the way they're viewed when you're a kid.

Image source: SoonToBeMarried43, Daniel Frese / Pexels When you're a kid you can't wait to "grow up" and then you do and you're still you, just older. That voice inside your head doesn't change, but what you see in the mirror does. Only now you're just older and saddled with bills and stress and all of life's "surprises". On top of this, everyone is winging it. Absolutely everyone. Because the idea of order and a civilized society is an illusion. We're all playing by made up rules and making imaginary money and all the rest of it. A one dollar bill costs just as much to print as a hundred dollar bill. Hell, ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLAR BILLS used to be a thing (not in circulation, but they still represented their face value). Same principle applies. In short, everyone is just doing whatever until we die.

#4 How much it hurts to fall.

I fell off the roof of a house as a kid and just got up and walked away. Now I'm careful when stepping off of a tall curb... Image source: cejiv

#5 Things that seemed so important when you were younger, really are not important.

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#6 The world becomes more beautiful and people become less necessary.

Image source: Duffman_O_Yeah, Arthur Brognoli / Pexels

#7 How your mind stays young while your body starts to slow down. You still feel like the same person you’ve always been but suddenly you notice little things changing.

Image source: Melodic_Researcher53, Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels Kremidas: When I turned 40 I was asked by a younger person what that felt like. I told them I just feel like a 27 year old who has been hanging around and doing stuff for 13 years.

#8 Time f*****g flies.

Image source: CaucasianHumus, cottonbro studio / Pexels nor_cal_woolgrower: The days are long but the years fly by.

#9 Hair grows where you don't want it and falls out where you wanted it.

Image source: MntEverest77, Ghassan Alkhatib / Pexels

#10 It will hit you unexpectedly, you think you're still young but your body just won't cooperate and will show some signs.

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#11 How much I don’t give a f**k anymore! In a good way.

Image source: MotherOfMagpies23, Helena Lopes / Pexels

#12 Doors start closing once you reach a certain age.

Image source: Witchaven_AoC, cottonbro studio / Pexels Frozboz: Ageism is real. I just turned 50 and am in a young person's career (software development). I feel how hiring managers look at me when asked to turn my camera on, during an interview that was going very well and suddenly it's "we'll get back to you".

#13 Time for the hard truth. One day, and yes it will happen to you, you will see a box... and you won't just throw it away because IT'S A REALLY USEFUL BOX.

Image source: Justaredditor85, cottonbro studio / Pexels

#14 I'd just turned 40 and wasn't happy about it when I happened to talk to a couple in their 80s. Oh 40 they said, eyes misting up. What I wouldn't give to be 40 again. Made me feel better and now that I'm 60 I'm beginning to see their point of view.

Image source: lotsanoodles

#15 It's not just you who is getting old. Your parents are getting even older.

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#16 You will realize that you hate planning meals and making food every single day. It's boring and to easy to fall into monotony. But you have to make lunch again and then plan for dinner again then make dinner again and what do you want to eat tomorrow so you plan for breakfast tomorrow and get up and make breakfast again and then plan for lunch again..... I am so tired of planning and making food.

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#17 Your friends start to die. It's something I never thought about.

Image source: helcat, Pavel Danilyuk / Pexels

#18 You start to realize the older you get that the end is closer than the beginning and you still feel like you have so much more to do.

Image source: Putrid-Stage3925, Mikhail Nilov / Pexels

#19 No one prepared me for how much energy and time it takes to maintain everything—like health, relationships, and just staying organized. It’s way more work than I expected!

Image source: Milaabbyxx, Gary Barnes / Pexels

#20 Remember when you were younger and you'd ask your Dad: "What's wrong?" And he'd say: "Idk, I must've slept funny." That's you now.

Image source: willyv4pres, Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels

#21 Your body really does just start hurting out of nowhere.

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#22 How much time you wasted in your life trying to make others like you.

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#23 It’s really lonely being an adult. I mean you have friends and co workers etc but it’s just incredibly lonely because you only ever have surface level conversations with most people.

Image source: Totes_agirl, Stefan Stefancik / Pexels

#24 The fatigue.

Image source: Groundbreaking_Pea10, Polina Zimmerman / Pexels Resistant-Insomnia: I haven't felt rested in over ten years. Always tired. The moment I open my eyes I'm exhausted.

#25 The point where you start evaluating friendships and find that most friendships are merely transactional. I've dropped a lot of "friends".

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