40 Adult Problems That People Were Not Ready For
We can't possibly know how to do everything once we reach adulthood, right?
Adulting looks simple from the outside, until the bills, responsibilities, and awkward life lessons start piling up all at once. For a lot of people, the hardest part is not earning money or making decisions, it is realizing how many everyday problems nobody really warned them about.
This roundup pulls together Reddit reactions about the messy side of growing up, from money stress and body aches to loneliness, work pressure, and the strange reality of family and friendships changing over time. The posts are relatable because they feel painfully ordinary, which is exactly why they hit so hard.
Some of these adult problems are funny, some are frustrating, and some are just too real to ignore. Read on.
bathtub_seizure
You're lucky if you still have one or two buddies you can call up from time to time
eternalrefuge86We were definitely not prepared for that sinking feeling of disappointment
choadally
They should've prepared us on how to deal with them so we wouldn't be so shocked
ohiojeepdad
And as kids, we already thought the chores our parents made us do were too much
DecadenceXO
That part of adulthood hits harder than most people expect.
Nothing can ever really prepare us for the reality of this
dabocake
Plus, they will be everywhere you go
pulpexploder
We're not really aware of the signs until they hit us full in the face, sadly
caelosentire
The older we grow, the more losses we have to learn to deal with
BlackCaaaaat
It's one of those little everyday stresses
coltonious
Generally, body pains and how permanent they can become
badninj4
It's nice to be needed, but there is also a limit to how much you can handle
smolspooderfriend
Add this to the toll it takes on your mental and physical health
curiousnaomi
This here is the kind of painful growth nobody tells us about
swampy13
In adulthood, you get to see all the politics and hierarchy at play
DiddlyDoRight
Is it because we're the ones buying them now?
sea_ewe_in_tea
And if you think sibling guilt is intense, this AITA case about siblings helping care for ailing parents gets brutally real.
There is no way to prepare you for the loss of the person you thought you'd spend your life with
Shortcult
You'll just never know when you'll meet 'the one,' so you just have to cherish every moment you have with them
NightMgr
Yes, no one ever really prepares us for the loneliness that adulthood can bring for some
[deleted]
We should have been taught to beat the system, not let it beat us
Go_J
When we were kids, we thought all adults acted like adults, but that was just a lie
rchaw
Being social as an adult isn't as easy as they portray in the movies
Poka_poke
Time seems to speed up as you keep growing older
QuarantineTitans
Even sleep is not the easiest part of adulting
JonnyWax
One of the most difficult parts of adulting is the compromises you have to make
Qjfomentl
Nothing could really prepare you for the shock of this
Aperture_T
It's one of the most difficult things to actually see our parents growing old
LG0110
Beyond 20, you'll already be going to war with your body
DeathSpiral321
It's worse when you know you're too young to have pains like that
porcelina99
It's getting yourself together in a whole other way
LizLemonSpaceman
Some people only grow up physically
[deleted]
They tell you to do well in school so you can get somewhere in life, but after school, it's just wide open fields with no path
jcpearce
Insurances are just messed up
scarlett_o_o
When we were younger, we thought becoming an adult would mean more time for ourselves, but it's actually the opposite
HawaiianShirtsOR
A lot of us realize that we don't actually want to spend time with many of our family members for various reasons
bebebaker
Just because it's a full-time job doesn't mean that it pays well enough
TheHarperValleyPTA
People expect so much more out of you in adult socializations
My_reddit101
The first thing a lot of us say is 'Excuse the mess'
slothbarns7
It's not really easy to learn how to support others without exhausting yourself
[deleted]
It's such a small part of our body, and yet it costs us so much
[deleted]
The anxiety of it stresses out a lot of us even more
DeathBat92
When we were young, older people always told us that life as an adult would be hard, especially without our parents being the safety net for us. We'd have to learn how to take care of ourselves and everything around us on our own.
What we didn't realize then, however, was that there were so many things people couldn't exactly prepare us for. We just have to experience them and learn on the go.
Here's to hoping we can continue to deal with them as well as we have up until this point.
Still dealing with parents demanding money after you moved back home? Read about an adult son refusing to pay expenses, and his AITA financial showdown.
