The cruel reality of life is our looming expiration dates as we age like fine wine.
But now that we've acknowledged a hopefully much-delayed inevitable, it's easy to make the most of our time on this planet and fill it with joy and as much gut-busting fits of laughter.
That meanas not dwelling on the little things that drive us crazy. Because ultimately, are they ever really that bad?
Probably not. We don't have time for that.
"What sh*t are you getting too old for?"
These Redditors talk about protecting their physical temple, since it's the only one we've got.
Blocking Harmful Rays
"Not wearing sunscreen. Just had my 1st melanoma cut out of my arm. Wear sunscreen kids."
Catching More Zzz's
"Staying up past my bedtime."
"Agreed. I'm currently up past my bedtime and I know I'm gonna regret it.. yet here I am."
These people have become less concerned about nonsense behaviors.
You Do You
"I'm too old to give a damn whether people think my pastimes are ridiculous."
Making Excuses
"BS excuses. Stop trying to make up elaborate, unbelievable stories. Just tell me you forgot, or you overslept, or whatever. It's fine. I get it. But don't expect me to believe your convoluted, half-@ss ramblings. Grow up and own your shortcomings."
Owning The Inner Nerd
"I love that the older I get, the deeper I steep into this pool of 'self.' I used to be deeply secretive of everything I was interested in because it could be seen as 'nerdy' and didn't jive with my 'outer persona'...but now at 31 with a kid of my own, I'm like who gives a f'k? If someone actually cares and thinks I'm a nerd for studying history in my spare time, then bye..? My opinion of you plummeted and I no longer want you in my vicinity."
"I really wish I could instill this in my daughter too, but I know it's not something you can really teach. You have to live through it and come to the conclusion yourself...whenever that may be."
Getting Territorial
"These kids on my damn lawn!"
"OMG spot on. I just moved into a new home a month ago. My lawn is dead because the previous owners had moved out months prior and no one watered, so the lawn looks terrible"
"Three neighborhood kids come running down the street playing a game, running through lawns and all, innocent, not destroying anything - and I about lost my shit. 'GET OFF MY LAWN' I yelled out the window. Then immediately felt guilty and old LOL"
"I'm only 40 btw."
A person wasting time beating around the bush to convey their thoughts was considered a huge time suck.
Saying What You Mean To Say
"Playing 'interpret the text message' with people I am dating. I am going to accept what you are saying at face value, and if your actions don't match, I will likely call you on it and flat out ask what's up. We're not teenagers anymore, and I left teenage angst behind long ago!"
Mature Enough To Handle Rejection
"Best part of being an adult. You can cut the bullsh*t."
"With the last girl I dated before I met my wife, I had a sense that her heart really wasn't in it. So I just straight up asked her if that was the case."
'Are you invested in this relationship at all? I won't be angry with your answer, I just need to know if I'm gonna keep making an effort.'
'Honestly, no. You're a great guy but I'm just not feeling it.'
'Good to know. It's been fun, thanks for being honest.'
"Life's too f'king short to jerk people around, or allow it to happen to you."
No Time For Decoding Texts
"When my wife and I first got together I had to explain it to her I have no interest in deciphering anything, just tell me exactly what you want and we'll be good. One of the reasons my ex and I are not together was that I got real tired of 'I know I sent you these exact words, but what I REALLY meant was (something different entirely) AND YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT!'"
Throughout my early adulthood, I've always avoided confrontation.
I've hated it. I always thought if something bothered me enough, the annoyance over something or beef I have with someone would dissipate. But it doesn't. Not for me anyway.
My pent-up resentment was crippling and I've blown up at inappropriate moments when I could've addressed my issues earlier when the collateral damage would've been more minimal.
I speak up more now, and it's no longer something I cower over. The results have been more positive than I ever imagined.
"What happened after you had sex with your best friend?"
Change In Status, Still Best Friends
"We had gotten drunk to celebrate me getting into med school, and 8 years of repressed sexual tension just poured out in a single night."
"The next 3 days, we were both in a panicked daze."
"I thought I had lost my best friend for the best sex of my life, and I couldn't stop thinking it wasn't worth it."
"The sex was mind blowing, but no one made me feel as safe or as happy and I would trade anything to keep that."
"He asked would it really be so crazy if we tried dating?"
"We moved in together a month later."
"We've been together now for 7 years, got engaged."
"Saving up for a house and wedding."
"He's still my best friend."- LexicalCat
'We bought an air fryer and a water cooler for our house so I guess you could say things are pretty serious."- ur_newstepmom
Office Break GIFGiphyAn Unfortunate Demise
"Unfortunately we stopped being best friends after that."- Previous_Smile7275
Testing The Waters
"She became my sorta, kinda girlfriend and we've been taking things slow!"- CapG_13·
Big Mistake...
"I hated doing it with her cuz she said, 'you are like a brother to me!' after doing it."- aldrin2111
"He hates me now."- estrellaprincessa
"What happened is : I wanted more and fell totally in love with her."
"She didn’t and thought it was a mistake."
"We tried staying friends, she became distant, I became weird."
"She decided that we shouldn’t see each other anymore."
"At all."- Grin-Guy
the oc couple in bed GIFGiphyMade It Official
"We went to sleep."
"And are married for 8 years now."- DocSternau
"We got married."
"3 kids, a grandson and 37 years later I still don't regret it."- Cheezel62
"Married her."
"Knew she was in it for the long con."- aggierogue3
Love Is Love Wedding GIF by PBS KIDSGiphyStill The Same Old Friends...
"We did a FWB thing for about three years."
"Whenever we were both single, we’d hook up."
"She lived about 300 miles away.'
"We used to sort of dance around the possibility of actually dating, even getting married, but we never pulled the trigger."
"The distance was too much, I think."
"We loved each other very much."
"Got to the point where whether it was platonic or romantic love was difficult to tell, and weirdly, neither of us was in a rush to figure it out."
"I guess we both had faith it would work itself out as it was supposed to."
"And it did."
"She met a great guy, dated him, and married him."
"I performed the ceremony."
"After it was over, at the reception, I gave her a hug and she kissed my cheek and smiled a little flirtatiously (we both knew it was the last time she’d give me that look), and said, 'Thanks for marrying me.'"
"It was one of the most purely loving, intimate moments of my life."
"We are still close."
"Not like before, but we still love each other deeply, and we always will."
"That love just has a more clearly defined label now, and it’s a label we both respect and cherish."
"So yeah, it’s not always a sad ending."
"Sometimes it’s just a weird and beautiful intermission."- RPMac1979
best friends dance GIF by Will & GraceGiphyMust Have Been Good
"More sex."- Glittering_Pea_6228
Be it a friendship or a romantic relationship, having sex is always bound to change things.
If you like things the way they are, think very carefully before taking the leap.
“Everybody hates me until they need me.” What professions are examples of this?"
Joke All You Want, They Both Help You When You're In Trouble...
"Lawyers and mechanics."
"You want to have a good one of each, but you never want to have to call either of them."- OneFingerIn
Literally Always There To Clean Up Your Mess...
"When I was a janitor I got a lot of hate for knocking out my 8 hour day in 4 individual hour long chunks of effort."
"I Was always available for spills and got extra work done every day but spent another 4 hours basically chilling and management not once got on my case."
"The other employees despised this until a customer's colostomy bag somehow ruptured in the bathroom."
"From that day forward none of them gave a f*ck if I was just hanging out on my phone."- Electronic_Warning49
Risking Their Lives To Save Ours
"The US Coast Guard for fishermen and boaters."
"Usually there's a pretty good working relationship between them, but some hate the Coast Guard for the various inspections they do."
"But the USCG is also the ones who will come out there in a storm to rescue them."- raym0ndv2
sad episode 12 GIFGiphyThe IT Factor...
"IT, except people hate me when they need me, too."- Dogstile
"IT, not the clown."- Nebula_Forte
"Any IT job requiring break/fix support."
"Basically when everything works it’s 'good it’s supposed to work' and then when something goes wrong that’s out of your control it’s 'what did you do?!'"
"When we did absolutely nothing to cause the problem, haha."- Psilocyb-zen
It Crowd Maurice Moss GIFGiphyThe Improve Much More Than People's Vanity
"Plastic Surgeons."
"My uncle is a plastic surgeon and he does only reconstructive stuff, fixing burn victims faces and stuff like that."
"But when people ask him what kind of doctor he is and he says Plastic Surgeon, they usually kinda scoff."- darkysix
The Butt Of One Too Many Jokes...
"Lawyer here."
"The expectation that because you are a lawyer you know everything about every law everywhere."
"In reality most lawyers are highly specialized."- Bisjoux
Ironic That The People Who Help Our Smile Often Make Us Frown
"Dentists for sure."- Ohboohoolittlegirl
Dentist GIFGiphyGetting Your Money's Worth
"All the trades guys."
“'They’re so expensive!'"
"Until that plumber shows up at 2am to prevent the sewage backup."
"Or the electrician that fixes an overloaded breaker panel, preventing a fire."
"Or the carpenter who builds the room for your toddler so you can get some sleep and maybe some sexy time."
"Definitely tradesmen."- Wolfie1531
Be Honest Though, Would You Rather Do Your Own Taxes?
"Accounting."- tadashi4
It's Often The Context Which Ignites The Hatred...
"'Lawyer' is going to be the most common answer to this question by far."
"But I suppose any licensed service provider could fall into this category, given the right context."
"Plumbers are another good example."
'Everyone thinks they're scum and crooks until the washing machine breaks down."
"Electricians, contractors, locksmiths, etc."
"They all fit this mold."
Season 2 Lawyer GIF by MartinGiphy"Unless you work with them daily, you're not going to be seeing them very often."
"And you're only seeing them when there's a problem , so you're primed to be upset by the time they even show up."
"Psychologically, you associate the plumbing issue with the plumber, when ironically, the plumber is there to fix it."
"Everyone wants to shoot the messenger."
"IT people and network security professionals are another classic example of this effect."- MissBitsy
When You Realize You Can't Call To Complain...
"Lineman."
"Been called a lazy overpaid drug addict by old men I don't even know."
"God forbid we go grab lunch or a coffee."- MaesterKyle
The Ones Who Make Your Late Night Craving Feasible...
"Fast food workers."
"They’re the butt of every demeaning comment about a lack of achievement or the reason why minimum wage shouldn’t be raised blah blah blah."
"But those people get real quiet once they’re ordering their Big Mac."- TheHomieData
food service ce416 GIF by truTV’s The Carbonaro EffectGiphyIt's often when we need the help of others that we find ourselves at our most anxious and frustrated.
This is why it's important to remind ourselves that these people are there to help us, and we should not take out our anxiety or frustration on them.
Particularly if we want the problem to be solved.