Age isn't just a number, it's a part of life. That doesn't mean we sulk about it. We can still be vibrant at all ages, but acknowledging that time is running out is just accepting fact.
There are signs everyday to remind us. For me, its the loud music. Was music always this loud? And if so, why? We all get to that moment when we feel it, the turn of an era. The old era.
Redditor u/tamedreckless wanted everyone to share about the times in life so many have come upon the truth that.... the sand has run out of the hourglass by asking.... At what moment did you realize "Damn I'm old"?Get Velcro
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When I find myself grunting and groaning just to bend over to tie my shoes.
At 36....
When I fell down at work and no one laughed. Instead three people came running over to make sure I was ok.
Edited to clarify: I'm only 36. I was walking in our break room and stepped down wrong I guess. I fell into the stove and rolled my ankle. Thank you all for the awards. Kinda weird that my most popular post is about me falling down. Let me assure all of you that I was ok after this fall and have gone on to fall down two different sets of stairs and trip over my dogs on multiple occasions.
Take me Home
When I went to a music festival and slept in a tent after five or so years of not doing so. My God. I need to get home and take a real shower.
Truth! I slept on an air mattress for the first time in years and holy hell did I ache the next day. Gone are the days I could fall asleep on cold concrete contorted like the best circus act and wake up feeling as refreshed as a spring chicken.
The Wardrobe
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My 12 yr old daughter's friend told her "the amount of times your mom has worn that outfit is ASTRONOMICAL" and when my daughter repeated it to me all my hopes of being a "cool" mom were crushed and I felt older than I ever have.
Hey Grandpa...
When I was in my late 20s I dated a girl who had a daughter. The daughter and I got along great, played a bunch of Katamari together, etc.
Years later, that girl and I have long since broken up. I did some volunteer teaching at one of the local alternative schools with my wife. And one of students in the film class we taught was my ex girlfriends daughter, now 18 years old.
At some point in your life, whether you have kids or not, you realize you're technically old enough to be a grandparent. And that feels very old.
Surpassing....
When my son could outrun me.
I went obstacle course running with my oldest (6 years at that time) and he asked if we could still be doing that in 10 years. I told him I would be 50 so sure. You know what that little shit said? "Cool, I will hold back for you dad".
He is probably right but I will keep training to not make it easy for him to pass me.
being 38....
I used to drive for Uber and one night I realized the college girls I picked up could have been my adult daughters.
I'm not quite that old yet; I'm 38, but the really crazy thing to think about is that you don't feel it happening AT ALL. Like, with the exception that for some reason I emit a noise when lifting something light like a box of Cokes, I literally feel exactly the way I think I remember feeling in my 20s, only now there's this number that feels like a freaking toe tag.
Hair issues
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Instead of growing facial hair to look older, I'm shaving it to look younger.
"The accident"
I saw a picture on Facebook of a friend from college and thought, damn he got fat and old. I immediately realized... I also got fat and old.
My two New Years Resolutions are: #1, get back into the shape i was before the accident; #2, stop referring to letting myself go and getting fat as "The accident."
Who am I?
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I was playing basketball alone and a bunch of kids smashed a beer bottle on the other side of the court just for fun.
I shouted at them, told them to pick up the pieces and warned them not to do that crap ever again.
They got scared shirtless and apologized. I had never felt older.
D.O.B
When I'm signing up for an account on a website, I have to scroll back pretty far to find my birth year now.
According to most websites I was born on January 1, 1901.
I got kicked off of an alcohol site for entering my birth year as "19" (not realizing it only allowed 2 digits). As a 30-something, i am offended that they don't think a 100 year old can use the internet!
Classics
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They played Green Day and The Offspring on the "classic rock" radio station.
Then the announcer says something about it being "released on this day 20 years ago" ... WTF!
papa can you hear me?
Coming around the corner of a department store and seeing my dad come around the corner at the same time.
It was a mirror.
I occasionally say things and hear my father's voice coming out of my mouth. I even notice I have the same half smile he does when I think I'm being clever. It's worrisome.
Nobody We Know
When I see popular Reddit posts mentioning celebrities with weird, crazy names and I'm like, who the heck are these people?
This isn't just age, it's also a product of the internet era. It used to be that everyone watched the same shows on the same few channels or listened to the same few radio stations, or whatever, so everyone knew the same celebrities.
In this age where the monoculture has been shattered, everyone is watching different shows on Netflix, YouTube, etc, it's so much easier to find niches, no one knows the same set of celebrities anymore.
Mac Who?
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I was teaching a class last week and told my audience that they may need to MacGyver a solution if they come upon a certain problem. No one knew what that meant.
Because someone asked, it was an EMT refresher course. These are the people you trust with your life!
But I'm just 16!
When my oldest daughter was in 1st grade, she brought a note home from the teacher, saying that my daughter had misbehaved. I had to sign it and send it back. My daughter was scared and tearful and it suddenly struck me: holy crap - I'm the adult here. I'm the authority figure who a little girl is scared to be in trouble with. To me, I was the same person I was when I was 16.
What am I Thinking?!
I was walking through Sheffield after work, about 7pm, around December 2013 I think. - it was f,f,f,freezing. A bunch of students rounded the corner and a couple of the girls were wearing really short dresses, no coats.
Thought 1: she must be freezing
Thought 2: that's something my dad might have said
Thought 3: I'm OLD enough to be her dad
Thought 4: why did I not think "she was fit!"
Thought 5: when the hell did I start thinking like this?
These thoughts passed through my head in what must have been only half a second.
The Little Things
Getting excited over things like a new vacuum, new water heater, or a not plastic silverware tray. Realizing the Lincoln Park album i like is 20 years old. Laughing when someone invites me out, especially if the start of the event is 9 pm.
It only seems like a couple of years ago that I was spending most of my money on synths and other music gear and preparing to go on tour again.
This morning I was giddy because the Amazon driver delivered my new cushion covers and comfy slippers.
Damn.
deep in thought
I was at work and had a meeting with an ex Olympic gymnast. She was stunning and had cosmetic surgery to 'enlarge her frontage' She was also wearing quite a low cut top that had metal spikes in the shoulders. All (supposedly) very distracting stuff.
My very first thought - 'I bet that jumper makes a noise in the tumble dryer!'
My second thought - 'Damn I'm old!'
Bless You
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I'll add mine since it was the reason I thought to ask this question.... Last week I sneezed and it threw my back out.
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Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Liam_Tang asked:
"People who've divorced, aside from adultery, what were the irreconcilable differences that ended the marriage?"
You think you know a person when you walk down the aisle.
These Redditors were in for a rude awakening.
Pet Neglect
"My wife divorced her ex for many reasons, but the final straw was when she went out of town for a few days, and when she got back he had not fed or given water to the dog. The dog lived a long and happy life after that."
– StrangeCrimes
Obsessed With A Crush
"Not me, but I had an old coworker that divorced his wife for spending their entire savings on candy crush and games of the same type."
– Hexis40
Compatibility Musts
"ITT: Intimacy (sex/romance), beliefs (religion/spirituality/politics), kids, and I haven’t seen it yet but it’s coming: finances."
"The big four. You REALLY need to discuss these things in detail BEFORE getting married."
– rabbiskittles
Physical violence is a legit reason for people to peace out of a relationship.
The Flattening
"She threatened to hit me with a hammer."
– michaelrohansmith
Hitting The Bottle
"She became an abusive alcoholic. It was sad but I had to get out."
– diegojones4
Emotional pain is too damaging to recover from.
Truth Hurts
"She told me as we stood in front of the judge ending our 7 year marriage, 'I never loved you, I just wanted kids.'"
– Pinch_Dogs
Can't Fix Angry
"She was beautiful/smart but an angry angry person. I thought I could be sweet to her and 'fix' that. Heh. She kicked the crap out of me emotionally. Wife II has been a walk in the roses for 32 years now :)"
– lowlandr
A change of heart is worthless if comes too late.
"We Could've Had A Nice Marriage
"He could not understand that my wants and needs were as important as his wants and needs. We tried to make it work for 7 years. During that time, for things that were really important to me, I tried explaining logically, asking nicely, begging, crying, yelling, passive aggressiveness... cycled back through all of these options multiple times."
"(If I knew something was important to him, I would do that. For example, he was really into sports, so I went to all his events, even though that is not at all my thing.) When I finally threw up my hands and told him it was time to get a divorce, he suddenly panicked and said 'What can I do? Do you want me to do half the chores? I'll do it! Do you want me to get a job? I'll do it! Do you want me to buy you presents for your birthday? I'll do it!'"
"So, in other words, he could have been doing that all along, but just couldn't be bothered. That made me so angry. We could have had a nice marriage that we both enjoyed, but no, by the time he saw the light, that ship had sailed."
"We are both happily remarried now (to different people) and I joke that his new wife owes me a thank you note. It was his experience with me that taught him to listen to her and take her needs seriously."
– Bluebird-True
"What Can I Do?"
"My ex was exactly like this. I didn't marry him but when I told him let's break up, he went all like, what can I do? Let's get engaged, let's look at houses, etc. Basically all the pre-marriage topics that we should be discussing about after being together for 7 years."
"I got so angry and straight up told him it's too late... I don't need you anymore."
– gudetarako
As much as a couple wants to stay together, unforeseen circumstances can eventually tear people apart.
Very few people can maintain healthy long-distance relationships.
When a new job opportunity takes a significant other away, would you begrudge them for wanting a better position to earn more money? Or is it better for them to reluctantly turn down the opportunity so they could stay with you? Do either scenarios breed resentment?
These were questions I've often asked myself with past relationships, and my answers varied depending on the person I was with.
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