We all had our aspirations about becoming a certain type of person or accomplishing different goals when looking towards the future.
But the goals we have for ourselves can drastically change once we're adults, and that's partly due to the influence of different life experiences.
Sometimes, despite our best intentions and respective strategies to achieve something by a certain age, we can never imagine experiencing different outcomes.
Curious to hear from strangers online who never saw themselves in their current positions in life, Redditor graces-taylor12 asked:
"What about becoming an adult caught you completely off guard?"
The following Redditors were not ready to process the inevitable when it came to their parents.
A Role Reversal
"Watching your parents becoming old and frail."
– Mrbusybaconandeggs
"Dealing with this yesterday and it is an eye-opener. Its hard seeing someone you’ve known as a pillar of strength for 30+ years in a position of such weakness, and knowing that he might improve but generally the decline is coming."
– Rook1872
Age-Defying
"I've had a weird atypical experience. My dad was pretty old when I was born and always had a bad knee he could never afford to get fixed. He could barely walk and has never been able to run since I could remember. It got so bad that he couldn't even walk up or down the stairs in our house."
"Well he eventually got a knee replacement and he's now more agile at 73 than he was at 53. It's weird to see."
– Downtown_Skill
Sad Epiphany
"I'll never forget when I first realized how frail they actually were. I went over to their house to help out with some chores, and they couldn't even clean out any of the pens by themselves. They ended up selling most of their animals that year because they couldn't look after them."
– thecanadiancowboy
Life Can Be Cruel
"It’s slowly beginning with my parents, small hints here and there, they’re in their mid 50s.The big freak out for me has been watching my grandparents slowly declining over the last 3ish years. One set of grandparents have been gone since I was a kid, so these two are all I’ve got now. My Pap’s arthritis and sciatica is to the point now where it’s a process for him just to stand up. 2020 I saved him from a fall, if I wasn’t there to catch him, he would’ve easily been in the hospital for quite a while. That was the first 'Oh sh*t, he’s not immortal' moment."
– NoinePiecesOfVinyl
These Redditors discovered older doesn't always mean wiser.
Wake-Up Call
"I can do whatever the f'k I want. But I don't really want to do anything..."
– IcarusWax
"Yup, the idea of doing whatever you want as an adult was the biggest scam cartoons sold us."
"Yeah, you can do anything you want but you're gonna need money. So you get a job, there goes most of your day to your job."
"So now you have money but that'll go to bills first and by the time you can do what you want you don't have the energy or funds. Then the loop continues.."
– JimmyJackJericho
Fake It Til You Make It
"How clueless other adults are. I really thought adults had their sh*t in order while in reality most people are winging it."
–= xepci0
"Maturity is a skill. Some people learn it quickly. Others never do."
"Children are limited by their youth. Their brains aren't fully developed. But adults are not guaranteed to get more mature without working for it."
"Some people never grow up. They just get old."
– snapwillow
Being Independent
"I'm surprised by the amount of people who genuinely couldn't live by themselves if they had to. They somehow never learned basic life skills like simple cooking or cleaning and always had someone else to do it for them."
– CliffExcellent123
People became more aware of time.
Not Enough Me Time
"How little free time you have. You have to work, you have to prepare for work, drive to work, drive home from work. You also have to do household chores. You have to take care of kids if you have some. When do I get to enjoy my hobbies?"
– lllSnowmanlll
Point Of Exhaustion
"Most of the time I'm so tired from the day, I just don't have the mental capacity to do anything but go right to bed and watch tv ;_;"
– WitherWithout
Never Going Back
"Transitioning from college student + part time worker to full time worker I gained a bunch of time back. I was shocked that I could just decide to do laundry tomorrow if I didn't feel like it. Every evening I had this huge chunk of time that was just open."
"But then, moving from an apartment to a house, now there's a bunch more chores to do. Then introducing kids, now there's all that. But still, I wouldn't go back to the hectic college life."
– civilwarcorpses
Marking Time
"How it just goes on endlessly."
"When you're a kid, there's a summer break every year, and a new school to go to in a couple of years. Whatever part of your life you are in is clearly delimited and there is something new to look forward to after it."
"Once you're an adult, it's just 5 days of work and 2 days of weekend over and over and over until you die."
– Suitable_Mistake2208
After having a decent, long run in the entertainment business as a dancer, I've long held the belief I was invincible.
I was physically stronger, more agile, and foolish enough to think I could perpetually live in such a state.
All of a sudden, reality smacked me in the face one morning when I woke up and heard and felt various parts of my body crackle and pop like when milk hits a bowl of Rice Krispies.
My tired body had the audacity to inform me:
"Not today and from this day forward."
We're currently not on speaking terms.
People Confess Which Things They Swore They'd Never Do As A Kid But Ended Up Doing Anyway
When you were younger, your protected perspective on life and the world was probably significantly different compared to now.
Before life experience informed your decisions, younger you most likely had higher aspirations to achieve a specific goal or swore off doing something you found objectionable.
But here you are, as an adult, doing the exact opposite of what you had intended.
Curious to hear from strangers online about their developmental growth, Redditor 1234kyou_ asked:
"What did you swear in your childhood you would never do, but ended up doing anyways?"
Some hobbies that delighted us as kids never really go away as these Redditors have experienced.
The "Bird Creep"
"Birdwatching. I used to think it was the lamest way someone could spend their time when I was a kid. How could anyone just sit around and look at birds? What are you, some kind of bird creep? ... 20 years later and I'm obsessed with birds. Love hearing their songs and seeing all the beautiful colors."
– Koala-teas
Unfilled Dream
"Give up drawing."
"I actually broke my own heart when I recently found a school project we did back when I was a kid. We had to write a letter for our future selves and mine starts with: 'Hey, did you become an artist already? I really hope you did not become a boring adult with a boring job who gave up on his dreams and passions.'"
"Well, sorry little me, but I kinda did."
– Aesma_
Tending To One's Garden
"Gardening. We had a large garden. We raised and preserved what we grew. It was me and my sister's job to care for this garden. This was back when whipping your child was acceptable punishment. I was whipped sooo many times, because I hated that I had to grew and preserved vegetables I did not like. I hated it! Swore I'd never have a garden. Never do THAT to my kids. Then I had kids. A switch flipped in my head. I had to have a garden! I never made my kids take care of it. Gardening was my 'me' time. But being little kids, they wanted to be with mom and 'help' with the garden. I 'gave' them an area and they were allowed to grow whatever they wanted. If it was a fruit or vegetables , they had to eat it. As a result, they both love gardening and neither are picky eaters."
– Eogh21
When it comes to keeping it in the family, it's not always the goal.
Like Father...
"I have become my father."
– jer1303
Like Mother...
"I have become my mom.... even the voice is similar."
– rogue1206
Dad's Cynicism
"I've taken on a lot more of my dad's cynicism than I would like, but mostly I have my mom's wonder and carefreeness."
"But my dad is rich and mom is poor."
"He does not share the wealth he just shares 'you should've done X like this'. But his advice is the level of 'tear down the sign punch them in the face and say you're looking at your new employee'. I've also never heard a single dad joke from him."
– BugTester350
Posthumous Disapproval
"When I was touring houses to buy before the pandemic, my mother's spirit must have possessed me because I opened my mouth and her voice said 'i don't know, i don't think I could live in a house without both a coat closet and a linen closet.'"
– TJtherock
Adulting is hard.
The Financial Hole
"Get into debt I can't pay off."
– lilviviv
Potty-Mouth
"I said I wouldn’t curse unless a nuke was dropped on my house. That was a f'king lie."
– -notjosh-
Can't Wait, Don't Hate
"Have sex before marriage. Thank f'k I never made good on that one since I'm 41 and have never been married."
– squid1891
I'm a pretty fussy eater. Always have been.
I grew up in a Japanese family where regularly eating natto was a thing.
Natto is a Japanese dish made from Bacillus subtilis-fermented soybeans. It's known to have magical health benefits but the smell is overwhelmingly powerful, and the nutty taste leaves little to be desired.
Many people not used to eating exotic foods can't stand the flavor and slimy, sticky texture–let alone the pungent aroma.
I swore as a child that would be the one food I would never eat again after having a bad experience.
And yet, here I am as an adult, eating it for breakfast 2-3 times a week after truly understanding the health benefits.
Natto–which is rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals– helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels, reduces blood pressure, and can prevent heart disease. Some studies have suggested it can prevent certain cancers.
Once I trained myself to get used to flavor and smell, I actually crave it now.
It's definitely an acquired taste, but it's crazy to know that we are all capable of liking or appreciating something previously thought of as repulsive once we set our mind to it.
All of us have found ourselves taken by surprise on a few occasions.
There are good surprises, like a friend you haven't seen for years making a trip to celebrate your birthday, as well as less great surprises, like your boyfriend surprising you with tickets to the hockey game, when he knows full well you hate hockey.
But then there are the moments that truly leave us at a loss for words.
The chapters in our life which, for better or worse, we will never forget.
Things that we would never expect to see or hear in a million years, and which we still might be processing to this very day.
Redditor ZonaPreto was curious to hear the moments in people's lives from which they are still trying to pry their jaws off the floor, leading them to ask:
"What's the biggest shock you've had in your adult life?"
They Never Got To Say Goodbye
"I got a call at work that my wife had been admitted to hospital and that I needed to come to get my children."
"That was all the information they gave me."
"I was at a site about 1.5h drive from the hospital, so I said I'd be there in about 2 hours."
"Finally arrived, and they told me where my kids (14 and 7yo) were."
"Walked in the room and said, 'Hi guys!... What's wrong?'"
"My daughter responded, 'Mom died!'"
"This was more than 22 years ago now, but I still can feel the shock."
"We survived, with a lot of help from friends and family."
"All doing well now."- kamuelak
Queen Bees and Wannabees...
"Some people never grow past high school."- Rad-Cabbage
It Never Really Goes Away...
"How bad grief can actually f*ck you up."- Daddyz-bby-grl
People Have A Way Of Surprising You
"Just found out my wife of 8 years was having an affair with her coworker for a year."- Srslynotjackiechan·
It Could Sadly Happen To Anyone
"Biggest shock was when a friend was killed in a head-on collision by an inebriated driver coming directly at him at high speed."- Back2Bach
Things You Never Want To Hear From Your Doctor
"A brain cancer diagnosis."
"The full expectation that regardless of how long I have left, it WILL come back and it will kill me."- FrogPrinceLuckey
It's Almost Worse When You Know It's Coming
"The day I realized my mother was on life support and that she would soon be taken off."
"Context: My mom's health had been declining for a while, so it wasn't as if was completely out of left field."
"She was young (63), but we had known for years that she was going to be gone sooner rather than later."
"Still, when I got that phone call from my Dad saying that had fallen into a coma and that I needed to get home ASAP, I got off the phone, collapsed on the floor of my office and just laid there and shook."
"I couldn't even get the air into my lungs to wail like I wanted to."
"It was awful."
"Some of my closest friends were coming in from Canada for my birthday and we were gonna hit the town with my girlfriend. Instead, I spent my 30th birthday watching my mother being taken off life support."
"If your parents are worth having in your life, keep them close."
"When they're gone, you notice in a million small ways every single day."
"Especially around this time of year."- NapalmStef
Not-So-Holy Matrimony
"How many people cheat on their spouses and how many of those people don't seem to feel bad about it at all."- compromisedfishstix
"My spouse was f---ing around on me."
"Not just during our marriage, but also while we were dating."
"And not just with a few people."
"Like, f---ing everybody."
"Men, women, coworkers, friends, randos... ev-er-y-bod-y."
"Biggest punch to the gut in my whole life."
"I thought we were forever... oh, such a fool."- ShexyBaish6351
A Literal Shock
"480 volts on a welded contact."- twojs1b
Always At The Bottom Of The Ladder
"I’ve had like nine different jobs, tons of experience in different sectors."
"I’ve been loyal, spent 4 years with one company."
"I can’t get somebody to hire me for the life of me."- im_a_nobody_too
Makes You Kind Of Wonder Where They Got It...
"How popular cocaine is."
"In high school, I thought it was up there with meth."
"Then in college it was more popular but still I thought only hard core partiers took it."
"Then I graduated, got a job in tech finance, and it's EVERYWHERE."
"It's like the most common thing people don't talk about."- bromosa_mimosa
They Think They Know Everything...
"How stupid adults are!"- TheGood1swertaken
Shocking information comes in many different forms.
Sometimes it makes you jump or scream the minute you hear it.
Other times, it takes a good amount of time for the magnitude of it all to actually sink in.
No matter the packaging, however, shocking information has a way of continuing to mystify you till the end of your days.
People Break Down Which Things Are Falsely Seen As A Sign Of Maturity
Being an adult is more about people presenting themselves a certain way.
It's about taking responsibility, being held accountable for indiscretions, taking risks, and a slew of other things that require hard work.
Adulting is so easy, said no one ever. There are people who think they're playing the part convincingly but they're fooling nobody but themselves.
Curious to hear from strangers who can see through a person's deceit, Redditor CrispP_bacon asked:
"What is falsely seen as a sign of maturity?"
Redditors break down certain behaviors that actually reveal their immaturity.
Tapping Into The Inner Kid Inside
"Not acting childish. Sounds so strange but the most mature people usually have no problem tapping into their childish or silly sides. Immature people overdo it trying to be 'cool.'"
– well_actuallE
Unfairly Targeted
"Conversely, telling someone they're a stick in the mud because they aren't comfortable acting a certain way. I'm a naturally reserved person. I like quiet music, peaceful settings, and spend a lot of time in quiet contemplation. It doesn't mean there is something wrong with me."
"Not feeling required to 'be a certain way' is probably the best all around for this."
– chaotic----neutral
Confidence In Their Passion
'When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.' - C S Lewis
"True adults are secure in their love for whatever they love - be it action figures , fairy tales , video games .Those who ridicule these people for their interests are actually the childish ones."
– chriscrossnathaniel
Mom Set The Standard
"According to my mom, the rule is that if you haven't grown up by the time you're 50, you no longer have to. I am this 🤏 close."
– LonePaladin
No Shaming, Please
"I was dating a girl recently, and I showed her my PSP. I have it since 2007, original battery and everything, and I play PSX games from time to time. When I showed it to her she said 'What are you, 12?'"
"I felt very small and childish. But maybe I shouldn't have. Thank fully we are not dating anymore."
– gin-o-cide
Life Is Too Short
"Ridiculing others' interests is the real childishness."
"Love what you love, life's too short for this sh*t."
– kerenski667
Working oneself to death is not necessarily a characteristic of maturity.
Adulting List
"Being in a relationship."
"Having kids."
"Working 60+ hours a week"
– metzgermeister87
Working To Live
"I need folk to understand working 60+ hours, and being proud isn’t the flex they think it is…"
– The_Reborn_Forge
Life Is Not All Fun & Games For Grownups
"STOP ENJOYING!"
– themoodyphilospher
Happiness = Bad
"My dad in a nutshell. 'Stop being happy with your steady job that pays enough so you can afford whatever you want and leaves you with tons of free time, life and work need to be a grind and a fight or you're not doing it right!.' I guess that's my gift to him, so he can have something to be angry about, the only thing that makes him happy."
– ssatyd
No Free Time For You
"Protestant work ethic and its idea that you need to be constantly working, even in your free time, has always been a huge mystery to me, specifically why a lot of people are so stuck up with it."
– h3X_T
Not everyone is equipped to be a parent, and therefore, not mature enough to take care of and raise another human being. To acknowledge this shouldn't be seen as being neglectful.
Family Status
"Having a spouse and kids."
– johansugarev
Sign Of Manhood
"My family thinks I am skirting responsibility by not having kids. I know a lot of people who had them thinking they were obligated to, and neglect them."
"I remember telling somebody I know from college I don't want them ever, and she said, 'My boyfriend's not afraid to take responsibility and have kids,' as if I wasn't a real man for not having them lol."
"For some, it's a sign of virility and maturity."
– lazarus870
Adults Can Admit To This
"It’s more responsible to choose not to take on a responsibility that you don’t want."
– Lifeboatb
Owning Your Priorities In Life
"afraid" is a terrible word for it that has been said to me as well.
"I'm not afraid of having kids, I would just prefer to do literally anything, including nothing at all than have kids."
"I would rather sleep all day every day."
– mantits- ·
The Stigma
"my family thinks its a travesty that I don’t ever want children, my mom always thought I was just being young and angsty and would change my mind. Now that im in my 30s shes given up on that. I truly don’t understand how most people can even afford to have children anymore and provide them anything else except the bare a** minimum to sustain life. Everything is sooooo much more expensive than it was when I was a kid, and the wages are about the same. Money just doesn’t go as far as it used too, and its getting harder and harder to build up and acquire credit to actually own a house or anything like that."
– smurfasaur
You can be a kid at heart and still be an adult.
Don't let anyone take that away from you.
People Explain Which Teen Movies Made Them Think 'The Older I Get, The More I Agree With The Adult'
There's a fairly common formula in movies geared toward a teenage audience.
A group of teenagers face one central conflict, to varying degrees of importance and severity, but manage to solve it in a surprisingly short manner of time.
The heroes of these films are usually a hodgepodge of traditional high school archetypes (star athlete, math nerd, girl whose beauty is disguised by a pair of glasses), all of whom the intended audience can completely relate to and root for.
And then we have the adult characters, who are often buffoonish stereotypes, or the outright villain, whose sole mission is to ensure the protagonist will not achieve their ultimate goal.
As teenagers, we often find ourselves ready to boo these grown-ups from the minute they appear on the screen.
But when we revisit these movies as adults, we find ourselves noticing that their behavior isn't quite as bad as we remembered.
Or, more shockingly, we actually find ourselves rooting for them!
"What teen movie is the epitome of 'the older I get, the more I agree with the adult?'"
The Teacher Was Right All Along...
"Rewatching 'Scrubs', I realize I’m no longer a JD., I’ve become a Cox."- RenegadeRinker
They Were Just Being Protective!
"I watched 'Sixteen Candles' recently and I now do not approve of Samantha going anywhere near Jake Ryan."-goblininstigator
All It Takes Is A Little Perspective
"Sadly, 'The Wonder Years'."
"I always couldn’t believe the dad was real, with his pissed off attitude from work."
"Now I understand."- hashn
The Wonder Years Thumbs Down GIFGiphyNothing Wrong With A Little Precision And Order!
"The movie 'Juno'."
"Jennifer Garner's character is at first portrayed as a 'square', then you realize she's a mature adult and her husband is a man-baby."- DaveFarted
Add It Up, The Wedding Cost Nearly $150,00!
"Not a teen movie, but 'Father of the Bride'."
"Watching it as a kid, Steve Martin seemed like an old grump."
"Rewatching it as an adult, holy sh*t he is the only sane person in that movie."- DrOctopusMD
It Was Literally His Job To Protect Them!
"'The Lion King'."
"Oh I thought Zazu was just an old fun-killer."
"What do you mean, Simba can't be king?"
"Why would you prevent the kids from going where they want?"
"As an adult and father, I'm 100% Team Zazu."- Oneiric86
the lion king GIF by DisneyGiphySeriously, Would Your Dad Have Been So Cool About It?...
"'American Pie'."
"As a new father, I hope to be like Jim’s dad when my little one is a teenager."
"Caring, loving and a complete embarrassment to them."- BanjoPhatterson
It's A Parent's Job To Worry.
"The mom in 'Ice Princess'."
"So you have a daughter who has a talent for and seems to like physics and has a shot of getting into Harvard."
"This girl throws it away for ice skating where she has only been competing for less than a year, where if she gets injured she's done and when she reaches 30 she's pretty much done."
"There is no way she is at an olympic level at that point she would need years of training! "
"Hell yes I would advise against it to!"- testmonkey254
Always Be Respectful Of Your Roommate!
"Goob, 'Meet the Robinsons'."- beepboop232
Meet The Robinsons Google GIFGiphyPeople Are Complicated
"Dr Doofenschmirtz."
"He’s just trying to do something right and being a good dad."- LukeLJS123
Dancing
"In Dirty Dancing, Jerry Orbach just wanted a family summer vacation and instead learned entirely too much about his daughters’ sex lives." - User Deleted
Menace
"Mr. Wilson in Dennis the Menace. Seriously, f**k that little miscreant and his parents that turn a blind eye to his shenanigans." -HotTub_MKE
Wimpy
"Haven't watched the movies, but I assume that the movies are similar enough, Diary of a wimpy kid, bro, your mom just wants to stop being a housewife and have a job and you complain that she isn't in the house anymore to be your personal slave, when you get from school you don't even greet her, you just give her your back pack, you little sh*t, do one thing in your life, did you ever thank her for anything Gregory?" - Torture-Dancer
Wonka
"Gene Wilder in original Charlie and the Chocolate factory “stop, don’t... come back” - isaacmorton
Good Will
"Good Will Hunting."
"A great film to watch as a smug, witty underachiever, however genuinely smart & funny you might be (at least according to your friends)."
"But go back to it 15 or 20 years later, perhaps after losing your wife to cancer, and you'll freak out at this scene."
"Source: No idea how smart or funny I really used to be, but I was definitely smug. I married the person I'd been with since we were both 16. She died at 33." - cdeverett
Rugrats
"Rugrats. The parents were so young and just doing their best. I like it was a group of neighbors that were best friends too. I get really stressed out on their behalf now. Especially the one where didi just wants to make it home before her banana tree she bought died in the car but no one could get their sh*t together." - cunexttuesday12
Daria
"Way late to the party; but I’m gonna say “Daria”."
"I used to be a disaffected teen too. All my problems were SO HUGE! And Daria’s parents just DIDN’T UNDERSTAND!"
"I watch it now, and Jake Morgendorffer is who I identify best with. He’s supposed to seem silly and crazy and out of touch, but now I just see a guy who worries so much about providing for his family, dealing with insecurity about his masculinity, and trying to relate to his daughters any way he can in spite of being completely baffled by them, because his hypermasculine upbringing left him ill-equipped to relate to girls."
"Poor Jake. He just wants to be a better dad than his dad. And in spite of his goofiness, I think he does an okay job." - corran450
As teens we're inclined to revolt from our parents and teachers, or even be revolted by them.
But the older we get, the more we understand that nine times out of ten, they were just looking out for us.
Just as we realize that Mr. Hall of Clueless was being pretty generous giving a C to a student who didn't seem to know how to pronounce "Haitian"...