I'm over always staying positive. Bleh. Who needs it?
Winners
team winning GIFGiphy"Who won. Who won any crappy argument. I'm in my 60s and when I hear someone winding up to tell me a story that features 'then I saidxxxx then SHE saidxxx'.... my brain stops."
pyrofemme
Private Thoughts
"Other people's opinions of you."
LucyVialli
"Yeah, I love being 40 and having self belief. You can only hold back and have been right so many times before you learn to speak up, and stop giving a sh*t what people might say."
AlterEdward
"Yes, came here to say this. Ultimately, only you can make yourself happy and that starts with loving yourself and not caring about other people’s opinions."
Lee2026
The Popular
"Following trends."
StarViolet33
"I think it starts to creep in when you hit like 30, even. You still put in the effort, but you don't just closely follow trends. Especially not fashion trends. I mean it's getting popular to dress like mall goths again."
"That was lame the first time around. We're just stuck on a 20 year cycle for fashion. Baggy pants are coming back as well. Which is another dumb one, to me. Don't get me wrong, skinny jeans were a bad idea for like 90% of people. They looked good on skinny people. Not so great on others. But baggy pants just look bad on most people, to me."
appleparkfive
I May Die
"Getting sh**faced."
FirefliesAndBikinis
"This, yeah. The next day sucks now. Usually I strictly limit myself to 2 drinks a night, and rarely drink more than 2-3 nights in a given week."
"Here a couple months ago I'd had a particularly bad week, said f**k it, and decided to just relax and not pay attention to how much I was drinking. All was fine till I stood up. Queue stumbling across the house to the bathroom and waking up in the hallway the next morning thinking I was gonna die. I don't remember getting drunk being like that 20 years ago."
siskulous
Who Cares?
Very Funny Oops GIF by America's Funniest Home VideosGiphy"Birthdays."
SupineProtoplasm
"Once you hit 21, there aren’t many more exciting milestones (in the US). At 25 you can rent a car but that’s it."
SmartAlec105
I try to keep celebrating each year, but I grow more and more tired. I feel that one.
"freedoms"
free freedom GIFGiphy"Adulthood and the associated 'freedoms.' When I was a teen I was so excited about getting to be an adult and drive where I wanted and drink and all that crap. Now I just wanna stay home and watch cartoons LMAO."
GenericNerdGirl
I'll get pissed...
"Mindgames in relationships."
GGBigChungus
"I am very fortunate that I found a wife who never played mind games to begin with, and I never cared, so that has never been an issue in our relationship. We've been together for 33+ years and will celebrate our 30th in three months, and we've elevated our relationship to these micro conflicts."
"Like, she can say something, I'll get pissed, I'll say something back, we go into this split second mode of anger at each other, and literally, 5 seconds later, we're fine. She'll say, 'You're a jerk', I'll say, 'But you nag', and the whole thing is completely defused and over."
"It's the way we are, we're best friends, we're equals in that we trust each others judgement and our decisions are generally mutual. I know it sounds boring, but it's awesome that the most important thing for us that gets less interesting as we age is conflict and an inability to compromise."
oxiraneobx
All of It
"Literally everything. Especially people's opinions."
gingerpeachwin
"I'm 14 and I don't care what others think already... mostly my 'motto' would be 'if it doesn't hurt anyone then it's fine,' no I don't care if you give me that weird look when I make a contraption on the side of my desk out of used correction tape, if it gives me a place to put my pens then I'm keeping it, I'm starting to feel old."
WangYat2007
Cringe
The older you get, the less impressed/interested you are with basically everything. Once you see all the world's gimmicks for what it is, the rose colored glasses start falling off. What got me excited as a 20 year old, does not spark any joy for me a decade later. My motto 'if your past self doesn't make you cringe, you aren't growing.'"
Medical_Season3979
Over It
Oh The Drama GIF by MOODMANGiphy"Real life drama. I cannot stand listening to people gossip & talk about who is fighting with who. Who slept with who. Who did this & that. idgaf. You're grown & still acting like you're in high school. it's embarrassing."
theabcsong-
Life goes on. Life moves on. 'Tis the way...
My life of the party people are dead and depressed. Cheers...
Yin & Yang
We Did It Win GIF by HBO MaxGiphy"One’s a doctor, one lives in a towable caravan."
Low_Corner_9061
"There doesn't seem to be a lot of middle ground in this thread."
space_monster
Tabs Up
"Worked at a bar in college, and friends worked at other bars. So I knew a lot of people who drank a lot. Most went on to be in sales or some other job where interpersonal communication skills are more valued than raw academic skills. Some do very well."
AmigoDelDiabla
"Bartended full or part time for 15 years now. It's funny those same people keep coming in to drink, but now it's with coworkers and clients and rack up huge tabs and tip the best."
Minimum_Attitude6707
Drink to the Top
"He drank with the right executives at a conference and got offered a job. He now makes three times what I do."
Moctor_Drignall
"I know someone this happened to as well! Our senior year I think she drunk-tweeted something and a company loved what she tweeted that they offered her a job. We graduated 11 years ago and she still works for them! (Although this kind of goes against the thread because she doesn't drink anywhere near as much anymore since she got married and started a family)."
PAKMan1988
Genius
"Ran into an old friend who was like that. We were in our late 30s when that happened and chatted; turned out he partied hard until late 30s and during that time, flitted around job to job to simply fund his partying. One day he looked around and noticed that he was the old guy at the bars hanging with early 20-somethings."
"He realized that all of the folks our age were ahead in their careers, with family/kids etc. Said that was a pretty sobering revelation and enrolled himself back into school and was in his 2nd year of engineering as he wanted to be an aerospace engineer."
rudebish
The Right Way
golden globes GIFGiphy"He partied with the right guys and now makes very good money in sales where he parties with clients but the company pays for it."
MySonHas2BrokenArms
Sometimes vodka works you all the way to the corner office. I'm on my way...
Never took off...
Drunk Vince Vaughn GIF by HBO MaxGiphy"He decided to do a commercial pilot license. Spent so much money on the training and the partying that his debts overtook him. Here, most airlines don't accept pilot candidates with outstanding debts or criminal records. He never got to fly a plane. He still owes a lot of people small to medium amounts of money. Accepted a menial job writing technical manuals."
Ruggiard
The Mess
"I lived in a house with a bunch of guys. One of them was in electrical engineering. He got a job at Applebees for some extra cash and started having parties with work people after work (so 3-5am). That made it hard to make class so he dropped a semester."
"We all graduated and he said he would refocus on school soon, but he was having too much fun partying. I went back to college 20 years later for a football game. He is still working as a waiter at Applebees. He is the creepy guy who acts like he is best friends a with a bunch of 20 year old kids. He’s a mess."
alpacasarebadsingers
Tragic
"He never stopped. He continued drinking at a crazy pace, and lost his job, his driving license, and his wife. He had to move near to a liquor store to keep drinking. He was found dead on the floor of his apartment from a hemorrhage in his stomach caused by years of alcohol abuse. He bled to death from within. He left behind two sons."
SpaceLaserPilot
'dedicated party house'
"A friend of mine in college pulled a Van wilder, and spent 7 total years in college (just getting his undergrad) because he liked the partying so much. He lived in the college 'dedicated party house' that had just two modes, actively throwing a wild party, or recovering from the latest party."
"What was wild about him was that even though he lived a party lifestyle, he got excellent grades and took phenomenal care of himself (when he wasn't getting black out wasted and having weird sexcapades), and was the person who got me into running/marathoning."
"Eventually, he finally graduated with a degree in Mechanical engineering, moved to the east coast, got married and became a born again Christian. He seems happy and successful and just had his first kid recently, but its absolutely weird seeing him post pictures of him getting adult baptized and doing mission work."
GlastonBerry48
Unrecognizable
Sad Lonely GIF by PokémonGiphy"He overdosed, blacked out and fell off a balcony at a hotel and hit the pavement so hard his mother couldn’t recognize him."
Impressive-Orchid748
The party has to end sometime. When the lights come on... go home. That's clearly a general life lesson as well.
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Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
In reality, some fears just stick.
No matter how old you get, or how much math you do to convince your anxiety that it's probably NOT going to happen... some things just stick.
Reddit user iron_horse_ asked:
"What's one thing that still scares the hell out of you no matter how old you get?"
When I was young, my dad's car spun out on an overpass while I was driving with him. I was sitting upfront because there wasn't much of a back seat.
The car came to a stop facing the wall, the windshield framing the long fall that we could have taken. Just a few more inches forward. If he had been going just a little bit faster ...
It's probably not a coincidence that my first actual panic attack happened as I was driving on an overpass on a rainy night.
It just stuck.
Here's what "just stuck" for Reddit.
The Stairs
"Walking up the stairs at night when all the lights are off downstairs."
"No matter how hard I resist, I always end up sprinting."- metee_agar
michael douglas stairs GIF by JustinGiphyOverboard
"The thought of being dropped in the middle of an ocean."
"I'm terrified of the emptiness."
"Nothing but water stretching into the horizon in every directions."
"Treading water and wondering if you should even try to swim or give up and let yourself sink into the ocean ... and to God Knows what that lives there."-jmongevida
"When I was in the Navy, I'd look out at the sea and it wasn't too bad most of the time."
"There are people watching out in every direction all the time, and there's usually someone working topside to keep an eye on you when you fall in."
"But even the THOUGHT of falling overboard at night is terrifying to me."
"It is damn near pitch black, so even the people watching at night won't see you, and you'll just sit there watching the ship's lights fade into the distance, knowing they'll never find you in the dark."- MS-07B-3
blue planet oceans GIF by BBC AmericaGiphyMirror Mirror
"Often times when I'm washing cleanser off of my face, I fear that when I lift my head to look in the mirror, there will be a stranger/monster/axe murderer suddenly standing behind me."
"I've had this paranoid thought since I was around 7 years old."-juliannedattas
scared looney tunes GIFGiphyLights In The Dark
"Small, red lights in the dark."
"My TV has one that’s always on, but not many things do anymore."
"It makes me extremely anxious and on guard."
"Maybe that I’m being watched?"
"I can’t really explain it and I’ve pondered why get all wigged out for a hot minute."- SpoolBus6Oh
Im Watching You GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonGiphySleep Situations
"I can't sleep with my back to the door."
"I saw a movie as a kid where a girl was sleeping with her back to the door and someone came in and stabbed her in the back."
"Also, the closet door has to be closed because there are monsters in there at night."
"I will still occasionally jump into bed so the monsters under the bed can't grab me."
"A dark house, I flip on every light as I walk through."
"So I guess this means I'm afraid of the dark? *Sighs*"
"I'm 47. I guess I won't be growing out of it anytime soon."- r_ylenia
new jersey woman GIFGiphySpiders
"Spiders."
"God damn spiders."
"Big ones, small ones, fat ones, skinny ones, all of them."
"They keep me awake at night thinking about them."
"The idea that there is probably at least one hiding in my room somewhere at this exact moment freaks me the f*ck out."
"I once punched my sister in the face for putting a fake one on me."
"When I was a kid, I was going to take a shower and a daddy long leg came crawling out of the drain hole."
"I puked from the fear and didn't take another shower from the next 2 months."
"Spiders can all die in a fiery pit."
"They're all gross and disgusting and I hate them."- aizen_vx
The Floor Is ... Crabs?
"Bathing in lakes and seas."
"Once, as a small kid, I went for a swim in the sea only to discover that the ground was covered in small crabs."
"I'm not talking 50, I'm talking thousands of small crabs that would be everywhere where I put my feet down."
"I was stepping on them, they were scrambling over my feet."
"I couldn't touch the bottom without touching a crab."
"Now I hate to go swimming if I cant see the bottom."- LakeTop7461
bbc one crab GIF by BBCGiphy3:33
"It's bizarre, but it freaks me out when I randomly wake up at 3:33am or happen to notice the time at 3:33pm."
"I think it was some Exorcist movie when I was a kid. I just look the other way like 'nope not noticing this devil sh*t!' "
"The funny part is I'm agnostic."
"Mom was catholic, though, and quite nuts so this may have played a role in my legit fear of demons, even if rationally I don't think they're real... Probably."- Otherwise_Flan_7854
Scared Bruce Campbell GIF by Ash vs Evil DeadGiphyJust Bots
"The Dead Internet Theory"
"It's getting scarier and more obvious as we get older."
"The theory is that internet 'died' somewhere around late 2016 to early 2017 and is being discreetly replaced by bots designed to selectively challenge or reaffirm your opinions to maximize engagement."
"This is also supported by the spread of link rot and content drift."
"Read up. It's not as tin-foil-hat at you might be thinking."
"People massively undervalue their intuition these days, and are quick to play the tin-foil-hat card when something like this is brought up."
"If something feels off, it usually is."- Spxders
Robots Free Yourself GIF by The Chemical BrothersGiphyFire
"Bushfires."
"I live in a very bushfire-prone area."
"It was made super clear growing up how awfully terrifying fires are."
"They kill. It isn't quick and painless."
"An extremely intense wariness and fear of them has always been deep-rooted in my mind."
"Just the sight of smoke on the horizon makes me nervous."
"God forbid I see it on a hot and windy day."
"F*ck fires. So much."- No-Acanthisitta423
Virtual Reality Fire GIF by The Weather ChannelGiphyStairs Again
"Heights, glass railings, steps/escalators and especially around children."
"As a small child I fell backwards down a escalator and managed to catch myself before a point at which I probably would have died."
"It still scares me today."
"All I saw was the mall floor and glass railings as I fell."
"My ex husband had a little cousin that died on steps."
"It really bothered me - he was a gorgeous, happy little kid and I spent so much time around him."
"He happened to fall a day after we spent time with him." - ChineseChaiTea
Chris Hemsworth Movie GIF by NETFLIXGiphyA Very Hard "Grudge" To Shake
"Kayako."
"The dead woman from 'The Grudge' movie."
"I know it's irrational, even for being in my mid 30s and how absolutely tacky that movie and the originals are."
"But her face is so creepy."
"It's so dumb, but it still weird me out."
"Its nothing racial, just her specific face weird me out."- bohemianjb
Consider Public Transport?
"My wife's driving."- Agreeable_Mango_1288
Always Guaranteed To Be Unpleasant
"Vomit."
"It’s called emetophobia, and it’s not just gross."
"It’s terrifying."
"It’s scariest when it’s my daughter."- barredowl123
Vomit Reaction GIF by MOODMANGiphyWho Would Really Expect Them To Hurt So Much?!?
"Stepping on lego."- Confused_Magpie
Stranger Danger
"That when i'm alone at night I'll look out into the back yard and see the silhouette of someone/something looking back at me."- Belerophon17
Anticipation...
"Opening a can of biscuits."
"Peeling back the piece of paper waiting for the can to pop gives me anxiety."
"I have this irrational fear it’s going to burst open and eviscerate my hands."- BurntToasterWaffle
What Waits On The Other Side?...
"The doorbell."
"Doesn’t matter If I’m watching my postmates driver on the map, it spooks me every time because it’s a murderer."- dooropen3inches
Height...
"Really high bridges."
"Driving over them scares the sauce out of me."
"Not the ordinary ones where I live, but ones like the Mackinac Bridge, the George Washington and Verrazano Narrows in NYC, the Grand Island bridges near Buffalo, etc."- The_Sanch1128
san francisco art GIFGiphyPeeing On It Won't Help...
"Stepping on and getting stung by a jellyfish in the ocean."
"It happened to me once as a kid and I'm still extremely careful out swimming at the beach."- Iya_Taisho
Peer Pressure
"Being judged by my peers."- english_rose86
Welp ... Reddit has just given me a bunch of new stuff to lose sleep over at night. What about you?
