Redditor SpeedyMammoth wanted to discuss why love has been kept from so many, so they asked:
"What’s stopping you from being with the person you love?"
Sometimes... it's just not meant to be.
One Sided
Love Me Do Not Want GIF by MOODMANGiphy"The feelings are not mutual."
MrTumnus__
"Same. Been 5 years. Hurts much less but a lingering pain is always there. Especially since I've not been able to find love since."
NouveauQubecois
Happy 4 U
"Thought I met my soulmate actually. We met in college and were friends for three years. Always thought he might have a crush on me but he was in a really bad relationship and I would have never gotten involved. Then they broke up, we started hanging out more and things just felt right."
"When we did start dating, it was incredible! No relationship is perfect but I’d never been so happy and in love. First time a man has looked me in the eyes and said 'I can’t wait to marry you' and honestly I still think about that some times. Anyways, he cheated on me with his ex, got back with her and then they broke up after a week or so."
"A couple of his friends left him because he just changed into a really shi**y guy and I’m actually still friends with some of them myself. Now he’s doing what he loves and I’m happy for him! I just wish things had worked out, almost two years later and I’m still struggling not to think of him every day. I really hope I can get over him and find my own happiness again."
sadsporkyy
Closed
"She wanted us to be open. I wanted us to be exclusive. I was deeply in love with her and I really miss her. I ended up breaking up with her. Aside from that one incompatibility, I think we were a near-perfect fit. We had a wonderful relationship and it ended amicably, but it’s really hard to let go of someone you genuinely love when your relationship didn’t really have any problems. It took all the willpower I had to go through with it, and it was very painful."
CaptainTripper
Life pro tip...
"She’s with someone else."
MrOuija313
"We’re both with someone else and there are kids in the picture."
"Life pro tip: the person you are the most compatible with in your teens or twenties is not necessarily someone you will always be compatible with as you get older, especially once you both realize what it means to take care of kids all day every day."
persistentporpoise
Gone
Sad Rabbit GIF by Muffin & NutsGiphy"She died."
OrigamiApple
"Me too bro. Sorry for your loss. Sorry for all our losses."
Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum
"Same. I've tried again over the years. It's not the same. I'm sorry for your loss."
exactoctopus
Loss is always the one of the number one reasons.
Taylor Knows
Looking Around Music Video GIF by Taylor SwiftGiphy"Me. I am the problem."
hiyesgood
"I have a lot of trauma to deal with and I’m still trying to figure out who I am as a person. I didn’t think it was fair for him to ride along until I get to a point where I was mentally healthy. Could be months. Could be years. Thankfully I’ve been in therapy for 8 months now while changing my lifestyle. I don’t expect him to wait for me so I do my best to not reach out."
hiyesgood
In Time
"Bad timing. But we always find one another. Hopefully we get together before I'm too old to enjoy it."
moffettusprime
"Exactly this. She was my first and we were too young. It never worked out for us because of bad timing. Somehow I will always have this lingering hope that we will end up together. Even though I recently met a girl I am crazy in love with and this feeling has pretty much disappeared to the background."
GreenLurch
Issues
"She doesn't want to be with me. Part of it is her trauma, part of it is my trauma. Our traumas don't play well together. Her instinct is to avoid intimacy, my instinct is to seek it out. Really shi**y. I already have clinical depression, loneliness, and insomnia. What's your reasoning for breaking up? She's got an avoidant attachment style so when we got too intimate, she would pull away. I sought reassurance, got too needy, and pushed her away."
SomeDudeinCO3
What's to Be...
"Some people aren't meant to be loved, but you can't help it if you fall in love with them."
ForwardMountain2808
"You absolutely can help it if you fall in love with someone not 'meant to be loved.'"
"Boundaries, confidence, and self-respect will help you fall out of love with anyone that doesn’t want to be with you."
"Have a cry. Hit the bottle for a weekend. Then compose yourself and saddle the F up. There’s a whole world of people out there - good people - and you get one chance at this spinning rock."
"Don’t you rob the world of your love and don’t rob yourself of the experience of receiving love just because it didn’t happen with the person you thought it should."
HamburgerJames
Be Strong
Screaming Season 4 GIF by Broad CityGiphy"Fear of rejection, I don't know if she is even willing to have ANY relationship at all."
Meme_Lord_E
Love is a battlefield, as they say, so keep your armor and wits about you when you fall... and maybe you'll be caught off guard in the best of ways.
Reddit user nonameuser21 asked:
"What’s a thing that makes you think 'Wow, I’m really getting older'?"
Epic Sound Effects
"Everything creaks and what doesn't creak, hurts."
- insane_noises
"Everybody creaks, ....sometimes."
- SlightComplaint
"When the day is long & the night... The night is spent getting up several times to peeee"
-gliitch0xFF
orgy GIFGiphyCDs
"The CD turned 40 today."
- DHammer79
"The centre spindle hole of the CD is based on the size of a dutch coin that doesn't even exist anymore due to the introduction of the Euro. My useless fact even became obsolete."
-StarFaeire
What's My Age Again?
"When you have to try work out how old you are."
- phackeu
"I had one of those moments earlier this year. I'm 28 and a friend said, 'You're what, 25... right?'And I said 'yeah...' then I sat there trying to figure it out since I hadn't thought much about my age in years. Basically since before covid."
- maltesemania
Don't Care
"Slowly starting to give less f**ks"
- Basic-Basket-1006
"Plus insecurities fading. I am who I am, that’s it that’s all"
- Skkaaishere
They're How Old?!
"Full grown adults who were born when I was a full grown adult."
-AmyHeartsYou
"I think to witness meaningfully all the stages of development of another human being makes a big contribution to self awareness that you simply don't have at 20"
- joelthomastr
My Music Is Classic Now
"When I hear Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Everclear, etc on CLASSIC ROCK RADIO 🤬😡🤬"
- beigereige
""OLD SCHOOL radio"... plays TLC and Sugar Ray"
- three-sense
It's All Relative
"I'm older now than my best friend's dad was when I met him."
- doyourselfafavor
"Well, this made me realize I'm older than my mom was when I was born, and I was her 7th kid."
- Pillsbernie
Oh Snap
"About a year or so ago I went to put on a clean shirt after a shower, as per usual I went to "snap" the shirt first and I hurt my shoulder."
"Couldn't turn my head to the right for like 2 days."
- therewerentanynames
"I had to take two days off work earlier in the year when I threw my back out."
"Everyone kept asking what I did to throw it out. I sneezed."
- Bulky-Sheepherder-22
It Really Was
"Talking to people who think the 80s was a long time ago. I have to do the math in my head each time to verify that it really was a long time ago."
- OogusMacBoogus
"Someone posted in another thread today about something "really old, from the 90s' 😩"
- VLC31
time watch GIF by Chris KläffordGiphyThey Can't Be That Old
"I work with a kid who was born in 2005. Nobody born in 2005 should be older than a toddler."
- squaredistrict2213
Growing old is just a part of life, but we could all do without the sudden reminders that were doing it too.
Actually worrying about anything being "cool"!
"Being cool."
"Actually for me it was around 35, because I like banging my head into a wall."
"But others started realizing earlier than me."
"Everyone I knew started realizing that all of the things I thought were cool when we were 20 were actually really, really dumb and unimportant and weren't interested in them anymore."
"And I'm not even married or have kids, I can't imagine how stupid the sh*t I was into would seem if I had a family."
"However, video games I played when I was young still seem cool to literally everyone my age, so that didn't change even though I expected it would."
Early to bed, early to rise... or at least early to bed...
"I value my sleep a lot more at 30 than I did at 29."
"It scares me."
"I’m not in my twenties anymore but life is good."- arcanehavok743
Tired Jet Lag GIFYeah...I'll just have one glass
"Hangovers."- writer_rat
I'll pay up for convenience.
"Teenager/early 20’s: 'yo we can save money by booking the 7am return flight and not paying for accommodation - lets just stay at the club until 5am or sleep on the airport floor!'"
"30yo: I’d rather die."- Gravesens1stTouch
I'll be transparent, and I'll honor my plans!
"Bailing on plans last minute."
"If you don’t want to do something, just say so."- freakanature
Schitts Creek No GIF by CBCGiphyDude, we graduated over ten years ago!
"Bragging about your high school accomplishments."- Hysterical_Realist
Yeah... I'll get my own...
"Sleeping 8 to a hotel room to save money."- UrDraco
So this is what it's like to have a savings account...
"Spending all your money at the bar on payday."- deputytech
Paying Make It Rain GIF by TravisGiphyLife is meant to be enjoyed.
"Here's some prospective from way in your future."
"I'm 64."
"When I was in my 50's my motto was, 'Oh, well'."
"I have 2 mottoes for my 60's."
"'Anyway, doesn't matter', and 'I don't need that stress in my life'."
"It's a great place to live."
Our tastes and interests change with each passing year.
Hence why staying up till 5am drinking straight from the bottle and eating nothing but potato chips might not have the same appeal.
Though no one should look back on those moments with shame or embarrassment.
After all, a good time was had by all, and that's what your 20s were for.
If I sound salty and confused about all this newness it's because sometimes I am. I work in it every day, but "it" changes so fast that some days I want to give up and just go back to riding horses screaming through the countryside as a means of sharing news.
I'm not the only one.
Reddit was asked to air their beef:
"Older generations of Reddit, what are you tired of hearing from younger people?"
So I guess this is us elders lecturing you youngsters?
Get it together, people!
Nothing New
"There are a lot of younger people who seem to think that they are the ones who have discovered all the injustices in the world."
"I think every generation is like that, though."
"The young become aware of the bad things in the world, wonder why life is that way, and then blame the older generations for not doing anything about it, without recognizing how hard the older generations had to fight just to get things to this point (from much worse situations)."
"They don't realize that real social change takes a considerable amount of effort from a lot of people over time. Nothing changes overnight."
"I can remember thinking the same sorts of things when I was a teen and young adult, though, and I'm sure that young people from generations older than me were the same."
"It is a function of age, rather than generation."
-waqasnaseem07
Useful Schooling
School Teacher GIF by Sesame StreetGiphy"Lots of younger people complain about school failing them by not teaching them every little thing in life."
"I've seen people use that as an excuse for not being able to cook, do laundry or taxes."
"You literally have the entire world's information in your pocket, but somehow can't put "how to cook pasta" on youtube?"
-[Reddit]
"Never seen anyone complain about school not teaching them how to cook or do laundry."
"But taxes? It's messed up if that's not taught"
-Testastic
Filters
"From my own generation, I hate how having 'no filter' and 'being a b***h' are considered okay these days."
"If someone is a rude POS people aren’t going to want to be around them. But then they blame you for that like your job is to be in their presence so they can criticize and berate you for the most ridiculous things."
-sugarcookie821
"That’s not an age thing, it’s a trashy people thing."
"Can’t tell you how many times I’ve swiped left the moment I saw 'no filter lol,' and I’ve filtered out anyone under 40"
-CoastRanger
Perspective
Shocked Perspective GIF by Digital PratikGiphy"At 31, I’m not sure if I can answer this question."
"It applies to everyone, you just mostly see it from younger people: Judging people from history through the lens of today’s standards."
-TDeath21
"This is called 'presentism' by historians, and is something that they actively try to avoid."
"Note, however, that this doesn't mean historical figures should get a free pass on sh*tty behavior. Many of them were awful even by the standards of their time."
"Columbus is a good example; his behavior towards the natives wasn't just shocking by current standards, it also horrified his contemporaries. Bartolome de las Casas did an excellent job documenting this."
"H.P. Lovecraft is another. While the average person in the 1920s would have had views considered racist by modern standards, Lovecraft's were exceptionally racist even for the 1920s. Calling him a racist is entirely appropriate."
-KinneySL
Hack
"Referring to any and everything as a 'hack.' "
"Never figured out how to properly use something until someone on YouTube showed you? That's not a f-ing hack.That's called learning and using something as its intended."
"Found a faster/better way to scramble eggs with your egg beater? That's not a f-ing hack. That's called technique."
-CobynKwame
"Half of the time these hacks are just basic common sense."
-kimchiman85
Young and Dumb
Frustrated Buzz Lightyear GIFGiphy"In my case I hit an age where I stopped hating the young for being ignorant."
"You're young. I was young. We said and liked dumb things. We were arrogant and thought way too highly of ourselves. Such are the trappings of youth."
"But when you're older, ignorant, and arrogant? F*** you. Play in traffic a-hole."
"But side note to all humans: You have 1 million times the content that was housed in the Great Library of Alexandria in your pocket."
"At all times. At least that much."
"If you're ignorant at all it's due to lack of effort and you should feel massive shame."
-NightEmber79
"The older I get the more I have to remind myself, they’re young kids being young kids; you were just like that at that age too."
-interstatebus
No Offense...
"Honestly tired about everyone getting offended by everything."
"I mean, people will have different opinions than you. Not every difference of opinion is offensive."
"I shouldn't have to support something you believe if I don't believe it."
-atticuslodius
"I think the internet is partly responsible for this. People gravitate to the others that share their opinions and they get comfortable with believing they're right."
"As a friend once said, 'we used to have the village idiot, but with the internet we can make a village of idiots'. "
-Formal_Turnip
Boomer vs Millennial
angry bart simpson GIFGiphy" 'Ok Boomer.' as a response to everything."
"Not every adult is a boomer."
-[Reddit]
"It's so stupid. It's literally just the same generational divide that exists every single generation."
"There's no difference between bitching about boomers as a young person and when older people would blame everything a young person does on 'Millennials'."
"They're the exact same type of people: Idiots."
-FlippersAlterEgo
"It’s the same thing as Boomers calling anyone younger than them a Millennial"
-BlinkerBeforeBrake
Nothing
"61 here, nothing, they should be pissed."
"I hope they change the world for the better. The older generations have really f'ed them over. I am fighting for the rights of my grand daughter right now."
-Longjumping-Sea-1084
"Millennial here. Many of your generation did, but there were also many who really did, and still do a lot."
"I'm gay and respect the hell out of the queer activists before me that got me what I have today."
-badmancatcher
"This can't be overstated. The first wave of openly gay men in the 80s that tried to push for acceptance put up with horrific sh*t including beatings for kicks and straight up murder, compounded by the AIDS stigma, to get us where we are today."
"Nothing anyone is doing today holds a whiff of a scent of a f-ing candle to what they did."
"Also, I see loads of sh*tty gen Zs blaming older generations but doing nothing to help anything other than post on social media all day. Goes both ways. Incidentally, I'm a gen Y"
-Yourfurryfriend2
So Needy
Family Guy Love GIFGiphy" 'Mommy I hafta go potty!' "
"Mommy can I have an apple juice?"
" 'Mommy! Have you seen my Cinderella?' "
"This younger generation is demanding AF."
-ZChick4410
"I Knooowww. She's three and asks me for food ALL THE TIME. Like jeez kid, get a job already."
-ZChick4410
"She ate yesterday! You're not made of money!"
-stryph42
Alright elder interneters, it's your turn on the soap box.
Hop up and tell us what's been annoying you about the young people these days.
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Reddit user NordicModro asked:
"What is a clear sign of you getting older?"
Before Leaving
"You don't dare leave the house without peeing."
- GrimmRetails
"Especially in the winter."
"One of my biggest fears is getting into a car accident and pissing my pants, laying in the snow in wet pants waiting for the EMTS, ambulance, freezing my ass and Vjay off."
"I HATE being cold, but wet cold is hell."
- gerrywasi
"Oh yeah, and before you sleep, and when we wake up in the middle of the night and then the second time."
- docsav0103
"Whenever I see large sport championship parades or events like NYE in Times Square the first thing I think is: Where do they pee? I also will not go anywhere without knowing beforehand there will be enough facilities LOL."
- Capital_Pea
GiphyThe Elder Scrolls
"When you are asked your birthday online and you realize how much you have to scroll to get to your birth year."
- ManicPrincessofKink
"It feels like I'm spinning the wheel on The Price is Right."
- Bubbly-Explanation
"The Elder Scrolls"
- NearbyBreakfast
"I had to travel in the early days of covid and my state required an online travel declaration before arrival."
"The web page only let you enter your birthdate through a calendar widget. I had to manually scroll back 598 months."
- needlenozened
"I was setting up my online bank account and they wanted my birthday. To get to it you had to click the calendar back month by month."
"I was born in 1964. That's over 680 clicks to get to my birthdate."
"That system was designed by a blithering idiot. Probably a teenaged blithering idiot."
- PaperPlaythings
GiphyUntil...
"I saw this somewhere yesterday, you live your 30's just like your 20's until 'the injury' or 'the diagnosis.' "
- -Words-Words-Words-
"This is me."
"No injury, but life-changing (not life-ending) diagnosis -and the following ramifications- at 33 signaled the end of the good times, and forced me to come to terms with my mortality."
"Now my Friday/Saturday nights consist of couch, Cooper’s Hawk (home by 10), or DnD. Youth, and life, is precious ya’ll. Don’t waste it."
- deltavictory
"I feel attacked."
"Ate sh*t on a snowboard last year and dislocated my shoulder to the point it needed surgery. Now I walk like an old man on slippery surfaces for fear that something else is gonna fall apart on me if I go down."
- Puzzled_Reply_4618
"Yup. I strained the hell out of my back when I was 35 and In good shape - sitting on the ground pulling a weed. Could not move on my own. Needed to go to the ER for meds! That was like smacking into a wall"
- JohnExcrement
GiphySneaking Out
"I used to sneak out of home to go to parties."
"Now I sneak out of parties to go home."
- TheYoungWan
"Your next stage of old is not going to parties in the first place."
- YouveGotItMister
"I hate you and feel attacked by this comment. This is amazing. And hurts."
- Phoenixapartment
"Fact! My husband and I have a code word for when it’s time to go."
- Notjustapornacct
GiphyAction Movies
" 'Ooh I like their cabinetry' while watching an exciting action movie."
-SpatulaJamtown
" 'Who is going to pay for all this?' after an explosion"
- AtmospherePerfect532
" 'As if they'd furnish a million dollar penthouse with Ikea furniture. How unrealistic' - Me watching Hawkeye"
- BCS24
"Haha, I've been telling my husband about the cabinetry in the second season of the Punisher for two years now!"
- CallieCatsup
GiphyLegitimate Comfort
"You don't feel as compelled to engage as much. For better or for worse I suppose."
"I'm in my early 40's. And at this point I've learned to be ok with people being wrong. Used to feel like some sort of crusade to make sure everyone had the right information. Like many things in life, you always have to ask yourself if the juice is worth the squeeze."
"End of a game of Overwatch, had a bad game? Some random says 'Wow thanks for throwing, you were trash' My response? 'gg' "
"Someone cuts me off? Give them room."
"I just leave people the fuck alone as I want left alone. It's kind of become my life's mission. Fuck all that bs about pushing yourself."
"Seek some goddamn legitimate comfort because life will never stop throwing you bs to maintain that hobby of dealing with challenges. But what life will never offer you without you making it for yourself is comfort."
"And I find comfort in ignoring almost everyone. Most of the time. Not from a lack of compassion. Just don't like the volume that loud you know?"
-
GiphyNo Longer Static
"The biggest one for me is realizing and recognizing that my parents are getting older."
"For my childhood, they were these static, never changing figures. But now, they're older and I can see that. It's definitely pretty saddening and worrying."
- Kaidsburg100
"I had this realization last year."
"My dad is almost 60. I've always had young parents but the years are finally starting to show and it freaked me out. Like a glass shattered moment. '
'I hate it."
- PirateQueenDani
"Had this realization last week when my dad turned 70, it just made me sad."
- stevio87
GiphyZombies
"After sitting still for a long period of time, standing and walking involves shambling about like a zombie."
"You're fine after a seconds of movement, but initially nothing works right."
"To be honest, it can be solved by more movement in our lives."
"Daily walks, stretching exercises, yoga, that sort of thing. Aerobics would be great, but nothing high impact."
"The older you get, the worse being sedentary is for you; sitting down without moving or stretching for long periods (over a few hours) is fine when you're 20. When you're 40, it means your joints lock up, your muscles fall asleep, and you get cramps."
"If we moved every hour or so (even just standing up and doing a few stretches), it would likely go away."
- Kiyohara
GiphyEarlier
"I schedule plans with friends earlier and earlier every passing year."
"There's just something so satisfying about getting dinner and drinks at 6p and being back at home wearing my comfy fit binging the show du jour by 9p."
- cheerioguvna
"Yep. I'm 34 and now limit evening activities as much as possible."
"Just can't be bothered anymore."
"It's wet, cold, dark, you have to drag yourself out when you really don't want to then have the effort of getting home again afterwards."
"Screw that. I'd rather do stuff during the day and just have a quiet evening in to myself."
- _spookyvision_
GiphyThe Grumpy Neighbor
"You know that movie trope where some kids play baseball or something and break an old guy’s windows?"
"As a kid I thought that guy was a grump. Now I just think about what a pain it would be to have your windows replaced."
"So yeah, that’s my sign I’m getting old."
- KickedInTheDonuts
GiphyWelp ... after having read all of this I am now more convinced than ever I'm really, really, old—and maybe I always have been.
Time for a nap.
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