27 Best And Worst Parts About Aging, According To Older Adults
Whether you love or hate it, getting older comes with several changes — and eye-opening perspectives that you can only wish your younger self knew.
So, when Reddit users started conversations about the "worst" and "best" parts about aging, older folks shared insights they've noticed in their lives that are incredibly fascinating, thought-provoking, and even heartbreaking. Here's what they had to say:
P.S.: If you have insights on the best or worst parts of aging to share, chime in below or anonymously submit using this Google form.
1.BEST: "You get to decide for yourself what's cool and not care about what anyone around you thinks, since the older you get, the cooler you're not, so you might as well just enjoy the stuff you like."
"I'm an almost 40-year-old man, and I like Taylor Swift, the She-Ra cartoon, Shakespeare, and learning to bake pies. It's fun being uncool."
"You [care less about people's opinions] with each passing year. It's great not to worry about how my friends will judge my clothes/hairstyle/music/choice of boyfriend/etc. They keep it to themselves instead of spewing toxins all over social media."
2.WORST: "Realizing how much you missed and what you could've done if you took a different path. I always reflect on how I could've been bolder and had a better time if I was just more confident."
3.BEST: "Actually having money to do what I want. Of course, this is not true for everyone, but most people have significantly more financial stability as they get older. It's so nice not having money always be the deciding factor."
4.WORST: "Your parents getting old and passing away."
"Miss you, Mom."
"Seeing my parents age has been so tough on me. Dad was diagnosed with CLL this year, but after four chemo treatments, he's back driving a truck at 74. Mom was just diagnosed with Parkinson's. She's had bad shakes for several years and now finally went in. They recommended that my dad retire to take care of my mom. The problem is that they're so used to being apart days at a time and finding it tough to live together. It's sad but so common, I'd imagine."
5.BEST: "The best part of getting older is my life goals are a lot more fun. Goals when I was 20: Find a great job, make lots of money, find a great guy, and raise a family. Goals now that I'm in my late 50s: Drink cold beer. Laugh with family and friends. Dance to the blues."
6.WORST: "Becoming irrelevant. I work on the same campus I attended 40 years ago, and I feel the looks saying, 'You don’t belong here anymore.'"
7.BEST: "Realizing at 42 that I was not in competition with 18–21 year old women. I know we choose how we think/feel about a situation as individuals, but the societal pressure is wild. And now, we're not just competing with the other women in the room; we're all competing with 18-year-old airbrushed supermodels all over the world. At 42, it was like a light bulb turned on. I can't compete with a young, beautiful, firm woman in physical appearance, and nobody expects me to. But a young woman can't compete with me regarding experience, self-control, and wisdom."
"It's kind of liberating to finally, really let it go. To only compete with myself and for the entire culture to be fine with that. I'm sure 90% of that is in our heads, but it's hard to shake. I appreciate that I was finally able to."
8.WORST: "I think my 30s are my best decade yet, but time goes WAY faster as you get older. I'm turning 35 this year. I was 25, like, two weeks ago. What happened?"
9.BEST: "Getting to enjoy my kids (17, 19, 22) as adults."
10.WORST: "Seeing everybody else move forward in life. While you're stuck with no solution or way to fix yourself, you watch how every day slips away from you."
11.BEST: "Knowing your limits. When I was younger, I would drink way too much to impress people, which was OK for someone in their 20s, but now that I'm older, I know exactly how much I can drink to avoid a three-day hangover and have no problem going home at 8 p.m. instead of 8 a.m."
12.WORST: "I'm technically more fit in my 30s than in my 20s. But if I hurt myself, it takes 10x longer to heal. Hurt my knee? No running for two months. In my 20s, I would be fine after three shots of vodka and sleeping it off. Cut myself at 25? No evidence in a week. At 35? Takes two weeks to heal and leaves a scar."
"Also, I basically don't drink anymore now that I get hangovers — which I guess is a good thing but still sucks."
13.BEST: "Gaining autonomy. It's a bittersweet thing, but making your own decisions is great because you either congratulate yourself for the good work or reflect on what you did wrong without blaming others. Or at least ideally, you do."
14.WORST: "For me, generally, regret builds up. The 'could've, would've, should've' syndrome is strong in me."
"Regret. Reflecting on all the opportunities you missed, experiences you never had, and decisions that negatively impacted your life."—2D_Ronin
15.BEST: "Self-knowledge and self-acceptance for me. Also, I look pretty good with a few grey hairs."
16.WORST: "I remember when I was a kid, I loved summer breaks. The school would let out at the end of June, so for the next two months, I was free to sleep in, play with my friends, and enjoy the warm days. Summer was the absolute best. One day, when I was older, I suddenly realized that once the day was over, it meant I had one fewer day to enjoy the summer break and was one day closer to the start of the new school year. So once I hit August, I realized that I was halfway through the break, so the rest of the month was spent not really enjoying the break but being sad and miserable at the idea that I was on the back half of my break."
"Getting older is the same. I'm now in my 40s and have a beautiful and wonderful family. I enjoy them immensely and couldn't be happier with my life. But I have this realization that as I get older, it just means I'm now entering the 'August' of my life; slowly but surely, I am entering the back half of my life where my summer break will be over — only this time, I'm not just losing out on my summer to go to school; it means I'll be burying my loved ones and dealing with major ailments and illness. Sure, I'll enjoy watching my kids grow and blossom, but in the end, it also means I'll be saying bye to them forever."
17.BEST: "Getting to decide what I do with my time. Video games after work? Sure, you just worked an 8-hour day. Go ahead and chill. Spend the weekend at a friend's house? Don't need to ask anyone; just go for it. Feel like cleaning the house? Maybe tomorrow."
18.WORST: "Seeing old pics and videos of yourself and realizing how gradual the change was that you never noticed how much you've aged."
—None
19.BEST: "I think I'm paraphrasing Jerry Seinfeld here, but you stop trying to hang out with the right people and start hanging out with your people."
"Trimming your social circle and really only giving/spending your time with people that value you as much as you value them. "
20.WORST: "Loneliness. The world can easily just forget you."
"The invisibility."
21.BEST: "I think old troubles and tribulations that would have stressed and depressed me in my late teens and early 20s are just child's play compared to adult responsibilities. Text a woman, and she starts playing games; OK, move on. Back then, I would have been a lap puppy for a woman I'm obsessed with and chased her for a year. Social media drama? OK, unfriend. I literally don't have enough time to post my every feelings and current actions on Snapchat or Twitter."
"My Facebook is literally now used to buy things, see where the local corn man is, or catch up on the news."
22.WORST: "That nobody can see you are exactly the same person you always were, just stuck inside a body that no longer matches."
23.BEST: "I think I get better looking the older I get. It's just that I don't really like my face, but becoming bald and getting a beard was actually an improvement, in my opinion."
24.WORST: "Calculating what your current age is the halfway point of your life. For example, if you're 60 and expect to live to 80, you're at the halfway point between 40 and death."
"You can start this in your late 30s (based on life expectancy) and unlock a strange combo — a new way to fear death and a new way to start doing stuff on the harsh realization that you're somewhere on the back nine of life."
25.BEST: "Realizing that no one is judging you as much as you think they are."
—None
26.WORST: "That there are more 'last times' than 'first times.'"
And finally...
27.BEST: "The older you get, even starting from your early 20s, age literally just becomes another number. You do get wiser and start to appreciate things a lot more, but the best part, at least for me, is being able to watch my children grow up right in front of my own eyes. Nothing really comes close to it."
Older adults, what are the "best" and "worst" parts of aging that more people should know? Let us know in the comments below. Or, if you prefer to remain anonymous, feel free to use this Google form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
