this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2026
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Chapotraphouse

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I've never understood people that yearn to be a kid again. When I was a kid, especially when I was in high school, I desperately wanted to get all that over with and become an adult. And when I became an adult, things were rough, but I felt so much better for so many reasons.

As I've aged, this sentiment has only been further reinforced by my experiences with aging. Not to toot my own horn, but I've been aging well and have gotten more attractive the older I get (so far). My social skills have improved so much, I was painfully awkward and unable to successfully socialize as a young person. Holy fuck, I actually have real friends and relationships now, it's amazing. Yeah I got responsibilities, but I can actually do things I want to so long as I stay within the confines of those responsibilities, definitely not something I had as a kid either. And honestly, I'm a much better person, which I won't get into too much, but I was closer to being right wing in my younger days.

Sure, it'll stop feeling so great at some point, but I'm kinda past the point where most people start to say getting old sucks and you know what, I say no, it's pretty cool actually.

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[–] Alaskaball@hexbear.net 29 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I mostly miss my body not hurting, being able to eat what I like without my body rioting against me (how I miss jalapeños, and soon I'll be missing fried foods. Acid reflux suckx kitty-cri ), and eating without having to worry about it all going straight to the tummy.

I mostly miss the youthful body that felt like you could do anything. Now my back aches just doing something as basic as cutting veggies for food prep.

[–] LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins@hexbear.net 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Now my back aches just doing something as basic as cutting veggies for food prep.

I highly endorse an easily cleaned food processor to dice and mince literally everything with. Knife work is bourgeois

[–] Alaskaball@hexbear.net 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Knifework has existed as long as humans held slightly sharp rocks sod right off with "cutting your carrots and mushrooms is bourgeois decadence"

[–] LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins@hexbear.net 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I wrote out a much longer angrier thing because you told me to sod off but i'm not trying to fight you alaskaball i just think it's good to promote "it's okay to use a food processor where appropriate, you don't have to 'use a knife or you're lazy'" in an attempt to promote anti ableist and less toxically masculine kitchen culture. If you want to do things the way you want to do things, that's fine, but a food processor works just as well if what you need to do is physically painful

[–] NephewAlphaBravo@hexbear.net 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

i think it was just a joke for whatever my opinion's worth

another option is working out a table/chair/whatever combo that puts you at the right height for knife work, chopping veggies is meditative to me (admittedly my job isn't kitchen work like yours is so shrug-outta-hecks) and just getting rid of the "standing up" part makes it something i can do all day

Sitting on a bar stool wondering why ive never thought about doing knife work sitting down

I guess because our old place didn't have a bar

[–] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 21 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Its great unless you've got multiple disabilities that make it hard to function and hold down a job

[–] Feed_el_Castro@hexbear.net 16 points 6 days ago

And happen to live in a capitalist society where the needs and capabilities of people with disabilities aren't properly addressed

[–] BilduEnjoyer@hexbear.net 20 points 6 days ago

My childhood was awful and so was my 20's. I grew up in an abusive, isolating, home, moved onto to abusive friendships, then I transitioned at 28 (ftm) and spent my 30s in heavy therapy/COVID lock down.

I'm forty now and I feel good about it in some ways, upset in others. Because I transitioned later in life (and due to being isolated with agoraphobia for a while) I relate more to people in their 20's due to my lack of male socialization and financial status. I don't relate to most people in my age group, especially the straights. I'm afraid of giving my age due to the stigma (thank God my hormones make me look younger)

After being a meek woman for most of my life, I am still not used to being a big buff man either. Not that I don't enjoy it, but I don't like being picked on by dudes looking for a fight.

On the flip side- I'm way happier overall and because I worked through my demons my relationships with others are much healthier. I let the little things go, and my life is mostly drama free. I am salty I am doing things I should have done 20 years ago, but at least I'm here.

[–] Dessa@hexbear.net 18 points 6 days ago

I want to type a longer comment, but my wrist is numb and I don't have my readers nearby

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 17 points 6 days ago

Physically aging sucks, but growing more mature is great. If someone is getting older but not more mature they would just hate the whole thing because they are still a child in a increasingly aging adult body.

[–] BeanisBrain@hexbear.net 18 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Benefits I've found of being an adult:

  • A significantly increased ability to handle boredom
  • No longer getting screamed at by people twice my size
  • The perspective to recognize when I can't change someone's mind and don't really need to because they can't impose their views on me anyway
  • Not spending half my waking hours being legally confined to an institution with people who've gotten awfully creative at hurting me without getting in trouble for it
  • Being able to go places without being driven there by my parents
  • Having much more money and accumulated skill to pursue creative projects
[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 7 points 6 days ago

No longer getting screamed at by people twice my size

This is something we need to highlight more!

[–] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 3 points 5 days ago

Not spending half my waking hours being legally confined to an institution with people who've gotten awfully creative at hurting me without getting in trouble for it

Same but for me that was the institution of the family, not school.

[–] ClimateStalin@hexbear.net 2 points 5 days ago

No longer getting screamed at by people twice my size

Man cheers to that. Now if I were to get yelled at by someone I have options ranging from punching them in the mouth to saying “I’m not going to put up with this” and simply leaving.

Also if you yell at people, children or adults, on even an irregular basis you belong in prison more than any thief, you’re incapable of living in a civilized society and should be segregated from the rest of us. Grow the fuck up. Would you tolerate a 5 year old yelling at you? Of course you wouldn’t, and you should have more emotional control than a 5 year old.

[–] ryepunk@hexbear.net 13 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I just hit 40 and while it's not normal or typical, I've had the worst year of my life. More and more chronic pain. I work a physical job so its not because of sedentary lifestyle either. My stomach has basically collapsed (constant daily pain that my doctor doesnt know how to treat and referrals to gastro specialists refuse to see me) my food options are extremely limited and thinking about eating depresses me horribly; my feet and legs are sore after a single shift when I could go a day or two before they ached. My shoulders ache every morning, my back is sore constantly. I spend about an hour every day stretching to make things manageable and keep the pain at bay, but sometimes something gives and I'm in horrible pain for about a month while it slowly heals (this is often complicated because I have to keep working while in recovery which likely slows it down or outright prevents proper healing).

I don't know how I'm expected to keep this up for another 30 years. I have a family history of many cancers as well, so I'm sure I'll catch one of those shortly, my eyesight has never been good. And if I'm lucky I might get rheumatoid arthritis from my mom which would basically make work impossible. My mantra these days is to simply try and take it one day at time. Because thinking about the future makes me feel bad.

[–] Salah@hexbear.net 17 points 6 days ago

I miss being able to sport roughly, fall down and not have any lasting impact. I miss being able to live fully on impulse (at times) instead of spending all of my time and energy into staying alive and thus having to suppress my impulses constantly. I miss how amazed I got by every little adventure of exploration. I miss when breaking rules resulted in an adult berating you instead of getting beat up. I miss the excitement of learning new dimensions to life - first time stealing candy, first time winning an important(to me) prize, first romantic experience etc

I don’t hate being an adult and my childhood was not perfect but I do look very fondly to and miss certain parts of childhood. And I agree that there are many parts of adulthood that are great as well.

[–] LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins@hexbear.net 13 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Yeah until you hit 30 and your body starts falling apart faster and faster every year

[–] 9to5@hexbear.net 12 points 6 days ago

Honestly im in my mid 30s and my body is still holding up quite well but I agree that the main problem with aging is mostly physical in nature (at least till you get really old and your mental levels decline)

[–] ClimateStalin@hexbear.net 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I don’t appreciate my body hurting and my hairline receding and the ever-growing fear of my inevitable death

I really enjoy my brain being more stable and having control over what I do with my time, and having money to purchase goods and services

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[–] inTheShadowOf@hexbear.net 12 points 6 days ago (2 children)

20s is peak tbh, I'm good on anything after.

[–] Are_Euclidding_Me@hexbear.net 10 points 6 days ago

I disagree! When I was in my mid-20s I think I would have said that. But now that I'm well over 30, nah, the amount of learning and maturing I've done in the past decade is huge and I wouldn't give it up for anything. I'm excited to see how much more I'll know and understand another decade from now! I'm looking forward to being in my 40s and 50s, with the knowledge and experience that comes along with that extra age!

[–] Bolshechick@hexbear.net 7 points 6 days ago (2 children)

My 30s have been so much better than my 20s so far

[–] wideopenarms@hexbear.net 3 points 6 days ago
[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 days ago

I feel the same as I did when I was 20… I wonder when that’ll change. Makin’ my way through 40s. I no longer get thizz’d twice once a month on a Friday before a workday, I suppose… Gotta save that for long weekends a couple times a year now.

[–] Acute_Engles@hexbear.net 10 points 6 days ago

Honestly even without all the aches and pains... I am just so tired of having to work. If i could be this age and actually have control over my time it would rock.

I thought this was going to be a post about finding cool rocks outside.

[–] segfault11@hexbear.net 10 points 6 days ago (2 children)

☝️ no rocks are older than any other, they're all as old as the earth itself nerd

Stacking rocks, but only if they're vintage igneous rocks with erosion markers

[–] ClimateStalin@hexbear.net 2 points 5 days ago

Only if you don’t count them as “new rocks” when they’ve been melted down and reformed, or formed out of compressed layers of sediment. The atoms have been here, but they’ve changed form.

[–] chgxvjh@hexbear.net 12 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

Yeah. School sucks. Children suck. Being a child sucks.

Living with parents kinda sucks.

Graduating immediately improved my relationship to my former classmates some are still my friends. Moving out immediately improved my relationship to my parents.

The only advantage was having more free time. But as a child I didn't really have that great ways to spend that time anyway.

[–] chgxvjh@hexbear.net 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Ok one thing that sucks more as a adult man than as a child is buying clothes. Nothing fucking fits. Maybe I am actually more misshapen than I realize. The only thing I can wear is work wear for construction workers.

[–] Inui@hexbear.net 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I feel this pain going to every thrift store. All the clothes my size are always gone and all that's left are larger ones. Which I take to mean that people are losing weight and trading in their old clothes for new ones, which good for them if that's their goal. But there's never anything left for me but the odd clothes nobody wants and I have to go shopping for new clothes, which is even worse.

[–] chgxvjh@hexbear.net 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I was thinking of a recent experience of going to the store trying my usual size, trying one size larger, trying one size smaller and none of them fit. Like I fit in the clothes but it's just kinda like being tangled in a net, unable to raise my arms, stuff like that. It's just a terrible cut for me.

[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 6 days ago

I lived with my parents when I grew up, moved out, moved back in with them after school, then moved out forever… If I had the opportunity, I’d live with them again immediately. I recognize that I’m extremely lucky, but now that I’m older I realize they’re incredible and funny and I can’t get enough of them. Growing up there were rules and things were different because we had conflicting views and beliefs… luckily theirs have changed with the world and now they’re just laid-back, fun people.

also sorry mum and dad but it’s hilarious that you were against gay marriage a couple decades ago and oops all your kids are queer lawl thank you for coming around tho

[–] Le_Wokisme@hexbear.net 11 points 6 days ago (3 children)

it's good when it means more independence, it's bad when it means working for a living and your body slowly deteriorating.

[–] BeanisBrain@hexbear.net 11 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

your body slowly deteriorating

Last year I got posterior vitreous detachment that makes it harder for me to use wide monitors. I'm in my 30s lmao

[–] a_party_german@hexbear.net 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Oh that sucks. Both eyes? You have my deepest sympathies, comrade.

Well into my 40s with verry bad myopia and plenty of floaters aleady, anxiously waiting for the day when it happens to me. Most people with myopia will suffer from PVD at some point in their life....you really start to understand what those old 1700s geezer philosophers meant when they said "the world starts to dim as you get older".

Also, you're probably aware of this, but PVD seems like the ideal use case for Laser vitreolysis. It's not the most expensive procedure out there, and aside from the slightly worrying amount of pure energy beamed right into your eyeball, it's also seems rather safe. There's lots of videos on youtube on PVD floater removal if you want to look into it. Personally, I would absolutely consider the procedure if a huge Weiss ring stuck in my FOV.

[–] BeanisBrain@hexbear.net 3 points 6 days ago

Only my left eye, thankfully.

[–] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Childhood sucks but it really doesn't have to, likewise adulthood really doesn't have to involve watching yourself being ground down out of existence.

We are fighting for a world where people get to experience at least 50 years of sound mind and body, without being financially or socially or environmentally restrained. I'll consider myself lucky if I get 20.

[–] avoid_the_noid@hexbear.net 9 points 6 days ago

My youth was a mixed bag. Good childhood despite being poor and living in a dogshit town. Major depression hit in my teens and thought about a dozen different ways to fuck everything up. Dropped out of highschool and moved to a different city. Worked a bunch of dead end jobs in my 20s and interacted with some awful people. Had some good experiences but a lot of bad ones too. My 30s have been significantly better.

I am privileged enough to still be able bodied but with a few aches and pains here and there along with some stomach issues like acid reflux and whatever else. I finally have enough money to survive and even thrive a little bit. Only part that's weird about aging is slowly not recognizing the person in the mirror and still expecting to see my 20 year old self looking back. The hair is getting thinner, the wrinkles are getting a little more noticeable. Being nearly 40 and seeing the world changing, and not really for the better in some ways, it's a lot to take in sometimes. I am definitely happier with who I am and wouldn't want to go back, though.

[–] psyclops@hexbear.net 10 points 6 days ago

Yeah same. Things have gotten better with age. I still don’t know what the hell i’m doing but it’s somehow not as bad as when i was a kid. That was a rough time for me but I guess some people had it all figured out when they were young.

[–] 9to5@hexbear.net 8 points 6 days ago

Ehhh. I really get not wanting to be a kid again. But I wouldnt mind being in my mid 20s say forever. 30s are cool but Im not hopeful the 40s are gonna be better. Mostly talking about my physical wellbeing here.

[–] rubber_chicken@hexbear.net 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Losing the insecurity has been a blessing. A pigeon crapped on me the other year. I threw the shirt in the nearest trash can and went to the nearest bar. It was the see-nobody-cares meme.

[–] LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins@hexbear.net 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Not caring would be wiping off the shit and going about your day, who wastes a good shirt

[–] oliveoil@hexbear.net 5 points 6 days ago

Maybe it was a bad shirt.

Bad shirt! Bad shit.

[–] Tabitha@hexbear.net 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] HexReplyBot@hexbear.net 2 points 6 days ago

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[–] mactan@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 days ago

read the title and thought like geologically older rocks

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