11 Lessons About Love And Life You Learn In Your Early 30s

“That being ‘successful’ in life isn’t a guarantee. Some of your friends will struggle finding a partner. Some friends might have the great degree (STEM, business, whatever) but still not be able to find a job in their field. Others will have a job that is shitty. While I agree with the statement that the ‘regular’ life (go to college, get a degree/job, married, have kids) isn’t for everybody, it surprises me to see how many of my friends did choose that route but are still unable to succeed at it. It’s not as easy as it looks.” — geneius

“So you know how everybody is getting married in their twenties and everything is happy and great? Yeah, your 30s is when a lot of those marriages start falling apart. It’ll be more subtle than you expect too.” — Top_Chef

“Your friends’ parents start dying. You realize your own parents will die one day.” — dancewithahippogriff

“All of the sins of your past catch up to you. Didn’t brush your teeth on the regular? That one’s coming back to haunt you. Sit at a office desk all slouched and don’t get up and walk around? That one’s coming back to haunt you. Bad form at the gym? That one is DEFINITELY coming back to haunt you.” — [deleted]

“I found a white pube yesterday. Might sound stupid but it had never occurred to me that this is something that might happen. I was very surprised.” — KetordinaryDay

“Friends from high school began to pass away from various causes (i.e. cancer, heart attack, brain hemorrhage). It dawned on me that getting old is a privilege and not a guarantee.” — [deleted]

“I cannot eat pizza after 8:00 PM because it will mess up my sleep. I never thought that time of day would affect my diet.” — Dicktremain

“Hangovers last a lot longer. I stopped drinking to get drunk and just have 1 or 2 while out with friends/family.” — RoryRabideau

“Looking around the office at work wondering why the hell we’re employing 12 year olds to answer customer calls. They’ve started employing people who were born in the year 2000. I’d been working for 4 years before they were even born. Fuck I’m getting old.” — shakeybakeylady

“The amount of time I need to find a comfortable position on a chair, because my back is all fucked up. 20 year old me would just plop down like a puppet with the strings cut.” — [deleted]

“The overwhelming calm created by a decent savings account. That I’m actually excited to put money away rather than spend it the second I get paid. That Friday nights in, surrounding by your love and cat on the couch, watching movies with the lights dimmed and candles burning is the best possible way to spend a Friday night. That FOMO would disappear.” — kinsarc

“You can adapt more in your 30s than you ever thought possible. There’s a lot of ‘undoing’ that happened for me due to various things that highlighted skills I needed to learn or things I needed to handle much differently. Keep your eyes open; stay curious; and keep learning.” — Overstrewn