Aging as a millennial is weird. We grew up in this era where everyone told us to chase our dreams, but reality hit hard—wages haven’t kept up with living costs, and job security is a myth for many of us.
On top of that, social media constantly reminds us of what we “should” be doing, whether it’s buying a house, having kids, or climbing the career ladder. But it’s tough to do any of that when prices are skyrocketing and you can’t afford to live.
Plus, friendships seem harder to maintain as everyone moves for work or gets busy with their own lives. And don’t even get me started on the exhaustion—remember when staying up all night was fun? Now it just means being tired for days.
Getting older is tricky, especially when life isn’t what we expected.
“I miss living with my parents. I miss seeing my mom every day. I live across the world from her now, and although we call each other every day, it’s just not the same.” —u/vicklelikespickles
2.
“For me, it’s losing that feeling of innocence you had in your youth, like seeing your crush in class and imagining a relationship in your head. Swimming, eating junk food, and watching movies with good friends — no alcohol or drugs, just a family-sized bag of chips and a Dr. Pepper. It’s hard to put into words, but I miss that feeling. When you get older, you lose the excitement of so many firsts: your first kiss, your first time sneaking out, your first time walking around a mall without parental guidance, first this, and first that. Life just felt so exhilarating. The feelings begin to fade out as you get older, and it’s hard. Those times in the past were so happy.” —u/catherinecrunch
3.
“I can’t drink like I used to. Thinking about how I used to drink at 18 gives me the shivers. As you get older, you also make a lot more noise, even when you’re just moving about as normal.” —u/S1m0n321
“I could sound like a broken record that’s been heard by all generations, but the truth is, as you get older, the healing process gets slower, and you end up in pain for longer periods of time. You’ll hit a threshold where trying to work out the pain only makes it worse.” —u/EnyaGotGame
6.
“Accepting it.” —u/sneakyBener
7.
“The complete inability to sleep in. The older you get, the earlier your body wakes you up. You don’t necessarily need to be up for anything on Saturday or Sunday morning, but your body has decided to go to work on your off days. When you’re a teenager or in college, sleeping 12-14 hours is considered completely normal and acceptable when there’s nothing to do. I would pay $100 a night if I could get 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep and actually feel well-rested when I wake.” —u/[deleted]
8.
“It becomes more difficult to make new friends, even as your closest ones move away, die, or just drift apart over time.” —u/[deleted]
9.
“Reflecting on the past and wishing you could change certain aspects of your life. Sometimes, it’s asking yourself, What if I had done one random thing differently? But then you understand that this is your life now, and there is no going back and no do-overs. The tough reality is that it’s hard; you have goals and hopes you never quite achieved, and you constantly ask yourself why you didn’t die sooner.” —u/BullyBeater
“I regret not enjoying my childhood! I took a lot for granted as a kid. Man, that saying, ‘Youth is wasted on the young,’ couldn’t be more true.” —u/vicklelikespickles
11.
“It is increasingly more difficult, expensive, and complicated to do something about a career rut and/or the need to break out and retrain for something else. That, and discovering real talents and passions for things that you realistically have no time or possibility to pursue because you wasted your younger years working jobs you hated to chase someone else’s dream.” —u/[deleted]
12.
“Feeling your body get worse while your mind doesn’t seem to age.” —u/Sydgyan
13.
“I heard someone talking about ‘not knowing when the good ole days were,’ and it’s true. You don’t know those days are over until they’re behind you, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can have multiple times in your life that are like that. I hope that rings true for the rest of you.” —u/daydrinkingwithbob
14.
“Getting both more responsibility and freedom. Like, you could do anything, but that could also fuck you up — and there’s no one to stop you from doing that.” —u/Faris_rulez
“Time is perceived faster for some reason. Everything speeds up, and you’re still trying to catch up. In some ways, it’s good, like making the work day go by quicker. In others, it’s bad, like having less time for friends and the hobbies you used to be able to devote many more hours to.” —u/[deleted]
16.
“With each passing day, my chance to see the world passes. I don’t have the money to travel as much as I want, and I know I will die missing out on so much. It’s a sad reality for everyone, but it’s still hard to handle.” —u/Nathann4288
17.
“Seeing people you love make the same mistakes as you did.” —u/vdall
Alex Buscemi
