There comes a time in every person’s life when they just have to accept reality.
It can be painful to accept certain things and admit to yourself that it’s just the way things are in this life, but a lot of people don’t ever like to accept them.
Nobody said it was gonna be easy, right?
Here’s what AskReddit users had to say about things that humans have a hard time accepting in life.
1. Change.
“The only person you can change is you.
Unless you’re a licensed therapist/counselor/psychiatrist you don’t have to be everyone else’s emotional dumping ground.”
2. Won’t end well…
“Earth has a finite amount of resources and there are too many people using them.
And our current economic system expects and requires endless growth……
It’s not going to end well….”
3. Challenges of poverty.
“It doesn’t matter how smart you are, if you were born into a poor family your chances of “making it” are extremely stacked against you.
Chances are you will stay in the class you were born in. There is very little upward mobility in society.”
4. Two things.
“No matter who dies next to you, you always die alone.
Most people are in relationships to not be alone, not because they’re happy.”
5. Not for everyone.
“That relationships aren’t for everyone.
Sometimes it’s not because someone is short or too tall, or poor, or fat, or skinny, or this or that…sometimes the main reason why some people have such a hard time getting into a relationship is basically they’re just a terrible person. Their terrible personality, and attitude just makes them repulsive.
This goes for family, work and friendship relationships too.”
6. It’s true.
“Sometimes people won’t like you, just for the sake of not liking you.
And there’s no amount of kindness you can show them to make em like you.”
7. Segregation.
“We have been, and will continue to have some form of racial bias/racist tenancies within ourselves, within society.
If you don’t believe me, I want you to look at any classroom or cafeteria without assigned seating. As for outside of something like highschool almost any public place.
We naturally segregate.”
8. We all die.
“Everyone will die.
Everyone. You, me, your kids, the stranger across the street, everyone dies in the end. All of your struggles will only get you so far, and in the grander scheme of things they won’t matter at all. Our lives here are not permanent.
Shouldn’t we have the right to choose when we die? Shouldn’t we try to love others? Shouldn’t we try to protect our planet for the generations that haven’t come yet?
Everyone dies. And that’s okay.”
9. It is what it is.
“I think people need to realize there is no “story” to their life, there is no narrative 3-act structure that allows everything to end neatly and in a satisfying way, even referring to the universe as a big uncaring machine is still an attempt to anthropomorphize it.
Existence just is, there is no set of moral imperatives behind any of it, and how you interpret and deal with that is up to you. But the weight of the responsibility that realization brings to your existence is too much for most people, and they choose to ignore it, much to their bane rather than benefit.
You are not the protagonist, there is no particular reason to do anything, and even though environmental factors may make it easier for you to make certain decisions, every decision you have ever made was done by you.
You are completely responsible for what you choose to do. You obviously have no control over most of what happens in the world, and you can’t know the full consequences of all your actions in advance, but as a free-thinking moral agent, you can’t deny that you made your decisions.
The best we can do is live by a code of ethics that preserves what we think is valuable, whether it’s life, freedom, or some other “good”, and live in societies whereby social contract theory allows us to coexist with others that also share that value.
By extension, you cannot coexist with people that do not share your basic values, if you value freedom more than anything, and another nation values control more than anything, then conflict is inevitable if contact is regular.”
10. Luck of the draw.
“Being a great parent does not guarantee you a great kid. Being a shitty parent does not guarantee you a shitty kid, either.
Of course, you’re hedging your bets by being a good parent, but it’s by far no guarantee. This is at once terrifying to helicopter parents who are betting on the hope that being up their kids asses will guarantee them a doctor, it’s also pretty relieving to many of us who had shitty parents and are hoping the stink of that doesn’t have to follow us forever.
Don’t worry, how well you parent IS important, it’s just not a guarantee. And don’t worry, if you had shitty parents it doesn’t mean you are destined to be a piece of shit, and please don’t.”
11. Uggghhhhh.
“That vaccines are a wonderful gift to human kind.
Anti-vaxxers have “self-educated” themselves to be some of the most stupid, ignorant fools in recent history.”
12. Harsh.
“We are not all equal.
We are not all special.
We are not all beautiful.
Not all of us will find love.
Not all of us deserve love.”
13. Life isn’t fair.
“That the universe has no inherent obligation to recognize, acknowledge, and set special conditions for you, your benefit, or anyone or anything that you care about.
Short version: Life ain’t fair.
The sad thing is that when you realize and truly internalize that “life ain’t fair,” life becomes a whole damn lot easier. Much of the pain in life is when it doesn’t meet our expectations.
We didn’t get that pony, that job, that college, that boyfriend, that car because of (insert usually whiny reason). So we get all bent out of shape about it. Half the effort of fixing or mitigating the damage from the slings and arrows of outrageous fate is just getting over the outrage.
That doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t work for what you believe is fair. It just means you don’t have to walk around all angry and/or sad because the world isn’t as you’d like it to be.
Want to go to the next level? Then accept the most unjust thing the universe can throw at you. That while so, so many of the things you suffer from are NOT in any way your fault, the only way to fix them is to assume responsibility for them as if they were your fault. That is most unfair.”
Now we want to hear from you.
In the comments, tell us what you think about this question.
Please and thank you!
