Recently, Reddit user u/ohlittlebugger asked women to share the unexpected problems that come with adulthood, and their answers are a major reality check. Here's what they had to say:
1. "Managing a social life is really hard. You are just kind of expected to know how to make friends, and no one wants to look like the loser who has none."
2. "The world doesn’t stop even when something personally devastating happens. When my dad passed, I still had bills to pay, a dog to walk and feed, and a job I had to go back to. I desperately wanted everything to stop so I could lay in bed for a minute and mourn, but it wouldn’t."
3. "Feeling trapped in a low-paying job because you can't afford to move and can't afford to quit. I don't make enough money at my current job to afford a house, but I never hear back when I apply to other jobs."
4. "Mom guilt. When you’re at home, you feel like you could be doing more at work, and when you're at work, you feel like you should be home with your family."
5. "Managing bills. I knew I'd have to pay bills, but no one told me how much work it would be to do things like set up auto-pay, make sure I have enough money in each account, and watch my accounts to make sure the payment sent."
6. "How much more of an effort it is to see friends and how much less you will see them. In school, you're seeing your friends daily. After you graduate, it starts to become hard to see your friends even once a month."
7. "Getting chronic pain from minor injuries that you would have been able to bounce back from as a kid. You can have years of chronic pain from an embarrassingly trivial injury."
8. "How much money you REALLY need to save in order to retire if you want to maintain your lifestyle."
9. "Infertility. They teach you how easy it is to get pregnant, but never what it's like if you can't."
10. "There is never enough time in the day to do everything I need to do, and I'm constantly tired."
11. "The shattering reality that you may fall into a monotonous day-to-day routine. You get trapped in a cycle of working just for money to support the family you've made."
12. "Taking care of aging parents. My dad is pushing 80 and it’s hard to accept the reality that he’s getting older and that eventually I’ll need to find a way to take care of him."
13. "How much time you have to spend balancing egos at work. I thought the hard part of an office job would be the actual work, but no, it’s balancing personalities and office politics so you can actually get your job done."
14. "Not having a passion that drives you to work every day."
15. "How to advance in your career. In school, you are taught to do well to get better opportunities, but that's not really the case in the workplace. The hardest workers aren't always the ones getting promotions."
16. And finally, "How to make huge life decisions after not being allowed to make any life decisions for the majority of your life."
What are some unexpected lessons you've learned as an adult? Let us know in the comments below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.