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Hindsight is always 20/20, and the Reddit post that asked the question "What are some things you realized too late in life?" is a testament to this fact. Its comment section is filled with thousands of responses from people of all ages, sharing the biggest lessons they've learned so far.

Some of the replies center around the theme of missed opportunities, like not pursuing your passion or spending more time with loved ones while others focus on the importance of self-care and personal growth. But when looking at it as a whole, the thread serves as a powerful reminder that our time on this planet is short, and we should strive to make every day count with intention and purpose.

#1

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Its ok to catch yourself in your own BS. That's not you failing, its you being self aware and that will make you a better person.

LondonFogAddict91 , Athena Report

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rob
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Best one yet. Many people get stuck in their own views and echo chambers. Sometimes it's good to do more research and look at arguments from the other side. Maybe you will stick with your views but maybe you see there is more than you first thought.

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#2

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Don't set yourself on fire to keep others warm.

-Miss_Information- , Andrew Neel Report

#3

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Getting married and having kids is not "the ultimate life goal". Only do it if you really want to. Otherwise you'll do it just because it's expected of you and you'll be trapped in a very unhappy life

anon Report

#4

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Dont try to hang on to a toxic friendship just because of your history.

AlanClan , Budgeron Bach Report

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Yaksha_maan
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don’t hang on to toxicity. Period. Be it freinds , siblings, parents, partner, employer etc

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#5

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Doing well in school doesn't mean you will do well outside of it.

pajamakitten , Tima Miroshnichenko Report

#6

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Most of the population is far less aware than you think.

swissfrenchman , Riccardo Report

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#7

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Just because you put effort and energy into a relationship, doesn’t mean the other person will.

usernameeightandhalf , RODNAE Productions Report

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Yaksha_maan
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

some people fall in love with the wrong people sometimes,it’s alright Listen to this song

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#8

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Don’t make other people’s lives your standard for living. Love what you have and love the people that support you

swede_fish , Pixabay Report

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Yali-girl with weird name
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are literally 8 billion people in the world and none of them act or think the same whatsoever , don’t try to mimic any of them

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#9

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Take care of your teeth.

Nitroclover , Ron Lach Report

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Yaksha_maan
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dentist appointments are damn costly in us so make sure you don’t need them

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#10

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Doctors are just people, and people are sometimes bias, useless, dismissive and just plain wrong.

Jackatarian , Karolina Grabowska Report

#11

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner “I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.”

anon , kat wilcox Report

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Daria
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All my days seem to be "good old" now that they are in the past. Wish I could say this has taught me something...

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#13

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner I thought people didn't like me because I was nerdy and all. Turns out the problem was that I never gave them a chance because I assumed they wouldn't like me.

PhreedomPhighter , Julia Avamotive Report

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#14

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Don't assume people won't do to you what you wouldnt do to them.

PimemtoCheese , Ketut Subiyanto Report

#15

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner You don't need someone else to feel complete. There was never a hole to begin with. It was just you finding your way through life. You don't start with a hole, you start with foundation and build up.

MrDextra , Alexandra Schulz Report

#17

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner 'If something's worth doing, it's worth doing badly.'

It's really easy to get into the mindset of thinking that things have to be perfect, but that's also the kind of mindset that leaves you meticulously editing the first five thousand words of that novel you've been working on for half a decade. Sit down and finish the f*****g thing, *then* worry about fixing it up.

Perfect is the enemy of good.

Portarossa , Pixabay Report

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Dan Padgett
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My most hated term "good enough". But yeah, designers are never finished, we tend to abandon work because otherwise we would go insane.

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#18

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Eating healthy and being active actually matters

AWOL_PSYCHO , Nathan Cowley Report

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Imani Nzombe
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup. My grandmother who witnessed 3 wars died at the age of 105 in a "poor area" by western standards, just by living in a village up in the mountains which requires lots of exercise, and eating nothing but a bit of meat and vegetables from her garden (no processed food)

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#19

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner That expecting others to act how you would in that situation does not work.

anon , Alex Green Report

#21

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner I was so afraid of failing that I stopped trying. I know now it's okay to be afraid but it's no excuse to give up. I'm 28 years old and just finished my first quarter of college with all A's. When I saw my grades I cried for a long time because I realised the biggest thing holding me back was me. It took time and a lot of therapy for me to get here but that's okay. Everyone grows at a different pace.

largestbeefartist , Nicola Barts Report

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Groaver Andout
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've got to say; those 28 years must have been hard. Look at all those grey hairs!

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#22

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Nobody has all the answers. Everyone is just trying to make sense of things the best they can

anon , Engin Akyurt Report

#23

Being jealous or resentful of other people’s success is a negative weight on your back that serves no purpose.

There’s room for others to succeed as well as yourself. Work hard, be happy for others and patiently wait for your turn to come up.

jesuschin Report

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Samara Messer
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got a lot of this from my mom when I was in school. She did a lot to try and sabotage what I was working toward and tried to keep me from anything I was passionate about. Missed out on a lot of opportunities because of her. My grandmother stepped in and had my back when she could but was only able to do so much.

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#24

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner It’s never too early to start saving for retirement

iggy555 , Pixabay Report

#25

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Don't let anxiety rule your life.

All those people looking at you at a dance, the gym, the beach, work, school. It just doesn't matter. Half the people won't remember you in five minutes. Very few are actually judging you and even if they are, f**k them. Do what makes you happy and helps you and leave regrets behind you. You are your own best friend. You are the love of your life. If you are happy with yourself, you win.

And if you're not happy, find help to fix it.

fujiesque , Liza Summer Report

#26

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Being assertive and taking care of your own needs doesn't make you an a*****e and people aren't going to hate you for it.

memelord-15 Report

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Nea
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Correction- people are going to hate you for it but thats alright.

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#27

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner The chances of you growing up to be something big is very unlikely.

And if you do accomplish something huge, it's even more unlikely that you'll keep that success for too long.

Be grateful for being average because it's very hard to do the basic things it takes to maintain a stable lifestyle that's nowhere near the "american dream".

sketchysketchist , Thibault Trillet Report

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#28

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner That very few people actually wake up in the morning thinking: 'Hey, I'm going to be an a*****e and make someone else's life hell today'. Most of us think our behavior is justified.

oddstew , Ketut Subiyanto Report

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Imani Nzombe
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As someone who has been "toxic" or at least not not cool, I can relate. It's more being very very self-centered. It took me time (and people not cutting ties with me) to realise my behaviour was not justified, but during the whole ordeal I was convinced I was in my right

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#29

30 Hard Truths People Only Realized Later In Life, But Wish They Had Known Sooner Your stomach isn’t supposed to hurt all the time. I was knee-deep in denial for a while when I first started developing symptoms of Crohn’s Disease.

Side note: if you are in your late teens or early 20s and are having persistent stomach/gut pain, go to the doctor as soon as you possibly can. It could save you a lot of pain and surgery down the line.

Napiformity , Sora Shimazaki Report

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Imani Nzombe
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As one of of the 90% women with endometriosis who were diagnosed too late, to the point where I might never be able to have kids: if periods hurt a lot, if bleeding is consequent to the point it prevents from doing usual tasks --> go see a doctor, insist and ask for an echography to be performed. It is not normal to endure significant pain when having your periods.

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#30

I should have traveled more when I was younger and single. If you’re in your early twenties, don’t waste time. Travel as MUCH as you can. If you time it perfectly, you can travel anywhere on a small budget. Don’t make excuses. Just do it.

_Than0s Report

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censorshipsucks
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

you are assuming we are all trust fund beneficiaries or multimillionaires. Travel is expensive. For an South African (richest people in african mainland) to travel to the nearby african island of Mauritius, costs about R 30k/person excluding flights, so add another 8k or so. Say a family of four. That's R 184k. Many if not most families in South Africa earn that amount in an entire year. In effect, the cheapest overseas holiday in our country is a full year's salary for a typical earner. You will see stats online that the average salary is 24000 zar/month. That's not true. It's true for the middle class. Most people (about 80%) of our country are borderline poverty line. The reason the average is high is that we have economic apartheid: the middle class earn about 24k/mo but the cleaners, street sweepers etc., are between 4k and 16k./mo. Yes, 4k as in USD $200 per month. Exploitation of the workers!!!

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Note: this post originally had 38 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.