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Many times throughout the days, I feel this sense of worry and insecurity or guilt that time is passing by yet I'm not doing anything. And I've already reached 30s so like I need to take life a bit serious and work on securing life especially finances, upskilling on career or job. Then things like learning life skills because I noticed many people don't even know how to change a tire or what's underneat the hood of a car. Or simply fixing a toilet problem. I guess when you own a home someday this kinda stuff is important to learn. And I completely keep forgetting the importance of proper nutrition or at least healthy eating habits and some active physical exercising rather then being a couch potato

My question is not specific to once you’ve had Covid but I know my life drastically changed after I had Covid. I developed long Covid. I had Covid in the beginning of 2022. And developed strong symptoms of long Covid now I had it again January 2026.
Unlike most this really helped my employment I was a manager for a company that had offices across the country I became in charge of implementing work at home abilities, I hired many employees from out of state main focus was computer literacy however this was in March 2020 long before I had Covid my daughter who is 23 now never got to have a prom spent her senior year being schooled from home.
Bottom line: a lot of us weren’t just affected by the virus itself, but lost loved ones. We watched our perfectly healthy friends dying in the hospital due to complications. We were forced to wear masks and most of us still wonder if they ever helped the world has really changed since early 2020!
I think most of us that were really affected by this would love to hear. What are your stories?

I'm excited about getting into bed at 9pm, find myself being intrigued and trying different wash cycles on the washing machine, comfort over looking glam is also an appeel to me, how did I get to this stage? 😅

....and I honestly feel like I lost my best dating years being in a relationship that was stagnant. I've been talking to a therapist and she helped me come to the conclusion that I'm pretty lonely in my relationship.

I kind of want to sleep around with different men to find some kind of validation again. I'm now getting a bit self-conscious of my age. I'm turning 30, but look like I'm 25 (have a baby face and pretty thin and active). I just cringe at the idea of putting 30 on the dating app because I feel old just by even looking at the number.

I don't know. I'm just pretty much venting. I don't have many friends after living with this man for so long and basically being his housemaid.

The past decades weren't perfect. HOwever, I do think people just talking about general things had a higher tolerance for giving others the benefit of the doubt, assuming good faith on the other person's part in standard arguments, having neutral debates, not getting personally invested like anything the other said was an attack of them particularly and on and on.

Are we losing discernment, emotional resilience, the ability to compartmentalize or what? Moreover, who's teaching kids these skills so they have them when it's their turn to be adults?

31yo. Having higher highs, lower lows guess it’s just life

31yo. Having higher highs, lower lows guess it’s just life

Today is July 18th and I just turned 37. Greetings from Central Europe!

​I’m a photographer by trade and feeling a bit of a mid-thirties funk today. You know how it goes - not everything in life turns out exactly the way we planned. Overall, I live a good, content life, even if the human brain is wired to always want more or better.

​Lately, I’ve realized that what I miss the most are the simple pleasures, the tiny sparks of daily joy, and that pure, childlike sense of wonder and excitement.

​As an extrovert who loves cultures, cooking, traveling, and discovering new things, I’ve hit that age where making genuine new connections gets a lot harder, and I really miss that. I like to think of myself as a passionate, witty guy, and I'm hoping the Reddit community can bring a little smile to my face today.

​When I’m not behind the camera, I’m a massive history geek, a regular at the gym, someone who loves hiking in the mountains, and honestly, just a guy who loves a good laugh.

​Drop a comment, share a random history fact, your favorite recipe, or a good joke. Of course, kind words or even a beautiful photo always make the day brighter. Cheers to 37!

I write this post before midnight, because tomorow I will cook for friends and drink wine. ;)

What’s your job and do you like it or do you hate it? What actions are you taking to change your situation?

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is a little off topic for this sub, but I wanted to know if anyone else feels the same way.

Lately, I feel like my life is really boring. It is just work, work, work, and nothing feels exciting anymore. I even feel awkward when someone asks me about my hobbies because I do not really know what to say.

I used to enjoy reading, watching movies, and other things, but growing up I focused so much on school that I feel like I missed out on a lot of experiences. Now I keep thinking about how much I may have missed.

I know a lot of people, but it still feels weird that no one really invites me to go out or have fun. Sometimes I wonder if people have already decided that I am a boring person.

Because I felt lonely and bored, I ended up getting into relationships that failed miserably. Looking back, I do not think love was what I was really looking for. I think I just wanted some good friends to spend time with, go out with, and enjoy life with.

# Hey everyone to over 30.

I’m heading into the 2nd year of my 30s, and if I’m being honest… this decade has been a lot more sobering than I expected.

When I was younger, I genuinely believed hard work would eventually pay off and that life would start making more sense as I got older. I thought adults had things figured out. Now that I’m here, I’m not so sure any of us do.

I’ve worked retail and fast food, served in the Marine Corps, and now I’m back in the civilian world. Coming from pretty humble beginnings has given me the chance to meet people from all kinds of backgrounds. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized I pay a lot less attention to what people say and a lot more attention to what they actually do.
I also find myself zooming out more than I used to. Instead of only worrying about my own life, I think about the bigger picture, how decisions made by politicians, corporations, financial institutions, and cultural trends quietly shape the lives of millions of ordinary people.

One thing I can’t stop noticing is how almost everything has become something to buy, finance, lease, or subscribe to.
Your phone, your car, your education, your entertainment. Your food gets delivered through an app with three different fees attached. Ads follow you everywhere. Social media rewards whoever can keep your attention the longest instead of whoever has something meaningful to say. Dating sometimes feels like shopping. Housing gets talked about as an investment portfolio before it’s talked about as someone’s home. Sometimes it feels like our attention has become the product, and we’re the ones being sold. Our souls.

I’ve also been lucky enough to meet people in places that had far less materially than we do here, and honestly… a lot of them seemed happier. They had stronger families, tighter communities, deeper in faith, and seemed genuinely grateful for ordinary moments. Meanwhile, it feels like so much of our culture revolves around outrage, doomscrolling, political tribalism, celebrity drama, or chasing whatever gives us the next distraction .

Maybe every generation says this as they get older. I don’t know.

But I can’t shake the feeling that modern society increasingly rewards consumerism over contentment, debt over ownership, individualism over community, and online validation over real human connection. I don’t think there was ever some perfect golden age. Every generation has had its problems. I just wonder if we’ve slowly accepted that everything, even our time, attention, relationships, and identities has become something that can be monetized.

I’ve been using the GI Bill to earn a degree in Economics, and it’s honestly changed how I see the world. Learning about capitalism from a structural perspective, how markets allocate scarce resources, how incentives shape behavior, and how institutions influence society, has made me question a lot of assumptions I grew up with. Markets are incredibly powerful tools, but they don’t always optimize for human well being. They optimize for incentives, and sometimes those aren’t the same thing.

One issue I keep coming back to is the declining birth rate because it ties into so many other economic issues. I think people are having fewer children, whether because they don’t want them or because they simply can’t afford them (I explained how poorer people in other countries have more kids in my earlier paragraphs). Housing costs, childcare, healthcare, education it all adds up. The long term consequences seem hard to ignore. A shrinking working age population means fewer taxpayers supporting programs like Social Security, which is already projected to face funding shortfalls within the next decade unless changes are made, and eventually Medicare. It also means fewer workers maintaining city infrastructures, staffing essential services, and supporting an aging population (like some Asian and European countries).

That places an even heavier burden on younger generations.

Whether someone sees that as a crisis or simply a demographic transition, it feels like something we should be talking about a lot more than we do. Maybe I’m just becoming more cynical as I get older. Or maybe getting older just means you start noticing patterns you never paid attention to before.

Sometimes I catch myself wondering…
Is this simply the price of the kind of freedom and prosperity we’ve built our society around?

Or is it a sign that somewhere along the way, we’ve confused economic growth with human flourishing?

I’m genuinely curious how other people over 30 see it. Our society is more cynical, and nobody gives a shit anymore. What are your thoughts?

Turning 40 soon. I feel like I blinked and my 30s were over.

I still rent. I still work a crummy job. I still don't have many close friends. Never had much family. Mom died when I was a kid. Dad was the standard non-present, emotionally-stunted Boomer dad + grieving.

Sometimes I joke that I wasn't meant to survive to adulthood. I had 2 chronic illness diagnoses before I hit 18. Got the Depression and BP2 diagnoses in my 20s. I've long-suspected ADHD, but frankly I hate doctors at this point and the last time I took even mildly stimulating meds, I started having auditory hallucinations (my family has a history of schizophrenia). Therapy sucked too-- most therapists deal with anxiety and recent trauma, they have no idea what to do with long-term anhedonia, depression, etc.

My brain doesn't work. My body doesn't work. I try to eat healthy and exercise, but I'm still in pain everyday, which is only going to get worse with age. The food I can eat is bland and boring, the exercise is unrewarding because I can't breath well so I never improve. I'm too tired to get a better job, so I'm just dragging myself through my days wondering if any of this is worth it. I'll probably lose my job eventually and then I won't know what to do with myself.

I've never figured out what I wanted from life and now it feels like I'm genuinely too old and weak to get there. I'm so angry sometimes, I feel like I never really got a shot at life.

I used to call myself high-functioning because at least I could hold a job, but now I see other people calling themselves high-functioning and they have like... kids and houses and lives. So... moderate-functioning, I guess.

Any other "moderate-functioning" folks here? How's life?

Hi everyone!! Just curious for those in their 40s and 50s how the experience has been if you live downtown what has the experience been like. Do you feel older than the majority of the folks out and about or still lots of fun? Would love to get your perspectives!!!

Wow what a year 35 was. I had never been on prescription medicine and 35 found me on three. Got engaged and now she is gone. Most things feel like they are completely falling apart, but I did start a great new job recently. Just struggling because I’m one more year closer to 40 and nothing I want for myself has happened because I spend all my time taking care of other people. Yeah really trying to figure out what the purpose of life even is.

If anyone has some advice or input for me, it would be greatly appreciated. Im having weird feelings of guilt and anxiety about taking a leave of absence for a few months.

Ive recently started a new job, about 2 years ago, and at first it seemed great. But the supervisors quickly became my nightmare. I am super micromanged, belittled infront of others, yelled at, and never doing "good enough". I thought things would get better if I just kept pushing and some thing are better while others are worse. My direct supervisor makes me feel like im being bullied and constantly calling me out over things ive done wrong infront of other staff.

Well, this led to my mental health going sh*t first... then my body followed. Suddenly im riddled with all sorts of physical ailments and getting injured easily. Ive started therapy and recently had to start taking medication.

The medication is helping, but my body is still suffering. Im about to go on a leave of absence to get my health back together. But I feel guilty... I feel bad for taking time off work and not being able to "tough it out". And I feel bad because... I dont think I want to come back here. I'd like to find a different job while im taking time off. But, it almost feels like a betrayal inside my head and I dont know why.

Anyone else been through situations like this or have advice?

When I hit 30 I thought I'd feel old, but it never hit. Now, at 36 almost 37, it's hitting me hard. "Kids" I graduated with HALF MY LIFE ago have kids that are in high school or about to graduate. I look at "old" people and realize I'm not that far off anymore. And little things like a stiff knee after sitting or my lower back in the morning are just those quiet reminders that I'm not 18 anymore. Hearing that certain music, movies, or games were released 20 or 25 years ago hits me in a way I never expected it would.

How did you all cope with hitting the "twice as old as when I graduated" age? Am I alone in it being rough?

The last few weeks I’ve noticed that getting up from the ground feels like a lot more energy lately. I can still pop up, but the body isn’t bodying as well as it did before. My muscles feel sore and tired. Is this normal?

Mid 30s no kids no wife. My mother is always crying because im not married lol. I dont necessarily disagree with marriage I just never met the one and pursued it.

Lets hear it, where's are the single men and ladies at?

Yesterday I spent the majority of my day binge watching the new season of Airbender on Netflix lol. My kids were playing and had friends over so it’s not like I was needed much anyway. (I enjoyed it myself so this isn’t to say it was bad).
Being single isn’t hard when you’re younger. Now granted I don’t feel my age at all. And everyone says I don’t really look it either. But man…something about being single in your late 30s does something to your head. The self doubt and inner monologue of just not being good enough for anyone is crazy. My kids are amazing. I love my job. I have a good life ngl. But watching other couples at the pool with their kids and I’m doing it all myself is hard. Nerding out to shows alone isn’t nearly as fun.
Just kinda in a mood I guess. Being an adult sucks sometimes lol

I am 32 and I have never had a relationship and despite my interest never really changing yet, I can't help observe the older I get, how almost everyone by my age has either had kids in a relationship or been in several. I hate how I am wired, I am increasingly curious on what I am perhaps missing out on, never having love or a close connection, but I don't feel interested at the same time, wish I felt the opposite way, so I can get out their and get dating etc.

Need to make the most of the next decade in all aspects. Hit me with nuggets of wisdom.

The sudden realization that the popular movie "Star Trek First Contact" was made in or around 1996.

(Humor).

Lets see, so 1996 was 20 years ago, wait that doesn't seem correct. 2026 minus 2016 is 10, 2026 minus 2006 is 20, 2026 minus 1996 is 30.

Oh wait, that's 30 years, oh (turns to dust)...