“It can be so much more impactful than we were led to believe...”

I like to write about spooky stuff, including *EEK* politics, as well as various lifestyle and pop culture topics.

"Yes, and it may be unrealistic for some, but six months of living expenses is an ideal emergency fund. To your point, $5K is a nice start, but if you lose a job, you could become homeless real quick if you don’t have a strong financial buffer."

"Choose wisely. I did not. To borrow a popular quote, it's FAR better to be alone than with someone who makes you FEEL alone."

"After a 24-year military career, I have known a lot of people who have died for a variety of reasons, but never anyone within my close circle. I thought I would remain lucky, and then my younger brother died. I hadn't expected to bury a sibling (I'm the oldest). I think if anything, I had expected them to bury me, especially after the numerous close calls. Now it feels like it's just a game of musical coffins from here on."

"This is bigger than I realized. You imagine they just kind of slow down over time, but they become completely different people as they age. Gradually becoming irrational, unreliable, untrustworthy, belligerent, completely detached from basic reality, and even a danger to themselves and others."

"Yes! It can be so much more impactful than we were led to believe. Physical, mental, emotional. It’s like parts of my brain got swapped out. I know the way I used to be, and what I should be able to do, but none of it works the same anymore."

"It was the gray pubes that had me screaming like a crazy person when I saw my first one. I know it's hair, but I never considered they would go silver, too. 😢"

"Get a pair of good earplugs that you can hear well enough with them in. If you’re in a club or a situation where the music seems really loud, put them in, whether or not other people are wearing any protection. You’d be surprised how many people have hearing loss and tinnitus by the time they’re in their 40s, and trust me, you don’t want it."

"Very good point. There is something like an invisible line of expectations, and if you fail to meet them by certain ages, doors close that you never knew were doors."

"Boomers thought they were going to save the world. They didn't. Gen X thought they were going to save the world. They didn't. Millennials thought they were going to save the world. They aren't. Now Gen Z is falling into the same trap. Not going to happen. Look around you; there are people in your generation who have no problem selling out and destroying things and people to get what they want. You are no different from any other generation. Once you get out of that mindset, you are willing to cross generations to work with people who are willing to make things better."

"Incredibly true. You never stop to consider how a significant portion of your generation is happy to go along with and take advantage of the status quo, perpetuating the very things you wish to change and then voting en masse to keep them that way."

Note: Comments have been edited for length/clarity.