What have you accepted about yourself as you've got older .

[GreenCandleWarmth]

I'm late 30s and in a period of acceptance I suppose. I accept I'm a bit selfish. I accept that I have made major mistakes. I accept that I probably could be a better daughter, wife and employee but life is busy!

Yes! I only remember one thing my headmistress said at school one assembly: that everyone is good at something and it is just about finding out what that one thing is. Assuming she wouldn't include being gloomy and always seeing the negative in situations, I still can't think what my special talent is. Don't get me wrong, I have accomplishments, but nothing that puts me above others.

That I sleep better and my body especially my skin behaves itself much much better when I eat lots of veg and avoid sugar in its many forms.

never cared much about how I look so had assumed I could just eat anything mostly sweets and chocolates. It’s just not the case, now over sixty and genuinely enjoy the good food, so long as I don’t touch sweet stuff. Sigh.

I won’t ever be tall. Or slim like I used to be.

There is less time to look forward to anything, so you have to try and find some pleasure in every day and not sweat the small stuff.

I’ve stopped feeling guilty if I’m not cleaning the house all the time. It’s OK to have lazy days.

That I will always be tired and in pain. No breaks, even for an hour.

I think you might be right! But it's been helpful over the past few years to accept that, ok, sometimes a person is going to read me in the most awful way (to me!) and I will just need to sashay away from that and not try to find an explanation because there won't be one.
Harder with my father but I remind him of my mother physically, although I am not like her much in character (they are long divorced).

This🖕

That I don't like late nights, I don't like going out and having to stand at bars, that I hate getting dressed up. I like early nights, pyjamas, cosiness and being left alone!

In case the above didn't make it clear, I am boring but I'm really happy being boring.

😄😄 same, I've got a ford fiesta but somehow park like I'm maneuvering a van

I put my foot in it all the time. I have a knack of nervously burbling and saying the wrong thing. I have decided not to get too stressed when I do this because it’s never hurtful of others, I just make myself look like a tit, and actually there’s no point worrying about that.

A lot of people project their crap onto others. You may remind them in some way of someone that annoyed or upset them. Absolutely nothing to do with you. 'Let them' as the current meme goes.

That there will always been so people who don't like me and if someone doesn't take to me, it doesn't mean I've done something wrong or am a horrible person; just that whatever you are like, there will always be some people who don't like you.

Also to trust my gut if I get 'bad vibes' from someone - it doesn't happen often, but I used to be all 'Oh, give them a chance' when it did but now I know it only happens for a reason if I can sense a person isn't to be trusted or has a vicious streak.

Oh yeah, also accepting that, given I am the 'organiser' in my household not to dwell on it when I miss something or drop a ball. I'm doing bloody everything, so I'm bound to mess things up or forget things sometimes. Should add no one ever has blamed me for these things - in fact it was realising that which helped me go easier on myself.

Alcohol is not for me.

I used to be a people pleaser when I was younger, did all the running around in friendships, making the effort to meet up etc. When I stopped most of the “friendships” fell by the wayside.

Im never going to be slim but I think Ive made my peace with that. I try to focus on being as healthy as I can.

I am naturally quite mean and can be a bit of a bully. If I don’t like someone I have to actively stop myself from being cruel to them. On the flip side of it tho, I love very deeply and I would do anything for the people I care for. I also am willing to stand up for people and speak up when others don’t, and I think that stems from the same place as the mean thing. I kind of think if you’re a lover, you’re also a hater. Occasionally someone does deserve a proper bollocking tho and that gives me an opportunity to get it out my system.

I’m the same. I lie and tell people we have really bad signal so they should text if they want me. I only answer the phone if it’s my son’s school or something important like that.

That I'm high on the introvert scale and prefer my own company and animal company to people.

I get very irritable when tired.

Also I am chronically hangry to the point I’ve had test to check it’s not a medical condition (it’s not it’s just a character flaw).

That I need help but also need to learn how to get by without it! That sometimes people will just never see your side of things. Unfortunately that I’m not as resilient or positive as I thought. That I have fab friends . That I will never ever ever be able to cook!!

That as the youngest and fittest of almost everyone I love, I will probably be the last woman standing at the end. It'll be lonely and quiet but I will have to make the best of it. Until then, I should take the time to enjoy them all while they are here and well.

So many negatives!

I've accepted that I am a very kind person and I always try my best.

My mum used to listen to this a lot. It made me sad she was disappointed in how life turned out. It made me determined to see
the world. I can’t say I drove through Paris in a sports car, but my sister did live there for a while. I have a really clear memory of driving to sun city near Pretoria with the top down (I was 18!) and feeling like I was really living. Since then I’ve been determined to experience life, fast and slow, on my own terms.

I’ve accepted that I hate sleeping at someone else’s house after a night out. I always did, even when I was younger I tired to avoid it. Now I’d just never do it. Hotel, maybe.

I’ve also accepted that I’m not going to have a glittering career. I need to find a balanced where I am proud of the job I do, but where I am Also available for my children.

I think this thread is really about people sharing things they have learnt to live with, ie aspects we might have felt pressure to change when younger but now don't. So mostly those will be conventionally "negative" things. I don't think there is much to "accept" about being kind as it's already easy to live with.