What has changed about your personality as you have aged?

Why don’t you state your age first?
As I grow up I:
1. Become more deceptive and less obedient to rules.
2. More self-controlled.
3. Know more about social cues.
4. More thoughtful.
5. More critical.
6. Full of worries.
7. More aware of life.
8. More open-minded.
9. Have more knowledge.
10. Have a more abstract way of thinking.
And 11. More morbid :D

I am in my late 40s and in the USA. I have changed a great deal since reaching adulthood.

I had a bad childhood, so I had very low self-esteem and a very negative outlook in my teens and early 20s. I was quick to judge and very emotionally reactive to things that I perceived as a ‘threat’ to the delicate self-identity I had.

As I became a parent and went through hard times and failed relationships, my perspective has changed. I can see how the choices I’ve made have altered the course my life has taken, while chance circumstances have also kept me from heading in other directions.

I know that I can withstand some very harsh realities and still maintain my core values. I have developed a greater sense of integrity. I am able to empathize with those who have hard lives and I realize that it could have been myself in their predicament, and I can also see that those who have greater material ‘success’ are no better than anyone else, and are often not any happier than the rest of us.

I am still growing, learning and evolving, and I hope to continue to improve as long as I am living. I have been fortunate to have experienced unconditional love that I never had from my family and thought I would never know. I am happier than I imagined I could ever be, even as my body starts to decline.

Oops! I’m 49. Thank you, @Mimishu1995!

I’ve got a bit more open minded and tolerant, while at the same time I’m much less tolerant of bullshit. You want to give me crap? No way.

I’d say I’ve changed a lot in the last three years. Politics doesn’t matter as much to me – although I am still a liberal – and I don’t really care about someone’s religion unless they shove it in my face. I am more open, more tolerant and more confident. And I don’t seat the small stuff.

I’m in my early 60s but it had more to do with a life change than aging.

I’m 46.

I appreciate the experience and wisdom older people have much more and want to hear all their stories.

I understand love in a different way and it makes my relationships more meaningful.

I’m more critical of myself as I get older. I’m not sure if that is good or bad?

I understand better how good and effective communication can be so difficult and how it affects relationships.

I am much more aware of how divided politically the US is, I feel like it is more divided now, but maybe I just was not paying attention before.

I feel more strongly about being Jewish and my Jewish identity.

I care about and seek to learn new things.

I am more in awe of natural beauty.

I feel more connected to nature.

I have a shorter temper about some things, but a much much longer temper about most things.

My sadness about people who do dishonest things that harm others has intensified.

My acceptance that life isn’t fair has grown.

@JLeslie:
I have a wise friend who says that if life were fair, we’d be living in Darfur and eating garbage.

I’ve gotten grumpier. And I no longer care about pleasing others.

Oh jeez. I’m going to be 19 next month.
Just within the last two or three years I’ve changed a lot. I used to be very religious, and closed minded about things. Now I identify as an agnostic, and I’m pretty tolerant of others lifestyles and opinions.
I think I have more control of what I say, and how. I’ve always been kind of an asshole to people I don’t like, but I’ve found that I can actually have very civilized conversations with people even if they piss me off. And sometime I’ve even found that I was too quick to judge, and they aren’t as bad ad I originally believed.

I’m 40 and in the U.S. I was pretty much a bright and happy kid albeit with a sensitivity to injustice in its various colors. Around the time
I turned 17, a chronic disease arose that contributed to major depression, and that dictated my personality and outlook (especially when combined with said sensitivity to injustices). Interestingly, my negative outlook kind of grew in a spiral of iterations until coming to a head sometime in the past few years.

That lasted until earlier this year when a sort of molting happened and the hold that many difficult things had on me began to fall away. I came to know that among other things, the personality is just a cloak we wear over our real being, and that personality is only sustained through belief and interest. People have seen a marked change in me over this time to becoming a much more tranquil person. I still yell at drivers and carry some bad habits, but the behaviors are still ignorable and of diminishing importance.

I’m the same, just slightly bitter, but who isn’t.

I am 54 and I do not suffer fools gladly anymore.
I am a very friendly, open, talk to anyone, very approachable type.
Humorous, easy going & very good natured.
That said however, I have zero tolerance for morons. haha

I loathe loud and obnoxious types followed by nosy, passive aggressive and illiterate.
I can’t stand people in my age bracket that are still caught up in romantic relationship drama. Gah, have you learned nothing in all these years?
Probably one of my biggest shifts has been not wasting my time trying to “communicate” with stupid and unconscious types anymore.

If you rub me the wrong way, show me you’re an imbecile, I won’t even bother speaking up about it, I’ll just dump you like yesterdays trash. lol

I’ve completely lost interest in sports and being overly competitive.

I’m WAY less judgmental, I stick my foot in my mouth less often, I keep my house cleaner, I’m less hormonally emotional, I take fewer physical risks, I’m more content, I appreciate simple things more, I drive slower, and I don’t crave attention as much.

31 years old.

Less tolerant of bull**** definitely.

I think the older you get the less you care and the more your realise the world is full of a lot of in-sensitive self-centered ***holes. Ha!.

Experience also has made it easier for me to talk back to people quickly knowing exactly what to say without having to think much about it, while at the same time still being classy.

You can’t always hold it in and be polite your whole life, you will go crazy. You have to speak your mind. I think it is better to start from young . You life will be a lot easier if you speak your mind. If people are bold enough to insult you you should be bold enough to tell them they are rude. Because sometimes some people don’t even realize they are being rude, because no one ever tells them anything.

I think i also think about death more. I know so morbid.
Especially as I now see my parents as old people as opposed to just my parents. I feel like I need to be mentally prepared for the day they die. So i think about it a lot and what my life will be like when they are gone.

I definitely see life differently.
I think up until about 16 I had a very fairy tale view of life. When my parents had a very nasty ,long , indiscreet , drawn out divorce when I was 16. I changed 360 degrees.

I see life and relationships soooo differently now. It made me realize how complex relationships are. We often see our parents as these perfect human beings growing up, not realizing that they have their own history and problems too that has shaped them into who they are and as our parents they only do their best, which could be their worse haha!.

As a result in my adult life I always took my relationships very seriously. I never just dated someone for fun or had flings or anything like that.

My parents divorce also thought me the importance of communication in any relationship. If you don’t like something say it now instead of 20 years later when you are thinking of getting a divorce ha !.

Their divorce also made me realize that just because you are an adult that doesn’t make you perfect. I think alot of people tend to think that adulthood/parenthood makes you a perfect person. I don’t. I think as a parent you can actually learn from your children too. It is not one way.

My husband loves that I am so open and honest.

I also have this feeling like I am running out of time in life ha !
When I was a child I often felt like I had my whole life ahead of me. So much time to do things. I think once you hit 30 time flies very quickly. You realise your youth is disappearing quickly ha!. Well if you are deep thinker like me that is :)

-Started thinking about things for myself
-Learned to let go of some parts of my past
-Felt more comfortable doing things on my own
-Became more vocal in my opinions
-Anything @Mimishu1995 said. Except #3. I’m still pretty oblivious and overall absent-minded.
I’m 18¾

I forgot to say I’m 53.

Ok @tedibear. I’m 18.

Not telling my age. Forget that.
I’m similar to @syz . I am more grumpy but more grateful for my blessings. I’m more bossy but love more. I love animals; never noticed them before. I’m extremely interested in alternative medicine and find doctors nearly worthless and lacking in basic knowledge of health, diet and longevity. They are, however, quite adept at saying, “we’ll do some tests.” Then, “we’ll do some more tests.” I have a feeling of independence which may be a false sense of security. Finally, I’m saddened to see friends getting sick and/or dying. This last one is a shocker and keeps me hovering under a black cloud waiting for some kind of collapse.

I mellowed out.