People are often depicted in movies and TV asking the universe for some sort of "sign" and immediately getting their wish.
It doesn't really work like that in real life, though, right? How many times have you asked for a sign only to be cruelly ignored by the powers that be?
Some people have actually received the sign they were looking for. It's sometimes subtle, but it's usually as subtle as a flying mallet.
u/grassisblue22 asked:
"If you've ever asked the universe for some kind of sign and got it clear as day, what was it and how did it go?"
Here were some of those answers.
The Luckiest Hitchhiker
I was walking. What would have been a 4 hour drive... And I was walking. I straight up begged for a car to stop and pick me up and literally seconds later a woman stopped who was traveling all the way to where I was heading. Same town. 4 hours away. What are those odds?
The Smallest Sign Of Love
I'm not superstitious at all, but my uncle is. When my Nan passed he went to see a fortune teller who told him that anytime our family sees white feathers around, that's Nans way of showing us that she's there. I thought it was a load of bullshit and forgot about it.
A few years later I was at a music festival. Everything was coated in dirt and dust being churned up by thousands of people's feet. Even the air was so thick with dust it was making it hard to see and breathe. I was on the edges of the mosh pit when I started to have my first panic attack. I'd never had one before, didn't know what was happening to me and I was terrified. I felt like I was being crushed and like I was the only person in the world at the same time. I remember desperately thinking 'I don't want to be alone, I don't want to be here alone' I crouched down in the middle of the dirty dusty crown and when I opened my eyes there was a single white feather on the ground right between my feet. It was perfectly white, no dirt, not stepped on or anything- in a mosh pit. I stared at the feather until I could get my breathing under control and get out of there and I still have that feather.
Thank You, Rogue Fish
Once while walking to work as a teenager I asked god to show me a sign if I should get out of my relationship (abusive ex) and just as I finished the prayer a fish came flying out of nowhere and smacked me in the face. I went down and blacked out for a second and when I came to there were these 3 hillbilly men surrounding me, fanning me, and just generally freaking out. When they realized I was awake they just started apologizing and said they swore they had put the strap on their cooler. They gave me some ice for my eye and walked me down to work so I could call my mom to pick me up. I broke up with my ex the next day out of fear of being smacked by a rogue fish again
Mind-Reader
I was in the depths of despair, I had lost my great job, had to travel 2hrs everyday with heavy tools each way to a temporary job I was doing. Sitting on the bus, thinking my world was over and it all kind of got to me all at once and I began to tear up, not wanting to ball my eyes out in public I held it in. So I asked for something anything that could show me that life wasn't worthless.
A lady I didn't see must have how bad I was or maybe it was just coincidence but just after I cried out in my head. I heard the words "Everything is going to be Okay."
It saved my life.
Of Course You're Loved
All my life, whenever I went to the beach I had wanted to find an intact sand dollar. I had found lots of pieces, but never a whole one.
When I was in my mid 30s, I went with a group of friends to the coast. I was walking alone along the beach in the moonlight close to midnight. I was feeling very sorry for myself in the dark, and really lonely, even though I was with my friends that weekend.
I had just started thinking the thought, "Wouldn't it be a great sign right now to know that I'm loved if I finally found a sand dollar?" I had barely formed the thought when I looked down, and right at my feet was an intact sand dollar.
To The Rescue
This wasn't really asking for a "sign," but I was going through a lot and in a really dark place, like the kind of place I honestly wasn't sure I'd survive. I was teetering on the edge of despair and genuinely going down the path towards doing something insanely drastic. I basically just asked the universe for help one day while in the middle of another crying episode and I had this strange, sunny feeling kind of leak into the darkness I was harboring inside of me.
The next day, by chance, I met my group of friends on a video game I played regularly at the time. They lived in an entirely different city and had entirely different lives from me but we all just... clicked. It took a month or two for me to settle into that friendship and understand that they were gonna stick around, and they've been my best friends for three years now. Some of my best memories are from that first summer that I knew them.
I genuinely don't think I would have survived that time in my life had I not met them. I was feeling incredibly alone and I was trying to come to terms with a lot of things all at once. I'm infinitely grateful for them, and I can't help but think that the universe was listening that day when, as a last ditch effort, I asked it for help.
The Perfect Financial Excuse
I really don't like my job, and I've been daydreaming about what I could do. I just needed a place to be able to do it.
The next day I get offered to house sit for a couple years in this big Japanese house that has a storefront in the front. There's a perfect space to do what I would want to do. I would live rent free and be able to save up to buy my own business visa here. I wouldn't need to work in this job any more.
My Child
My son passed away and I sat at the kitchen table in shock I couldn't really believe he was gone. I asked him to send me a sign so I'd know he was still with us, in spirit if not in body. A few minutes later all the lights in the house went out. I didn't believe it was him so I even checked the fuse box. I almost called an electrician but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to do it. It was just the lights, the power points still worked so I could cook and the fridge was on. It stayed that way for two days until I eventually said ok ok I know it's you and they came back on.
I was so overwhelmed with grief at the time this seemed like nothing but now I see how crazy it was. I get this might be hard for some people to believe but I really don't care if anyone believes it or not, I just needed to know he was somewhere else besides in the ground because he was only in his 20's and it just wasn't fair he was gone so young. You should never outlive your children.
New Kitteh
My wife and I had been considering getting a second cat for some time without reaching any conclusion. Then, as I was walking back to the apartment one evening, a young feline popped up out of the drainage beside the sidewalk. Basically, he just looked at me and said,
Let's cut to the chase. I'll be moving in with you now. You need a cat. I am a very cute, completely adorable kitten. The only problem I see here is that you might not be smart enough to recognize this opportunity. Be your best self right now, dude.
So I looked at him and said, "I can't make this decision solo. Let me go get the wife." He just looked at me and nodded his head like "Go on, I'll wait."
Considering that she just decided that today was cat-bath day, he may be regretting the decision, but I'm completely okay with the way things have gone over the past years.
One Time Lucky Strike
Lottery tickets.
I was always curious about lottery tickets but never wanted to indulge in it. One day in a grocery store, I told the universe,
"I am going to buy a lotto ticket now (not the grand bumper ones, just a simple scratch one) for the first time in life. If I win a prize, I'll take it as a sign from you and never buy it again."
I bought a ticket for $3, scratched it and won $500. I smiled and donated $250 of the amount. Enjoyed some good food multiple times with the other $250. Never bought or looked at a lottery ticket again. Will never do.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
Advancements in science happen every day in every way.
But often it feels like we are still so far behind.
How have we not cured so many diseases?
Shouldn't we know more about space?
What is Jello really made of?
So much to ponder and understand.
Maybe one day.
We all have a bucket list of what we'd like to see cured or invented before our last breaths.
Let's discuss...
Redditor yoda2060wanted to discuss all the science that needs to be devoured before the sand runs out of the hourglass. They asked:
"What scientific achievement you would like to see before you die?"
Life is infinite and we'll never know everything that is possible. But let's dream of what could be...
New pieces...
"I want to see us grow hearts, kidneys, livers, etc... In labs and end the need for donations and waiting lists for transplants."
IMadeThisBullS*itUp
"I waited for a heart/bilateral lung transplant for over a year and I spent 8 months living in the hospital waiting for it. You’re basically waiting for someone to die."
"Which feels all kinds of wrong… but my therapist (all transplant patients sees a transplant therapist) kept reminding me that me needing a heart and lungs doesn’t cause someone to die…"
"And what made even harder was that my mom died of Covid about 5 weeks before my transplant happened. So while I was praying and hoping so hard my mom wouldn’t die… I was also praying for my transplant to happen. I had a lot of mixed and confusing feelings. My transplant happened last November."
Junebug1515
"Idiot Bottom Line"
"To build an environment friendly world."
deadprotocol_
"That depends entirely on how far you want to go with 'environmentally friendly.' Some amateurish pseudo-intellectuals will say that humanity itself is devastating the planet by it's very existence so we'll call that the 'Idiot Bottom Line."'
"So you have to find an acceptable level above that to declare environmentally friendly. For example can we still have hear exchangers? Space debris? Artificial Electromagnetic radiation? There has to be a level before you can declare such and so far no one agrees."
PoorPDOP86
“20 years, tops”
"Viable nuclear fusion."
AlterEdward
"Nuclear Astrophysicist here. I know the joke is that we been saying '20 years, tops' for 50 years now - who do you think came up with that joke? But seriously, we are really close."
"We need a reaction that is self-sustaining and puts out more energy than we put in. We can easily do a reaction that’s one or the other, just getting one that’s both is hard. And with recent updates to the Greenwald limit we found some relatively minor tweaks that doubles previous theoretical max output."
Gleeful-Nihilist
Deep Within
"Figuring out what Dark Matter is, solving the mysteries of black holes. Proper thorough investigation of our own oceans."
fIumpf
So far, so interesting. We have so much to learn.
let me dream...
"Prosthetic limbs and organs that can work just as well as real ones. Affordably too. A cure for total nerve damage. Carbon neutral liquid fuel. FTL travel (let me dream)."
idonthaveanaccountA
Contact
"Making contact with another intelligent species in another solar system."
Pigs100
"That's probably not going to happen. I'd be overjoyed though if we discovered even just microbial life in the oceans of Europa or Enceladus. They'd be the first true extra-terrestrials ever encountered."
Cybyss
Going Places
"If we had teleports then we might also have other technologies integrated with it like instant dental work, instant food, instant surgery, things just unthinkable without the technology but before the steam engine travel was by horse so they could not imagine traveling cross country in any other way besides ships. Maybe with teleports we wouldn't need energy, just an infinite loop of the first spark."
Stickerdan
Sickness be gone...
"Cure for all cancer forms."
Kal-El1994
"I approached a nursing assistant with the question. They could describe it as trying to go after the stick of a lollipop. The treatments are mostly concerned with favors, not sticks. If they can discover a way to deal with the stick, then you may be able to treat cancer from there."
MissSara101
"I think it is important to add that there won’t be ONE cure to all cancers. Cancer is such a broad spectrum of diseases that sometimes have next to nothing in common. But hopefully we will keep getting the survival rates up with different medications for different cancer types."
TastyConsideration82
Simplicity
"Solve back pain please. We can do crazy sh*t like nuclear bombs, new fancy vaccines and space exploration, yet we don't have a solution to one of the biggest and most common ailments that existed though all of humanity."
inksane
I want to see all of this happen! Fingers crossed.
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Fast fashion is terrible for the environment, one of the largest polluters of clean water globally because of its all too common use of cheap, toxic textile dyes.
It also places producers under more and more pressure to manufacture more and more clothes on masse–the people working in the factories that make this stuff are being paid a pittance, contributing to much of the wealth inequality in less developed nations.
Additionally, it's estimated that the textiles industry produces 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 per year and that just two percent of all fast fashion emissions can be reduced through recycling. Ouch. Time to change habits, right?
People shared their thoughts on this and other topics after Redditor urmomsucked asked the online community,
"What should people seriously stop buying?"
"Pets..."
"Pets they can’t take care of."
WonderfulShop888
I have known several people who got puppies, decided they couldn't handle them, and dumped them. It's rage-inducing.
"Nestle products."
"Nestle products. Literally the most evil company currently in business. Unfortunately it's really hard to tell what brands they own."
I_used_to_be_hip
Nestle is responsible for the deaths of babies in undeveloped nations. It's sick.
"Designer clothes..."
"Designer clothes and accessories with logos slapped all over them. It wastes your money and makes you look idiotic."
Botryoild2000
The funny thing is, the designer clothes/accessories with logos slapped all over them are typically the cheapest options from said designer.
"Simple syrup."
"Simple syrup. It’s sugar water with an $8 price tag."
providentialchief
It's easy enough to make your own. Your iced tea will never be the same again.
"Cheap belts."
"Cheap belts. A quality leather belt will last you decades."
[deleted]
I have a few (quality leather belts, that is) and they've lasted for years and years. Can confirm.
"Cigarettes."
"Cigarettes. To anyone reading this, please just don't start even if it's out of curiosity. I'm 20 years deep into this and it's hell."
SeaSwimmer5386
Smoking is a brutal addiction to break. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently proposed rules prohibiting menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars to stop young people from picking up the habit.
"Garment workers..."
"Fast fashion. Garment workers get paid s*it, the environment suffers and you look like everybody else on the street with no personality or sense of individualism."
SenoritaBrownRecluse
This should be up at the top. The environmental impact is terrible.
"Unnecessarily large vehicles..."
"Unnecessarily large vehicles, which they'll then inevitably complain cost too much to fill the gas tank."
[deleted]
Gas guzzlers need to go. It's far past time that they be phased out.
"Anything advertised..."
"Anything advertised on Instagram. It’s a scam and those influencers are just making it look cheap AF."
megapintt
Or just avoid Instagram in general. That would solve a lot.
"New phones..."
"New phones when their current is just as good."
[deleted]
You've got that right. People buy a new one for the hell of it without even thinking about it.
It's pretty clear that many of us need to change our habits now. Our wallets will thank us later.
Have some suggestions of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
If you make too many funny faces, your face will stay that way permanently.
Watch too much tv and your eyes will fall out.
Break a mirror and it's seven years of bad luck.
These are among the many myths and superstitions we heard as children, more often than not from our parents and teachers as a way of scaring us into behaving.
But while there is not one ounce of truth to any of these tall tales, there are many who still believe them, and many more.
Redditor RedditPersonIf was curious to learn what superstitions people continue to believe are true, leading them to ask:
"What myths are obviously false, yet most people still believe they are true?"
When they fly the coop...
"If you take care of a baby bird, the mother won’t want it anymore because it’ll smell like a human."- GreatXs
No amount of fiber can help you
"If you swallow gum, it'll stay in your digestive tract for 7 years."- stinky_cheese33
It was every other subjects he had trouble with
"Albert Einstein failed math in school."- Nothingreallyend
Though it does make shampooing easier
"Shaving your hair will make the hair grow back thicker.'- RunWithScissorsss
Sleep with your mouth closed
"The amount of spiders you eat while being asleep."- pantsofafatman
Just... No...
"That you are supposed to pee on a jellyfish sting to ease the pain."- Actuaryba
Olé
"Bulls not liking the color red."
"Bulls are partially color blind and can only see yellow, green, blue, and violet."- Rogurzz
Call a Lyft instead
"Coffee, speed, and uppers sober you up."
"Nope!"
"Too drunk to drive?"
"Now you're drunk AND on drugs, you just don't feel the effects of the booze but your motor skills, reaction time and decision making are all still drunk AF."- kirkrjordan
Best let nature run its course
"The damn alpha wolf."
"It was one study under captivity, the poor researcher made it his life's work to try and set it right."
"If you want a brutal hierarchy where everyone pecks down, what you're looking for is chickens."- raxeira-etterath
Give this one some thought
"We can only use 10% of our brain."- UnbearableHuman
A little bit of research will clear up any doubt you have on these old superstitions and beliefs.
And for anyone who helped out a friend who got stung by a jellyfish, no need to be embarrassed.
Who hasn't looked at a scarf someone knitted for a loved one, a flawless homemade birthday cake, or an immaculately planted garden and thought, "I wish I could do that"?
But you'd never dare try to attempt it yourself, knowing that it's well beyond your personal skill set.
But is it?
Intimidating as they may seem, some skills might be deceptively easier than they appear to be, or might come more naturally to you than to many others.
Redditor halfmoon599 was curious to hear what skills people believed to be much easier than they seem, leading them to ask:
"What skill is actually easier to learn than what other people think?"
Everyone can be ambidextrous!
"I'm left handed and and I wanted to learn to write with my right hand."
"it was much easier than I thought and now I can write with it making it look somewhat decent."- JE3V4N_
"Using your off hand skillfully."
"I worked on this when I owned a woodworking business and it has helped so many times over the years."- karg_the_fergus
Should you ever forget your keys...
"Picking a lock."
"It only takes about 1 or 2 hours to learn, contrary to popular belief." - DifficultAd5113
Can't get to the genius stand? No problem!
"Fixing computers."
"It's just a lot of googling and YouTubing."- theassassintherapist
"Basic IT troubleshooting."- usmarine7041
You'll have a blanket done in no time!
"Crocheting!"
"It looked really difficult to me but I was really pleased how easy it was to pick up."
"Especially with YouTube tutorials."- geeltulpen
But do get a license first...
"Flying a small airplane is actually very simple."
"It's everything else like weather and flight planning, emergency mindfulness, airspace and traffic, and confidence in yourself that gets tricky, but any person with eyeballs and a pulse could fly a plane."- Clyde-MacTavish
With practice, of course
"Parallel parking."- Feels2old
Give your arms a rest!
"Unicycling."
"It takes just 10-20 minutes a day for 3-10 days.'
"Find a railing you can lean on to start."
"At some point, you'll be able to let go and ride!'- Vegan_BTW_VR
... Is it though?...
"Driving a stick shift."- fantazja1
Next time you think, "aw, I wish I could do that," rather than keep wishing, why not just give it a try?