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People Describe Their Absolute Best Personal Flex

People Describe Their Absolute Best Personal Flex
Robert McGowan/Unsplash

Most of us were taught that nobody loves a braggart or a show off, but let's be honest: if we don't celebrate ourselves, who will?

Weirdly, the answer seems to be "strangers on the internet."


Reddit user tzhumanbean asked:

"What's your biggest flex?"

So listen, just for a minute, forget everything in you that wants to be humble. Toot your own horn. Brag about whatever seemingly-silly thing you're amazing at.

If you need some inspiration, Reddit will go first.

Balance Champ

"You know the game at the carnival where you climb the wobbly rope ladder and ring the bell?"

"I've won it twice"

- ThunderousBeats

"Nice, I watched a mark rober video about that, and it's supposed to be near impossible because physics."

- SnooCapers5361

"The trick is to only have 1 hand and 1 foot on the ropes at any given time and said hand and foot need to be opposites. Get that technique down and you will win everytime."

- Radicalkoopa

"Or just walk directly up the center of the ladder on only your feet. That's how the people that run the game do it, and it was the only way I could do it as well. I've won twice that way."

- JustABugReport

"What’s the secret?"

- lilfindawg

"I kept my feet and hands close to the edges. I moves opposite legs and hands as close to the same time as possible. Near the top its very hard to balance so I sprinted/jumped for the bell."

- ThunderousBeats

Grampa Flex

"My grandad used to build space shuttles/spaceships."

"The company he worked for would send the spaceships to nasa. The company was doing a private time capsule thing where the workers could send their name to the moon on a piece of paper."

"My grandad wrote my name down, so i’m now on the moon."

- dollsrot

"That is f*cking sweet!"

- Prestigious-Ring4978

"15/10 Grandpa!"

- randomPH1L

"Aw wow 🥺🥰"

- Catbug94

Moon Landing No GIF by Arrow AcademyGiphy

Rich In Stem

"When I donated bone marrow (stem cells) I had 6 times the normal amount."

"They ran the tests 3 times to confirm."

- Kharn0

"You got more stem than a sunflower"

- mechy84

"So, you're like a potent human being?"

- Cold-Account

"Damn, leave some stems cells for the rest of us."

- YellowCarNoHitBacks

"You’re probably Force-sensitive and should seek a mentor from the Jedi Council."

- AngularChelitis

​Literal Flex

"I can flex some muscle in my neck and make myself look like a croaking frog. It scares kids"

- glossyballs69

"Upvoted for scaring kids"

- cephalicrush

"flex within a flex"

- Far-Classic-4637

"My 14 year old son does that to annoy me. Haha"

- jn29

Inflate Pbs Nature GIF by Nature on PBSGiphy

Flick Some Cents

"I’m so good at flicking pennies (P E N N I E S) that I can flick them into peoples pockets without them knowing."

- Kitsune_sits

"Dude one of my friends is a phenom at flicking pennies. We worked together 18 years ago at my first professional job. He was the underachiever of underachievers, super capable guy but he was purposefully lazy and pretended to be incompetent so nobody would ask him to do anything."

"One day I caught him flicking pennies across the facility, hitting random people in the head from afar just to cause a stir. He could do it so stealthily that nobody else could tell where they were coming from, but I caught him. I wasn't technically in management at the time, but I was the designated engineer for that department, so I had to talk to him about it. For months leading up to me catching him, we had an ongoing phenomenon of "magic pennies" appearing randomly around the facility. Everywhere you looked, there was a random penny. Friggin' everywhere. This was a high tech facility in the medical field, so random pennies laying around isn't a good look... Management was getting aggravated by it."

"Hey, that's a neat trick... How long you been doing it?"

" 'A long time' *Big Smile*"

"As a friend, I have to ask you to stop."

"Ok, ok, but I have one penny left and it's going to be a one in a million shot."

"Damnit... You need to promise it'll stop. The flicking and the random pennies everywhere, I don't want you getting fired over it and there's a lot of eyebrows getting raised right now."

"He flicked that penny through the air right as one of the warehouse guys was driving through on a tugger (it's like half golf cart, half fork truck). The penny popped the driver right above the ear with an audible WHACK. The driver jerked, turning the tugger and crashing it into three large material hoppers and busting a water line off the side of a machine. This caused 4 production lines to get halted and maintenance called in for about 4 hours of downtime."

"I wrestled with it but ultimately said nothing. The warehouse guy said a wasp must have got him and he did not get in trouble at all. My friend stopped flicking pennies after that."

"Sorry for the long story, I type super fast and it gets away from me at times..."

- crapgarbage

wwe congrats GIFGiphy

Double Flex

"In the 4th grade I won one if my countries biggest math competitions. I can also lick my elbow"

- FriendshipSad1623

"The duality of man"

- arkesko

"Congrats!!"

- itzhumanbean

"Not gonna lie I'm more impressed with the elbow licking. Like how the fuck? Do you have a really long tongue or weird ass ligaments or something?"

- Puluzu

"I’m more impressed by that too."

- SparklyRoniPony

"I actually tried. Could not lick my elbow. Impressive."

- L00k_Again

The Flex We Need

"I’m a marine biologist and my research has been used in the conservation of both sea turtles and whales."

- Myctophid

"That’s the nicest flex on this thread, solely because I have been obsessed with whales ever since I was born. I love talking to marine biologists and expanding my knowledge as well as knowing what I can do to keep whales safe and happy! Thank you for your work!"

- PoutineMaker

"I’m happy that I get to do this work. It’s not all unicorns and rainbows, but it’s pretty cool."

- Myctophid

"real life super hero! keep up the good work"

- christophersbooks

High Five Bro GIFGiphy

Kicking Some Serious Behind

"I kicked cancer’s ass"

- Quiet_Goat8086

"Now that's a flex that everyone is happy about"

- Narrow_Active5934

"So proud of you!💪 hope i can achieve this as well soon"

- nellako

"F*cking fair play mate, as we would say in my part of the world."

"well done mate."

- Quickbrownfoxjumper

"Lesssgooo"

- Lowgwano

"Long live you! 👑"

- param_T_extends_THOT

Hard Flex

"Throwaway here, I come from former meth addicts. I say "former" because my dad hasn't been using while in prison and my mother is disabled with a heart condition."

"I got a full tuition ride in undergrad, and I'm starting grad school @ Tufts this fall :)"

"Edit: Thank you all so much for your kindness! You guys made me cry. My acceptance was after some time working in human welfare, and being selected to assist in the creation of U.S. policy regarding health initiatives with the feds. I wish I could tell you all more, but I can't be too specific."

"But really, thank you. I'm doing the best I can with what I have, and I'm grateful for all the support. :)"

- Prize_Camp985

"Wow, well done! Just from an internet stranger to another, I felt proud of you while reading this comment and I'm genuinely excited for your future."

- moonlighttravel

"That’s awesome! you’ll enjoy Tufts, it’s a great school and fairly fun location."

- gregrainman314

"That’s where I go! Incredible school, great community, you’ll love it!"

- chartman21

Teacher Flex

"Going into my 17th year teaching high school physics."

"I would bet money that 75% of all students I've taught would put me in their top 3 favorite teachers of all time."

- cesarjulius

"What is it about physics teachers? They were always the coolest, in grade-school and in college..."

"My physics teacher in high school used to play Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and stuff from Dr Demento while we were taking tests. He'd randomly quiz us on song names and lyrics for bonus points."

- crapgarbage

"We had an amazing physics teacher who is a legend, such a hard working dude, used to be very patient with us. After two years of teaching our class, we gifted him an Armani watch which costed like 2400$."

- praneshwar

"Did you bring in your collection of electric guitars, dismantled and have us reassemble the pickups while you lectured about electromagnetism and how strumming induced current?"

"That was an amazing day, thank you Mr. Holzwarth!"

- ThinkIGotHacked

"Thank you for your hardwork!!"

- itzhumanbean

Dab Reaction GIF by NETFLIXGiphy

Feeling more inspired to jump in on the participation trophy tsunami? C'mon. You know you want to.

Can you play a dope rendition of Stairway to Heaven on a kazoo? Did you save the day by finding the stray red sock in the load of whites BEFORE you started the wash? What about the time you managed to get all your bra hooks into their holes behind your back on the first try without fidgeting?

Flex your flexiest flex, fam.

People Who Actually Died And Were Revived Share Their Experiences

"Reddit user AlaskaStiletto asked: 'Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?'"

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.

In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.

He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.

The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.

This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.

Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:

"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"

The King Of Pop

"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."

"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."

– -WigglyLine-

"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."

"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."

"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."

– given2fly_

The Truth Comes Out

"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."

"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."

– guyfromsoccer

Video Evidence

"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."

"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."

– Frozenthickness

"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."

– PattiAllen

The Movie Business

"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."

"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."

OldMastodon5363

"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."

CMV_Viremia

Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids

"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."

"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."

– Spledidlife

Yes, It's True

"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."

"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."

"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."

– latflickr

How The Mighty Fell

"John Edward’s love child."

– ACam574

"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."

– Fanclock314

Ugh...

"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."

– everylastlight

It Actually Happened

"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."

– Known-Committee8679

"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."

– Paganigsegg

Big Actor, Small Roles

"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."

– KampferMann

"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."

– CardinalCreepia

What To Do Next?

"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."

"Turned out to be absolutely true."

– homarjr

That last one was kind of obvious!

Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.