Taking chances is hard, especially if you don't guarantee the outcome. Fear of the unknown can cause you to hesitate. Sometimes, though, it can pay off big time. Hearing about others success stories can be all the motivation you need.
Reddit user, u/Mckaos, wanted to know about those times when risk matched the reward when they asked:
What is your biggest/most recent "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" moment?
It Could Lead To Your Future Career
GiphyTwo years ago, I applied to a super competitive master's program. I didn't have the grades or anything, but took a chance. Ended up getting in after being placed in the waitlist. I graduated and I'm now preparing for my boards... anything is possible
Spousal Support For The Win!
GiphyMy biggest (not most recent) was when I got rejected from the nursing program at my local university. Wasn't good enough for nursing, which is very competitive to get into, but they offered me a spot in the faculty of science. I was going to decline.
My husband encouraged me to use the opportunity to work towards my lifelong dream. So we scrounged up the deposit to secure my spot and despite having a couple of very young kids at home, I threw myself into full time studies and earned really good grades from the get-go.
This spring I graduated from medical school and am currently having an absolute blast in residency.
Wasn't good enough for nursing, but I'm a pretty decent doctor so far. :)
You Won't Know Until You Ask
GiphyWorked up the guts to let my employer know I need more time off work to take care of a family member. I'm really non confrontational so I was really worried about it.
Currently watching baseball with my dad at home
A Shot To Start It All
GiphyMy biggest was when I saw this cute girl at a resort bar in the Florida Keys, I wedged myself in next to her to order a drink and started a conversation.
We're married 26 years as of earlier this month.
Any more recent shots pale in comparison.
The Secret? Banana Bed
GiphyThere was this girl that I kind of fancied for a while from high school (A few years ago), and then one day just decided to talk to her and whatnot; got into a great rolling conversation that lasted days, and I did end up bragging about my Banana Bread. That lead to her wanting to come over to see if it was that good, and we just hit it off even better in person and she liked my Banana Bread and we've been dating for almost 9 months now.
When Probability Is On Your Side...
GiphyOn a school trip to the local community college for their "Business Leadership" day, I signed up for every single test (they had prizes) and ended up winning a full-ride scholarship despite only having 1/2 a year of Accounting I under my belt.
Sometimes, A Cold Call Can Pay Off
Cold contacting a company to see if they had a position available.
They couldnt offer a long term position but the few months I worked there on a short term project gave me enough money to get back on my feet.
Also my unemployment came through after that (where I live it's apparently okay to work temp or part time while waiting for the first payment)
Now i'm financially in a position to take many more shots to improve my life further.
Sometimes, You Just Need To Sit Down
GiphyDuring my 2L year of law school I went to a lunch meeting in a classroom with probably 120 seats available and only 10 occupied. There was a really beautiful brunette sitting in the very back row alone. While it would have potentially seemed really weird to sit right next to her I decided to give it a shot in the off-chance she might end up interested in me. We started talking, introduced each other, and ended up grabbing lunch. Two years later I'm looking at engagement rings for that same beautiful brunette.
Reach Out To People
GiphyCalled an old buddy of mine in LA about a job, unhappy with where I currently am. Ask and you shall receive, I suppose. I am moving 3,000 miles away for an excellent job with an excellent company.
A Life-Changing PowerPoint
Not recent, but my best case of taking a shot. When I was in 6th grade I was a chubby little need that wore Marvin the marcian shirts. My first day at my new school I saw this cute emo girl but was too scared to talk to her. One day in the computer class I had with her we got an assignment to make a PowerPoint on sh-t we like, pretty much telling everyone about you. I was scared to talk to her so I just put some metal music my brother showed me in my PowerPoint. It worked though, she came over and started talking to me about the music. We've been best friends for 6 years now, even through all our moves we still text a lot, not as often as we used too, but that's to be expected considering we have a lot more responsibilities now.
[usernamedeleted]
Successful Slide In The DMs
GiphyFound an old crush from middle school on IG months ago. Always thought she was out of my league, I hit her with a smooth DM and now shes my gf =)
Inked By The Great
I really wanted a tattoo from a well-known tattoo artist in Copenhagen, but figured it would never happen in a million years. A friend told me to cut the sh-t. I reached out to the artist and it looks like I'll be tattooed by him in 2020 (my year choice, he's not booked that far yet).
All It Takes Is A Single Phone Call
GiphyLady came into my store and tells me she's the new bank manager in the area. We talk and I eventually reveal I also do real estate. She tells me she has three houses for sale for about 160k. I tell her I will drive by and look at them, they looked ok and I told her I could make an offer in six months or so when I had some money freed up. She comes in a week later with her phone in her hand saying she actually has a total of ten houses she's trying to sell. She thinks they are all in terrible condition, I do flips and can tell they need about 10k in cosmetic work. She just wants to get rid of them so she says she's about to send an email to a guy to sell them all for 250k total. I tell her I will buy them cash by the end of the week for that amount. I call my dad as I know he's on the market, he freaks out and gets some money together. He signs and purchases them by the end of the week, then surprises me by giving me a 10% stake as a finder's fee.
Now I get about $350 a month for making one phone call.
Starting On The Path To Better Ways
GiphyI guess I'm in the process of figuring out if the shot is worth it...
After a disheartening meeting with HR about my pay, I angrily went back up to my office and applied for school. I literally went to the local colleges website, pulled up its report on new grads, and picked something that looked promising. Applied because I realized I was never going to be properly financially rewarded working for a non profit in social services. The non profit I work for is generally good and while I was upset with the meeting, I realized no one else was going to pay me what I was worth.
The program I applied for was competitive and I didn't think I'd get in and if I did get in I probably wouldn't go... well sh-t, I got in. Even then I waffled on paying my deposit because I thought I'd never have the courage to quit my job and go back to school. Thought about it and figured I needed to take a shot. I'm not happy with my career and if I'm going to do this, now is the time.
Anyways I quit my underpaid job last week. I go back to school in the fall.
Defying Your Parents
I've loved drawing for pretty much all of my life, but was discouraged from pursuing it as a career due to my parents and other things. I went to college, became a programmer for a few years, and then realized that I wasn't very happy. Eventually, I quit my job and I'm now a freelance artist. I figured, why not, I'm young and I'm allowed to make mistakes. I'd rather think "Oh well, at least I tried!" if I failed than to wonder what my life could've been. After I told people about it, I was really surprised at the amount of support I got from my friends and from people online!
It's scary, but at least I have savings to stay afloat for a while and I'm a lot happier with my life now.
All It Takes Is A Ring Pop
GiphyMet the girl of my dreams while backpacking almost exactly 7 years ago. We were both broke and in college, not to mention from different companies. We spoke every night at the hostel and went for a midnight walk with each other almost every night. The day she's leaving we joke about how the only way we'd manage to end up together would be marriage - "you'd only need to get me a ring pop" she says.
A lot of Facebook messages, Skype calls, postcards and even the odd fight later, I finally bought that ring pop.
We are submitting our visa paperwork in 6 weeks and I'm preparing to move across the Atlantic.
Wearing Diapers Out Of Excitement
GiphyI was applying to one of the most if not the most prestigious college in my state which is know to be crazy expensive with little to no aid. I didn't want to even bother applying because even if I did get in no way in hell would I afford it without being neck deep in debt.
Not only did I get in but I got a scholarship so good to the point that I almost sh-t myself and called the school then and there to confirm that I am not dreaming and this is real.
Still can't believe I will be going there in 3 weeks.
A Father/Son Venture To Get Back Into It
GiphyFor the last few years me and my son have been planning our own business. He's 11 years old so it, naturally, is focused all around candy. Last March I was laid off and sent home with a few months severance. In that time we have finalized our business plan, obtained funding and on Wednesday we are meeting our landlord for the keys to our next store space. It's a dream all of us (wife, daughter, son and I) have had since he was in 1st grade, it's named after him and now we're going to do it. Nervous as all hell but we're taking a shot.
EDIT: A few people have asked so the name of our business is Sweet & Sawyer's Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe. Sawyer is my son and we're based in Fort Worth, Texas.
A Dream Wake Up Call
GiphyNot sure if this counts but here it is anyways. I was working a dead end job at a hotel front desk after getting out of the Navy where I was a diesel mechanic. I got a phone call from a head hunter. I have never had good luck with head hunters but I figured I would give it one more try. I had nothing to lose seeing as I already had a job so I said f-ck it and went along with the process. The job opening was literally my dream job but I figured that I had no shot at it. I went through three phone interviews and one in person interview. I had worked all night right before the in person interview so I went home and went to bed right afterwards. Two hours later I got a phone call offering me the job at a higher salary than I initially asked for.
I start tomorrow morning.
H/T: Reddit
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.
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.