Life is hard. That is a truth that will never not be valuable to acknowledge. I love life and being alive but I am not blind to the fact that life is riddled with strife and pain.
And pain comes in all shapes and sizes. Whether it be physical, mental or emotional, pain is inevitable. But pain is doable. We can learn to experience it, live with it, and most importantly grow from it.
They say without pain, how can we know joy? I hate that mantra too, but it holds some truth. It doesn't always make the pain survival worth it, but it can help. So let's discuss it.
Redditor u/Jergunglefinger wanted to hear from everyone who was willing to share some of their more uncomfortable life moments, by asking:
What is the most painful thing you have ever experienced?
The most physical pain I have ever had the misfortune of living through is all dental. I don't remember much, the dentist was merciful with the gas, thankfully. But I know the mouth holds a certain type of torture.
Hot Shot
Boiling Hot Water GIF by BrewDog
Giphy
"5 gallons boiling water being poured down my leg. Trying to hold my volume down while screaming. Got to ER and they shot me in the butt with something and it all went away."
- snoo-you
Broken
"Broken foot. Crap has tons of nerves. I had to walk home a block too. I passed out when I finally got through the door. Luckily someone was there to get me to a hospital."
"In high school, I was running a 2 mile race in track. My foot broke halfway through. I didn't realize it and finished. The pain blurred out all of the physical exertion."
Teen Angst
"I broke my ankle when I was a teen. Walked on it for a month because my parents were insistent I'd just sprained it. Nope. Bottom of my foot turned black from the pooling blood. I was a candy-striper volunteer at the local hospital and showed it to a doctor once. They told me I should see a (ortho) doctor about it. I couldn't do that until my parents took me. So I just stuck my white nursing shoes on and did my rounds."
Awake
"I got my thyroid removed, and because of a miscalculation, I got the anesthesia too early, causing me to wake up mid surgery. Fortunately, they noticed right away and put me back to sleep, but for what was couple seconds and felt like hours I was able to feel my whole neck completely open and them taking my thyroid out. It is up to this day the cause of many nightmares."
Full Force
Drumming Travis Barker GIF by blink-182
Giphy
"I was drumming really hard once and I missed the snare drum, and smacked myself in the testicles at full force. I switched to lighter drumsticks after that."
That is a whole lot of mess. I may have nightmares. And I'm glad I never played with drums. Also, life lesson... stay away from boiling water. What other horrors await?
Oh Hell No!
troll dentist GIF
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"My first dental abscess. It would actually knock me to the ground when the pain flared. Fun fact, I ended up removing the problem tooth with a pair of pliers and a bottle of gin."
Farewell...
"Watching my wife take her last breath, watching the machine they had her hooked to flat line. To this day it's the worse pain I have ever felt. She was 43 and I'm here without her. This pain will never heal, I see it in my daughter's eyes when she does something spectacular and her mother is not here."
- MPS007
Off the Ladder...
"This (NSFL) is my leg after a ladder slipped out from under me when I was 3m above some tiles. Foot went through the ladder, then I landed on it. Popped right off and didn't want to go back on. The worst of the pain was after they got it back on and put it in a cast but I had to wait overnight for surgery. During the night it swelled up too big for the cast and basically for a few of hours it felt like someone was slowly crushing my ankle in a vice."
"Not sudden, just slowly crushing it over hours. I was hyperventilating from pain and passing in and out of consciousness. Nurses finally took me seriously and called the surgeon who had them cut the cast off. Immediate indescribable relief better than anything I've ever experienced."
- cl3ft
A Few Things...
"Physical: Having kidney stones, and then the follow up and passing of tiny pieces from the extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL)."
"Emotional: Making the decision with my family to take my dad off life support and then saying goodbye and being there with him when he passed."
People Explain Which Conspiracy Theories They Believe Are 100% True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
The Fire
"My wife grew up with a best girlfriend. They were inseparable as young girls, teenagers throughout school, college, and continued into adulthood. Girlfriend got married, and had two children with her husband. I married into the situation, and we all became pretty much family. Their house caught fire while their kids were upstairs."
"Girlfriend went for the girl, husband went for the boy. He and the boy made it out. The pain of losing her and 10-year-old daughter was the worst thing in my life, and I can't even imagine how it is for my wife. They were going to be old ladies together."
Don't Jump
sister kiss GIF
Giphy
"Running through a housing estate at night, I didn't see the 10" high railings separating the grass patches from the concrete."
"I cleared the first without seeing it to run on the grass, two metres later I tripped and landed knee first on the paving, smashed my kneecap in three pieces. That was a long time without walking and it still hurts in the cold weather."
Holding Down
"Decades ago, I had something going on w/ my bladder, so I needed a scope, which goes straight down the urethra tube. This was back before they had flexible ones, and the scopes were quite rigid. I was sitting calmly on the table in the doctor's office for the procedure and two huge guys walked in the room. I nervously asked the doctor what was going on. He replied "they're going to hold you down". I was swearing at them through the whole ordeal."
- Mm_Donut
Fresh Circle of Hell
"I definitely don't recommend letting your gallbladder store its awful handicraft stones inside your liver. Gallbladder stone pain is bad enough, but having them essentially overflow to back up into my liver was a fresh circle of hell I wouldn't wish on anyone. I was euphoric upon awakening from the stent procedure to remove them; the relief was so overwhelming that I started crying when the GI doctor doing the stent came to my room for follow up."
The Tumor
"I had a tumor in my vagina that could only be described as "hammock" like. i was young and going through puberty with only my dad raising me, put in a tampon and it ripped one side off. before they removed it, they did an ultrasound, the kind where they basically shove an 8 inch scope inside of you. then to numb it they had to put a needle inside of it as well. i've been through childbirth and not even that compares to the pain that i went through with that damn tumor."
Ongoing Issues
"Ran over by a truck and dragged while cycling, hit and run. No initial pain, unconscious for 2 months. However, upon regaining consciousness, I was lvl 10 multiple times a day for the next 6 mos. Had a colostomy for 2 yrs, the pain from defecation was immense. The stoma became inflamed from constant exposure to stomach acids."
"The pain from daily stoma cleaning with antiseptic was indescribable. I heard of pouring salt on wound would apply I guess. Pain was so excruciating I think I may have passed out a few times. Luckily I'm whole again, if was a difficult 2.5 yrs."
- dal1999
30 Hours
Tom And Jerry Pain GIF by Boomerang Official
Giphy
"Worst physical pain I ever felt was a spinal blood patch after an epidural needle went too far. Worse than 30 hours of labor, worse than anything I've ever felt in my life."
Crippled Dreams
"Got shot in my stomach and leg. Stomach one wasn't that bad, went in the front and out my side, but my freaking leg man. The bullet hit the bone between your shin and foot, and got lodged in there. Literally hurts every day. Few years ago I moved across the country with literally no money or plan, and though the struggles made a whole new life for myself. I am currently in school and have a pretty home with 2 beautiful cats and a girlfriend who believes in me. Better late than never right."
She Snapped...
"Finding out my ex fiancé cheated on me and than hearing her literally say that all our promises and memories and all I had done for her didn't matter and she didn't give a sh*t about any of it. Giggled like the years of us being together was a joke and was nothing."
"This girl up until that point was all over me and acted like I was just the best thing in the world. I had never been so happy for years. And thae one day I just woke up and she just snapped. Like she just changed overnight and a cold unfeeling robot had took her place. What even is this life."
Lay back...
"Woke up during surgery. They were cutting into me and prepping to break my leg and reset it with screws and pins. I was about 4 and I'll never forget it. Woke up with all the medical staff hovering over me, telling me to "Lay back and go to sleep." To this day, I have a phobia of going under/surgery. Forget that."
Marlon Brando Movie GIF
Snap...
"Snapped all the tendons in my right foot they were pushed into the bone by a piece of glass nearly died three times on the operating table... dehydration, loss of body heat, then my heart stopped so they had to bring me back."
Emotional pain, I don't want to chat about. And this thread makes me want a drink. So that's the plan. Keep smiling and be careful out there.
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I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
Black Friday Nbc GIF by SuperstoreGiphy"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
sushi GIFGiphy"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
Janet Jackson Reaction GIFGiphy"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
Season 5 Friends Tv Show GIF by FriendsGiphy"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
Role Playing Reaction GIF by Hyper RPGGiphy"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
Happy GIFGiphy"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
Bored Episode 15 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
Circle Of Life Loop GIFGiphy"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
Nbc Im Done GIF by SuperstoreGiphy"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
customer service waiter GIFGiphy"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
Admit It Tell The Truth GIF by TV LandGiphy"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
move leading GIFGiphy"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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