We are not perfect. And that is ok. We have to embrace all that makes us unique; flaws are perfections through a different prism. We just have to learn to grow from our flaws. If our patterns are not serving us then we must severe the tie and start again. That is a task easier said than done though. Start slow. Day by day or minute by minute. Just try. But don't dwell on the setbacks. Shake it off.
Redditor u/jjapanackal wanted everyone to open up and discuss life by asking.... What is your, "heck, why am I like this" moment?
2020 en route....
Everytime I think about my life and the fact that I have just reached the halfway point.
Having absolutely nothing good or interesting happening in my life at all.
But 2020 is coming maybe if I work hard on it something will change. emile44
I thought everyone was like this!?
GiphyAwhile back i was talking about how sometimes you just need to cry for no reason. like if i haven't cried in awhile, when i take a shower, i'll purposefully cry because it's healthy. said that out loud once and the people i was talking to understood me, but the people who overheard clearly didn't. I thought everyone was like this!? areana_mann
Procrastinations....
When I have a 6 page essay due tomorrow morning, but I'm on reddit right now. It was a paper for my communications class, we needed to reflect on one of our relationships, and utilize a bunch of terms and theories from our textbook. kdane42
No one will know....
Whenever I sleep, I forget about everything and have to slowly remember everything over again during the first 2 hours every day. This is a secret I have never told anyone. I'm married and in my mid career. This has caused issues for many things in my life, as if there is something life threatening I may simply never remember after I fall asleep. If there is an important event I may just not sleep, or if I fall asleep at the event and wake up I have to make sure not to panic and focus on remembering the immediate important things first (like the presentation I have to give) then less immediately important things later. May sound crazy, but this is my daily life... no one would ever guess, nor will they ever know. Gods_Soldier_
In Polish....
Even though I'm Polish and I was born and raised here I'm terrible at Polish I always get crappy grades and I make a ton of grammar mistakes I even think in English because I can't formulate sentences in Polish. Im_homoshreksual
I get weird compulsions. ....
GiphyI get weird compulsions. A lot. When I got a GBA a few years ago, I kept telling myself to take out the cartridge while I was playing. I also frequently get a feeling of something being wrong, when everything is fine. Normally just before I'm about to go to bed. Not paranoia, but "something is wrong about my room and I need to fix it before I can sleep." I really hate it. Mega_Septile
Needs Met....
I have depression and I don't know how to tell my parents "I wanna go to therapy." My parents are gonna be mad, but, I'm gonna tell that today, Wanna hear what happened after? YamnaLR
Undie Search.
I just bought three new pair of underwear instead of doing laundry. Ffs, why am I like this? But to give myself credit I could have bought six pair for an extra dollar. zoltrinaforsure
Being Free...
GiphyWhen I accidentally hurt other people's feelings. This was when I was in middle school and I rarely go out and socialize due to strict house rules so I didn't know how to act right, but at least I learned from my mistakes and strive to be a better person now that I have more freedom. han563478
Find Courage....
25yo M who has been living with my boyfriend for a year and a half. I'm in a relationship with zero sexual or emotional intimacy. We've been together for over 2 years and have still yet to have sex, despite me telling him on multiple occasions how important it is to me. Several friends and family members have told me they see him as emotionally abusive.
My, "Why am I like this moment?" Even though I know I need to end things with him, I can never get up the courage. I'm a pushover and a people pleaser who hates hurting others, so splitting up with him seems unimaginable.
TL;DR Can't end a toxic relationship because I'm a cowardly pushover. AquaFlush789
Taking Forever.
GiphyDue tomorrow? Do tomorrow. Doesn't matter if it's a major project for work or a large portion of my grade. I will procrastinate everything, tell myself not to do this dumb crap again next week, do the same dumb crap. IssaDatBoiMura
Awkward.....
All the freaking time man. I overthink and overanalyze everything I do. And sometimes it helps me avoid mistakes at work so its not entirely a bad thing, but it usually screws me like when I'm hanging out with a girl and I overthink something I'm gonna say so there's just this weird silence. Awkward. JoblessJester
Past Receipts....
After 20, it's all been, "ohhhh, so this is why I'm messed up" when I look at my childhood and family. brand21new
Saaaaaame. I rarely talk about my childhood with my wife, but she'll ask me questions occasionally or tell me about hers and I'm all "ugh, wow yeah my life was not like that… maybe that's why I have [insert random insecurities and triggers]" somethingthatswitty
Keep Dreaming....
I know i have to do something, and all I do is imagine myself doing it while lying in my bed. mumu023
Same, I hate it, I've been wondering what's wrong with me for years. It's gotten to the point I wake up in the morning, shut off my alarm and immediately fall asleep. Then I start dreaming of me waking up, getting ready for school, getting on the bus and actually waking up at 1 pm sweating like hell. I don't even realize I'm dreaming. FrappyTex
Look Away....
GiphyEvery time we have a family get-together. I get all excited about food and seeing my family and then I get there and I'm just like "It's too peoplely here, too much eye contact, too many conversations going on all at once around me, too much, too much, too much, must go hide in the closet!!!!"
It's always so anticlimactic when I have to go hide in the closet. Or the bathroom, usually. No one bothers me there. Squirrelgirl25
Thanks Dad.
I have serious anxiety and trust issues, courtesy of my dad (thanks fool, now I take therapy because of you). I know I'm overthinking and worrying too much, but I just can't get some thoughts out of my head.
Whenever someone is, for example, only 5 minutes late, I start to think of that person being in horrific accidents in my head. Its stuck there until they arrive, or get a message saying they're late.
I can't trust people with a lot of stuff. I know this, as it hit me when someone pointed it out. They might have just said it as a side note, but it actually hit me hard. I have trouble entrusting people with doing anything, or trust they will keep their promises.
These two have lead me to have more of an isolated life, since its hard for me to get close to people. I still do have close friends and family, but they are few in number. Dongwook23
Sing Out.
I was at my therapist and we were talking about the process of learning how to be more open around people, in order to make it easier to form a connection, and i kept telling her the things i probably couldn't do in public due to my worthlessness and so on, and she kept contradicting those statements, such as "you told me like 5 minutes ago that you could in fact, sing karaoke" not an example sentence, this was a real thing ive done, and she did that about 5 more times to different examples i would give, till something sparked to realization in my mind, and i sorta said out loud "oh shit, i have done all this stuff.... why am i so hard on myself..." my therapists face lit up like she struck gold and said "that's a very good question huh?" Freddie30234
Dark Laughs.....
Directly after I tell a joke, because I've clearly forgotten that the people I'm with aren't into dark/morbid humor. ThisWasAValidName
Same problem, but the more weirded out they are the harder I laugh....
And I think it turns into a contagious laughter thing as they start laughing too....
Although there have been times where people don't laugh too and I'm left laughing alone hysterically which isn't healthy haha.... tulsehill
Hey Mary...
Had the spiciest Bloody Mary ever. I couldn't even finish it but when we went to the next bar, I just knew I had to throw up. Spicy vomit might be the worst. Then I went and drank beer and ate Chinese food. The next morning was rough. Reddit
Love Alone.
GiphyFalling head over heels in love with someone who is unavailable. Why am I like this? rebelliousturian
Same i am currently in love with a twitch streamer that lives halfway around the world from me. Its not even like i would know how to talk to her if she was close either. PM_me_porn_pls
Who else ponders their existence on the regular?
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.
