Top Stories

People Break Down The Most Unexplainable Thing They've Ever Experienced

Life is full of little moments of WTF. We have them daily - finding a lost something in a place you know you checked a bunch of times before, that awareness that you've done this before, thinking an intense thought and having the person next to you respond to it as if you spoke it aloud.


I like to call them "mundane mysteries" - the stuff that probably has an explanation, isn't anything too unusual like being abducted by aliens or sharing a McShake with Bigfoot because the ice cream machine was actually working.

One Reddit user asked:

What's something unexplainable that you've experienced?

And yeah ... mundane mysteries, fam. Just because there weren't any aliens, cryptids, or a working ice cream machine involved doesn't mke these moments any less mysterious.

Keep your eyes peeled for one where Reddit users suggested a potential explanation - I'm honestly not sure if the idea that all that could be caused by something so simple makes it better or worse.


Tap, Tap, Tap

I was stopped for the night at a truck stop in the desert, 60 miles east of El Paso,TX. This truck stop only has lights around the store and fuel pumps, the truck parking area is only lit by any headlights that are left on. I get to bed at about 2200 thinking it'll be a nice quiet night.

At around 0230 I wake up to a tapping on my truck like someone was trying to wake me up. I ignore it and try to go back to sleep, but the tapping gets louder and louder and eventually turns into the sound similar to someone beating their hand on my door and cab.

I get out of bed and open the curtains to the side I heard the sound coming from and there was nothing there. I open the curtains on the other side, and nothing there either. There was no trucks on either side of me. So I throw my shoes on, grab my machete and flashlight and go outside to see what the hell was going on.


There was nothing, no foot prints, no paw prints, absolutely nothing there.

I get back in my truck and turn on my side markers, so I'm somewhat illuminated. Close the doors, lock them, and run my seat belts through the door handle and buckle them in, to add essentially another lock to both doors.

I go back to bed, and wake up at 0630. The sun is starting to come out, so I go inside for some coffee, and breakfast before heading out. Other truck drivers were in there, and experienced the same thing i did that night. With no answers as to what it was, I finish my breakfast and nope the f*ck outta there.

Sh*t gets crazy at night in the desert.

- Bearded_Trucker

Black Cat

When I was around 9 years old I found two plush toys that looked like black cats. They were 2nd hand and were the only two in the shop. I am a cat freak and adored them. But so did my younger siblings (twins).

My mum just gave them to my siblings, and told me to stop whining. I was livid. I had bought them for my self with change I had busked for. So unfair. Then, out of nowhere a third cat appeared. Exact match.

My and my older sister even went back to the shop and the owner just thought we were crazy. There definitely never was a third cat.

To this day, I have no idea how that happened.

My mum isn't the thoughtful kind and she kind of always acted like a d!ck when I was upset, so I am 100% sure she didn't try and get one for me to cheer me up or whatever.

I just think that some guardian angel got me the cat. Or well, I want to believe :)

- ovviocontousaegetta

The Uniform Policy

engaged brown sugar GIFGiphy

A few weeks before my grandad died in April, I started wearing 2 rings I had inherited from a family member on a chain around my neck. I've had them for years and always wear them when I feel like I need a bit of luck or support. Makes me feel as if someone is looking out for me even though I don't really believe in the afterlife or the supernatural.

I knew he was sick so I'd not long started wearing them again, only I'd had to put them on a chain this time because the uniform policy in work meant I couldn't wear them as I usually did on my finger. The clasp on the chain can be quite stiff to open, so I'd just throw it over my head with the rings attached because it's long enough to not have to open, so the rings and the chain had been together for a few weeks at this point without me ever opening the clasp, because there was no need.

So I was in work with another colleague about 2 feet away from me. I had the rings tucked well down my shirt (hanging right around heart level), my uniform zipped up over them, a plastic apron and my gloves on (I'm a nurse). I was busy doing something so my hands weren't anywhere near the rings, and I wasn't even thinking about them. There wasn't any way I could've touched them or got them caught on anything.

Then I felt something cold touch my stomach and the next thing I knew one of the rings had dropped onto the floor. I was confused at how it'd happened and thought maybe the chain had broken (even though it's quite sturdy) and didn't want to lose it, so I took my apron and gloves off and pulled the chain out of my shirt.

The chain was intact and still clasped tightly together. And the other ring was still on it. So somehow, one ring had come cleanly off the chain without the other one falling off, and with the chain still clasped together.

My colleague was just staring at me like WTF, and I'm not really a believer in the supernatural, like I said, so I just cracked a joke saying "I hope that wasn't a sign or someone trying to tell me something!" and laughed it off.

Not 5 mins later I got the call to say my grandad had deteriorated and I needed to come home. I left work that day to care for him and 2 weeks later he died.

I know there's got to be an explanation for it, but part of me doesn't want to know it because the mystery makes me feel like maybe I was actually being looked out for.

I wear the rings on my finger now because I can't shake the feeling that there was something more to that little mystery than the logical side of my brain wants to believe. And f*ck the uniform policy. If anyone calls me out on it I'll tell them a ghost told me to wear them.

- surelyunimportant

The Rattlesnake Prophecy

I was 9 years old and I had a dream that I got home from a friends house, and as I opened the side door, out of the corner of my eye I see a grey rat scamper along the side of my house. Dream me stands there a second just watching it. Then I look down and a rattlesnake was right next to my leg.

Of course I panic and step back, but the snake strikes and bites my leg. I scream and roll around and my leg BURNS, even in the dream it burned. My father comes out and sees me on the ground and I tell him I was bit by a rattlesnake. He rushes me to the hospital.

Time gets real malleable. I don't remember traveling to the hospital or checking in, but I end up on a bed and very distinctly remember getting a couple doses of anti-venom but it is too late. I die, and I see my mother crying while holding my hand. I watch for a few minutes, then I wake up.

Weird nightmare, right? But nothing to freak about.

So I go about my day, play with my friends, and whatnot. When I was walking home that evening, I just randomly though about my dream, so I stopped a bit away from the door and actually looked around where the snake was in the dream.

Motherf*cker was EXACTLY where I dreamt he was and basically staring at me! It never does rattle. Then a f*cking rat goes darting down the side of my house, just like in the dream. I change course and go to the front door instead. I tell my dad about the snake, he goes out and kills it with a shovel.

I haven't had another dream THAT vivid of the future since. Sh!t still freaks me out though.

- damdingashrubbery

McBicycle In The Sky

One time me, my brother and mom were in a McDonalds drive thru getting McFlurrys, and my brother pointed to the sky through the car windshield.

There was a bike in the sky with a man just riding on it, it had balloons floating above it like in Up. All three of us saw it, it wasn't imaginary, although my brother forgot this happened (he was pretty young at the time), me and my mom have not forgot.

- TheChemicalSophie

Bill

When I was 9 or 10, we had a big family reunion at my great aunt's big Victorian house that her family grew up in, which she inherited. I got bored though because there weren't other kids there my age, so I went exploring through the house and found a check writing machine in the upstairs office or library kind of room. I remember the machine was black and gold and had lots of little levers where you'd select the individual numbers then pull down on another lever to stamp the check. I'd put in pieces of paper that were on the desk and look at the numbers stamped on it.

I was playing with that when I very clearly heard another kid in the hallway say "you're not supposed to play with guns, Bill."


My name wasn't Bill, and I wasn't playing with guns. I remember saying "I'm not." Then some moments passed and I got curious about another kid maybe my age being there, so I hopped up and looked into the hallway to find him, but there was nobody there. And nobody around my age downstairs or outside where everybody else was either. I figured at the time it was maybe some neighbor kid who ran out.

I didn't really think about it again until I was 18 or 19 and my mother told me her father (Grandpa Bill, my great aunt's brother who grew up there too) had accidentally shot his friend in that house when he was a kid, when playing with his father's pistol. Then when I was in my 40's, I was driving my great Aunt somewhere (now in her 90's), and I asked where in the house Bill had that accident, and she said in that upstairs office.

I'm not religious, but that just seems too specific. Maybe it's a wild coincidence. I still can't explain it all these years later, and it's the only thing that keeps bugging me in my life.

- kabekew

She Has My Face

I was on public transit one time, and saw someone that was just about the same height as me and looked to have my body type. I just shrugged it off in the moment. As a taller girl with a slightly bigger frame, it's not that rare.

The only seat available was the one directly across from her, so I sat down and put my headphones in. I tend to people watch while I ride to school, so I started to do exactly that. I took a closer look at the girl in front of me, same shade, cut and color hair.

Huh. Weird.

Her head is down so I can't see her face, but when the bell dings to tell that it's the next stop, she looks up. Oh. My. Lord. She has my face!

She looks up at me and blinks twice. Same color eyes. I have very odd eyes, so brown they look black. Her eyes are so brown they look black. She stands up and walks off the bus. I turn to see her go, sure my eyes are playing tricks on me.

Aaand she's gone. it's like she walked off the bus and just fell into a worm hole. I look at the spot we stopped. No girl there. I was creeped out for the entire week.

- Not_your_Average_Rat

Swearing Is A Sin

old lady wtf GIFGiphy

My grandmother was a deeply religious person. Catholic, so she had the fear of God in her. She was nearing the end of her life and was terrified of going to hell. So terrified, she'd have fits of anxiety where she'd cry and pray and shake. I told her of course she'd make it to heaven, God loves her (I'm not religious at all and absolutely abhor the Catholic faith, but for her sake I thought the sentiment would be nice).

She refused to believe me.

But I remembered my mom telling me about a story where this dying woman who told her son she would send him a sign in the form of phrase when she made it to heaven. And when she died, the son eventually got the sign. So I made a deal with grandma: when she made it to heaven, she would send me a sign with the phrase "hot damn, she was right!" Of course she absolutely refused, saying "I can't swear! Swearing is a sin!"

Well, grandma died. I don't know if she ever became less terrified, or if she found peace in her final moments, but she left many heavy hearts behind.

Weeks later, I was walking into a restaurant, and on the door there was a promotional ad for something unsubstantial, and it read "hot darn, she was right!"

- KitKatPattyWhacks

I'm Not Checking

Recently, I was on the couch watching something and I heard a crash from my washer and dryer room. My cat also shot up and looked in the direction of the door. It sounded like a broom fell over, or maybe one of the plastic tubs. Freaked me out as I already don't really like that room in the first place, plus it was very late at night and I live alone. Also because of the pull string door that leads to the creepy ass attic.

Decided I was not going to be like every idiot in a horror movie and investigate what the noise was. I literally sat there on my couch for hours.

The next day, I decided I had enough courage to take a peak and literally saw nothing touched. Both brooms were still propped up against the wall. All the plastic tubs were sitting perfectly. I have no idea what that noise was and I don't really care to find out.

- LoopZoop2

Joshua

As a kid, I had an imaginary friend who I would play with a lot. I had few "real" friends but I was also more of an outcast in daycare and kindergarten so sometimes, that imaginary friend was all I had.

My mother said I'd always describe him as very similar looking. When I was around pre-school age, my mother said we needed to talk about my friend and I said that I'm fine with keeping Joshua around because I was scared of starting school alone.

Her face just froze in shock and she never brought it up again. I didn't realize why until my grandma explained years later that I had a twin brother who didn't make it and my parents were planning on naming him Joshua.

The only logical explanation I have is that I picked it up when I was very little but my grandma said that my parents literally never talked about it because they didn't cope well with the loss at all. It's still very strange.

- CichaelMlifford

Say Thank You

About 9 years ago, I was searching our file cabinet for a document I needed. I had piles of papers all over the bed, searched for an hour, meticulously. Could not find it.

Suddenly, the tv across the room (which is NOT on) makes a clicking noise. I stop what I'm doing, look up and over at the tv. I see nothing out of the ordinary, so I turn back to the pile of papers....and the document I had been searching for is right on top, like it was placed there.

I looked up, said thank you, and put away the papers I didn't need.

- MyLifeIsAZoo14895

The Bathroom Was Breathing

When I was 10-ish my mother, sister and I moved into an apartment. Two bed two bath, but from the start I couldn't handle using the bathroom in the room my sister and I shared. Something just felt wrong in there, like the bathroom was breathing and I was being watched, so I used my mom's. Eventually my sister refused to sleep in our room at all and moved her mattress into the living room.

I got sick a lot during the year we lived there. At night I sometimes woke to the sound of footsteps approaching my bed from the bathroom, and when I would sit up to look the sound always stopped. I begged my sister and her friends to keep the bathroom door closed after coming in to use it, but they'd often forget and I'd wake late at night to a black hole of an open door and that breathing sensation.

Eventually my sister's boyfriend, who often spent the night, told her he sometimes saw shadows looming over my bed at night. My religious grandma visited once, stepped into my room and started speaking tongues. I don't know, it all sounds superstitious and hoaky, but that place messed with me until we moved.

- tillywhacks

Speaking in tongues aside, this sounds like carbon monoxide poisoning.

- brunchwithpoodles

Or mold. That sh*t can be psychoactive. Breathing in mold to the point of hallucinating takes time, like sleeping in a room next to mold.

- aneggshellwhite

100% there was a carbon monoxide/gas leak/mold issue in that room.

- sylverbound

This has some information about what mold can do. Nothing about hallucinations or tongues.. But this source says it can make you hallucinate. Given the bathroom was the creepy room, water damage would be more likely, therefore mold growth isn't out of the question.

- mute-owl

Psst

I stay up late at night very often..usually I just chill, draw and listen to music, etc.

One night I decided to do dishes to make cleaning up eaiser for mum and halfway through, somebody whispered "PSSST!!" in my ear.

I felt my hair fcking move when it happened. I noped out of the kitchen and wouldn't go in it by myself for along time.

- GhostmaneBlackmage

Haunted Housekeeping

I was 12 got into a fight with my mom and her, my sister and my grandmother all left for the store. The living room was a mess and my mom said if I didn't clean it by the time she got back I was getting punished.

Being stubborn I waited until I heard the front door close and left my room to watch TV. No one else was in the house besides me and I wasn't going to clean. I got bored and locked myself back in my room.

I can hear dishes clanking together and or falling onto each other in the drying rack. I heard the front door unlock and was terrified of the beating I was about to receive but my mom came in knocked on my door and gave me a hug and thanked me for cleaning up. I never did I don't know who did.

We had a 3 bedroom apartment everyone who was there left with my mom leaving me completely alone. I don't know who cleaned up, but they saved me from a beating!

- 11220611

Ghost Spiders

I have a friend who is a witch and psychic, the real deal. Not a lot of 'power' but what is there is legitimate and I've seen a few things from her. I'm an agnostic of the supernatural but it's usually something fun to witness. Not this time.

We're having dinner at a little hole in the wall restaurant next to a hospice charity drop off center. In the middle of our conversation something grabs her shoulder HARD, pulls her sideways in the booth. She turns white, gets this big fake smile on over her poorly masked freak out.

I'm like WTF was that?

She says they really want to be acknowledged and they know she knows they're there.

I know she's seen stuff before, but was always excited by the experience. Not this time.

I asked "Did you know about the hospice shop next door?"

She's says we need to leave. Now.

I look at her shoulder and finger-shaped welts are rising up like if someone strong grabbed her. I saw it happen and there was nothing that could have done that. We noped the fck outta there like there were ghost spiders.

- JaneAustenKicksAss

McLight Show

While driving home from McDonald's at 2 am with my girlfriend, we were driving down the freeway when I experienced a blinding green light. We weren't near any light sources or near any homes if it was some kind of laser pointer.. we both freaked out in the car.

Later, my girlfriend told me that to her it wasn't a blinding green laser light at all. She saw a giant blue light slowly floating through the car.

- cup_of_diabetes

The Headphones

When I first started playing video games my mom bought my a used turtle beach headset for me. When I used it I heard this guy talking like he was in a war or something. I can't quite explain it but I have no clue why i was able to hear this guy and it was really scary considering I was only like 8.

- albinodj

A Connection With Death

My mother, brother and I all lives with my very elderly, late stage dementia grandpa. My mom was his caretaker and was certified etc. But when my grandfather died, it was just me and my mom that still lived with him.

I distinctly remember waking up at like 4:30-5am randomly, something I very rarely do. I also felt weird, and felt sad. But I felt like a force leading my eyes towards the window. It felt familiar, like it was my grandpa. But I shrugged it off and went back to bed. I woke up a few hours later for school and my mom came in my room and closed my door and told me that my grandfather had died that morning at the same time I had woken up.

My grandpa who loved us all, but was very old school let me know he was leaving when he died, but also put me back to sleep so I didn't have to deal with his passing in the moment.

Apparently, the ambulance, my uncle, and mom were all there through the night, my mom and uncle grieving and my grandfather made sure I didn't see.

I was in highschool at the time. I've never been able to explain it. Its almost like I have a weird connection with death. A similar experience with my dad's passing happened just a couple years later.

I visited my dad with my cousin, she wanted to come with her because my dad had been dealing with his shortcomings poorly, drinking himself into a stupor more often then not doing so. I visit him, I tell him that after my first year of college I was gonna come back and visit him and that I wanted him to be there when I did. However I knew he was going to die. So when I left his house I texted my brother and told him exactly this

"Hey, I don't think dad is gonna be around much longer, come visit him."

Which is out of character for me. My brother visited him that next morning, also out of character for him, and found him dead in his living room. He had died the previous night. Not more than a few hours after I left his house.

Plus he texted my other brother who was a few hours away at the time and told him and he left immediately to come home and my mom told me that something was wrong with my dad and I knew he had died.

- lawlermon

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

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.