One time, when I was living in New York, at 3 AM, after a night of dancing and revelry, I, and fifty other people were waiting on the "A" train. it had been a solid half hour of frayed patience. And no train had come along. We had all been holding in silence or hushed tones so everyone was annoyed but calm. When suddenly two people who seemed a little mentally "off-kilter" began to joust. At first it was just alarming, but subtle, then one pushed the other to the tracks. Everyone screamed. I fainted, because I'm useless in an emergency. Everyone lived, but I still have nightmares as that is one of my biggest fears.
Redditor u/instantaniouspickle wanted to see who needed to discuss the things their eyes can't unsee by asking... What is something you witnessed that you will never forget?It's inevitable. In life, we are all going to see things that will leave an impression on us; good and bad. We will see these images in our sleep, in our waking moments, and in our imagination. We can't run from them, we have to learn to adjust and live with them. But that doesn't mean we can't wish we could undo having to have seen them. The people who responded to this thread understand.
the 360...
total eclipse GIF by HuffPostGiphyPositive note: I watched the solar eclipse from a mountaintop with a 360 degree view. pictures don't do it justice.
I saw the shadow coming over the ridges towards me for a moment, incredibly fast, blacking them out. Then the light just goes out and the temperature instantly drops. You look around and you can see the sunlight, in the distance in every direction, but not on you. And you actually understand fully that you're standing in the shadow of the moon, pure white sunlight shining around it. Then it's over, and you see the light disappearing over the ridges again.
Guilty
I saw someone try to rob a Blockbuster Video and the guy behind the counter beat him unconscious with a metal little league bat.
The Place I Live
I was a born and bred city kid who got the idea one summer that it would be great to move into the forest and be a trail worker. This went about as you'd expect, but it was definitely full of eye-opening experiences.
One night, the crew decided to hike (after a full day of work) up a local mountain to have dinner on the top, for "fun."
As we were up there, night fell, and we laid on our backs to look at the clear sky. For the first time, I saw the Milky Way, so many stars, and the actual dome of the sky. I was so shocked I interjected, "it looks just like the planetarium!" It was a long time before I lived that one down, but it was a genuine thrill of my life.
Spread the Gloss
While people watching, saw a guy casually apply chapstick to his lips, then his eyebrows.
Under the Sea
the little mermaid sebastian GIF by DisneyGiphyHere's a non-traumatic one! It was the first time I went snorkeling!
It was a little gloomy out, the sun was shining through some clouds a little bit, but the surface of the water was like a dull dark blue and so I wasn't expecting anything great, but when I put my head under the water, I was instantly hit with the most magical experience of my life. Hundreds and hundreds of fish swimming at me, the sparkle of the mica in the water, the rays of light shining through the water, the deep deep ocean below me, even the forests of kelp looked so beautiful.
At the same time there was a light twinkling sound, it may have been the sound of chains underwater, but it made it feel extra magical. I've seen some stuff in my life, but I remember thinking in that moment, everything that I've ever been through has been worth it up to this point. It sounds super corny, but there's just so much beauty in this world.
Can you imagine having to live through half of that? Now there are plenty of extraordinary things to witness in life, but they always seem to be far and few in between. It feels like the darkest things always resonate longer. I have a friend who has witnessed both of his children's births and as much as he relives them, he is more haunted by the murder of his mother, by his father. Both extraordinary, but one leaves a deeper mark.
The Center Line
I was nine. My dad was driving me to karate and we were following a drunk driver. He was about to call 911 from his car phone (yes mid to late nineties) when this person crossed the center line, hit a car that went down an embankment and the drunk driver flew out of the passenger window. I still remember the sound of the impact and the guy flying out of the window. The car he hit was my friend's mom and she died.
Disaster
Air show disaster at the Ramstein airforce base in '88. Hard to forget being knocked to the ground by a severed human foot. Was a lot for my young brain to process.
The Screams
My ex husband and I were on vacation and saw a huge 18-wheeler plow into the SUV in front of them at a red light.
We were right across the road, but stopped at the light and we were the second car. We saw the whole thing. Then all traffic was at a standstill. No one could go anywhere.
The woman was screaming and screaming as they worked to get her out of the SUV. All four of her young children died, as well as her husband. She was fully aware that her entire family was gone. She kept screaming their names. :-(
That still haunts me to this day. It happened back in the mid 90's.
Silence
The complete, eerie quiet of NYC on September 12th, 2001.
The weather was perfect, about 70ºF and clear skies with lots of sun. Stores were closed, people weren't working, there were no airplanes, very little subway service (if any), very little traffic, many peoples' cell phones didn't work and we were told not to use them anyway. The hum of transportation, cell phone chatter, and commerce was gone.
It was just a lot of people walking outside, especially in the parks, making eye-contact and nodding to each other with a sad smile as we passed.
Trauma
This is a pretty traumatic one, but I witnessed my mother's murder. I will never forget the dark silhouette of a man and the bright flashes of each gunshot that hit me. One of the bullets shattered my elbow and I vividly remember my arm swung the wrong way.
I have more details I remember but I think I've shared enough graphic detail from that night.
Life is always going to throw hardship at us with both barrels. That's all part of the "living with it" truth. Living with it can be cumbersome. So share, share what you've got, the good, the bad, the indifferent. You'll never be able to not see it, so it's better to make peace with being a witness.
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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.