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People Divulge The 'Best Mistake' They've Ever Made In Their Life

two red pencils on lined paper
Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

Everything happens for a reason, right?

Even the worst things that happen to us make us the person we are today, and while it may suck at the time, ultimately it can lead to growth and happiness.

Here are some of Reddit's best mistakes.


Redditor S_aturn asked:

"What was the 'best mistake' you have ever made?"

Smooth move.

"Watching this guy painting a beach scene in a touristy area of my city."

'Nobody else was watching, I was just zoning out, it was relaxing."

"This girl walks up and I didn't even notice, and she goes 'wow that's beautiful'."

"Just a joke as reflex but I shot back 'you're beautiful'."

"I immediately realized what I'd done and I turned to this gorgeous girl and she was blushing."

"I think we were both speechless for a second."

"We flirted for a couple minutes but I was far too flustered from my f up to ask her out."

"Which makes no sense in hindsight but it was a great mistake."- TheHumanRavioli

Good Pupper.

"Getting my dog."

"I was a dumbass 19 year old who couldn't afford a dog nor did I get the type of dog for my lifestyle."

"I had to keep being better for her."

"We had a rocky journey, but now she's a spoiled ass boxer that goes to daycare and plays every day."- cherrywinetime

Giphy

Um....why is that a problem?

"Helping my last girlfriend's brother make some money by paying him to watch my cat."

"She flipped out and ended up breaking up with me over it."

"Turns out, my relationship was pretty toxic and I couldn't see it because I was so in love."

"Still recovering from the toxicity, but I can see it as a positive now and I'm really looking forward to 2020 because of it."- NewToThis-27

Buttf*ck nowhere is the best.

"I moved to buttf*ck nowhere to start a job."

"My mom kept saying it's a dead end, and that I really need to switch jobs every 3 years if I want to progress."

"It was a 5 hour drive through twisty winding roads to a place where nothing but sheep, cows, and turnips grow in a 100 mile radius."

"It was pretty dire, and I could only think that I was making the biggest mistake of my life."

"Well, turns out people in buttf*ck nowhere pay quite well to make sure you stay in buttf*ck nowhere."

"I've been getting a 5% bonus every year, around 2% pay increase every year to account for inflation, and an extra 5% pay rise every year for performance."

"Property prices are very cheap in buttf*ck nowhere."

"I met the love of my life in buttf*ck nowhere. It's quiet, peaceful, and crime is almost nonexistent."- GrammatonYHWH

Awwww.

"Deciding to take a paid internship."

"It was a total scam."

"I had to door knock on houses and then convince them to hire me to paint that house."

"My wife was working with the same company and we met at a Christmas party."- stuartstustewart

Giphy

Getting Banned Can Be The Greatest Blessing.

"I was sent to work in another office that didn't have their sh*t together."

"Apparently I made some mistakes and customers got pissed off and it got back to my boss."

"Fast forward 6 months and that office is still a sh*t-show, but I never had to go back because I'd been 'banned'."

" It was great."- Cyberhwk

Yum!

"When making a batch of oatmeal-raisin cookies, I mistakenly used "Craisins" instead of raisins."

"The cranberry flavor and texture turned out to be a big hit with everyone that tried the cookies."- Back2Bach

We love a good flight mishap.

"When booking airline flights on-line was newish, I booked a flight from New York to Detroit and a rental car at the airport."

"I meant to fly into Detroit Metropolitan Airport but booked to Detroit City Airport by mistake."

"The plane landed and they rolled up some stairs to the plane almost immediately."

"I walked fifty feet to the terminal building; waited a few minutes for my bag; walked thirty feet to the car rental counter; got my key; walked another fifty feet across the road to the car lot; got into the rental car and drove away."

"Ten minutes later I was passing Detroit Metro on I-94."

"Had I flown into the larger airport, I would have still been waiting for the plane to pull up to the gate and for the extendo-thing to be hooked up."- Dogs_Akimbo

Giphy

Another Cute One.

"This girl (A) was introducing me to her friend (B) at a restaurant."

"I thought nothing of it at the time, but later she (A) asked me what I thought of her friend(B) and my response was 'She's cool, I like her' as in 'she's a cool person, I like her as a potential friend'."

"Shortly after this conversation, she(A) went to her friend(B) and told her I liked her and wanted to date."

"I didn't have the heart to tell her (B) otherwise."

"So long story short, we have been married for 5 strong years"- TheRealSlimCoder

Cats change lives.

"I thought this said 'biggest mistake' and I was so pumped cause I had a great one."

"But nope."

"Thought really long and hard about this and had nothing until I read that one comment about them having a dog."

"So I'll say this."

"My roommate moved out and ditched her cat with me, said she'd try putting her up for adoption and never did."

"And I couldn't handle doing it myself so I kept her."

"So here we are, never was supposed to have a cat, never thought I ever could have a cat, and now this cat is quite possibly the only thing keeping me alive."

"Where would I be without her?"- Lyssinfinite

Seeing People For Who They Truly Are

"I yelled at my friend's girlfriend and that made me realize that neither of them were my friends in the first place."- FueledUp

Yelling Steve Carell GIFGiphy

A Much Needed Laugh

"I was texting a friend while playing skyrim."

"I wasn't looking down."

"I meant to say that I was fighting a dragon."

"Instead, I somehow wrote 'I'm queefing a dragon' instead."- Zapashark

When Peer Pressure Pays Off!

"Allowing my friends to pressure me into having a 'relationship' with my current SO."

"They did it as a 'joke,' and after I was hooked, they were planning on blackmailing him to dump me so I'd be heartbroken and rely on them for everything."

"Needless to say, I am no longer friends with them, and my wonderful boyfriend and I have been together for 8.5 years, at the end of February."- SweetSugarGirl1296

Wrong Place At The Right Time

"I clicked the wrong orientation date for college and ended up meeting my future girlfriend."

We've been dating ever since."- BioJoltz

lisa simpson school GIFGiphy

Wake Up Call

"F*cking up my degree."

"I coasted through my undergraduate degree."

"I did the bare minimum to pass exams and pulled all-nighters whenever I had an essay due."

"I was that guy in your class who sends a Facebook message at 8pm the night before a deadline asking how other people were getting on so that I could pretend that everyone else had left things as last minute as I had."

"I spent far too much time playing games, hanging out in the bar and having fun."

"I bought into the student lifestyle big time."

"Then came graduation and I realized just how much I had messed up."

"I graduated with a less-than-ideal classification."

"My family said they were disappointed for me, but not in me, but I knew I had let them down and more importantly had let myself down."


"I worked for a year in a dead end job."

"I had a part time gig while I was at uni, so I went full time and stored away cash."

"The next year I applied to a lot of masters programs in the hope that one would accept me with my dismal academic transcript."

"One did."

"I went back to uni and worked my a** off."

"I basically lived in the library."

"When I graduated this time, I graduated at the top of my class."

"Off the back of that, I've managed to get a PhD position at a pretty good university in an excellent research project."

"I've now had the opportunity to share platforms with nationally recognized experts and research in an exciting and dynamic field."

"I wouldn't be where I am today if I had worked as hard as I should have in my undergraduate."

"If I'd graduated with a "good" degree, I'd have gotten a job somewhere and never looked twice at academia."

"It's funny, when I graduated with my degree, I felt like the university was telling me that I'd never succeed in academics or research."

"I guess I figured that I would show them that they were wrong."

"That, and I couldn't bear having my family be disappointed in me or my achievements."- SvalbardBear

Happy Graduation GIF by FIUGiphy

Someone Didn't Proof Read!

"I was trading in a Jetta for a new Audi (circa 1998)."

" I am horrible at math, so when looking at the contract I assumed the numbers were right and I was getting the payment I wanted, so I signed away."

"When I got my beautiful new Audi home, my brother (a numbers guy), said, what's the monthly payment on this!"

"Irritated, at how low the payment was for this car, he said angrily, 'well how much did you put down?'"

"I told him."


"He said, 'impossible, let me see the contract'."

"He looked and immediately noticed their mistake."

"There was apparently a typo, and they gave me $19k for the Jetta instead of $9k!"

"They realized their mistake a few weeks later...oh well, they signed the contract!'

"Lucky for me my BF at the time was a prosecutor lol."- ChrissyT16

The Greatest Love Of All

"My third child."- dewittboo

season 1 newborn baby GIF by Sacred LiesGiphy

Sometimes mistakes offer us the greatest opportunity to learn!

Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.

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.