Be careful, you could die at any moment. Danger is lurking at every corner and ready to pounce at any given moment. The things we're naive to could be our downfall. So look at knowing these things as life saving knowledge. Yes the simplest things can also be the most harmful, in a surprising way, but that is life. It's like smelling a rose and getting stung by a bee. So smell the roses from a distance.
edditor u/Jkwon6227 wanted everyone to be warned about the things in life we may fall vulnerable to by asking.... What seem harmless but can be seriously life threatening?Quicksand....
ocean waves GIFGiphyIsland beaches. There are a lot in Hawaii that are a lot more dangerous than tourists realize. Islands are on the edge of the vast ocean and can sweep people in.
Dry Humor
Wet tile.
This is exactly why those prank videos of people putting butter on the tiles for people to slip on make me so angry. You can kill someone surprisingly easily that way, it's not funny at all.
Oh god. There's a viral video of a dude doing this to himself as a joke and he slips and kicks a counter or something and compound fractures his toe and I've only seen it once but my whole body is miserable just thinking about it.
Keep Brushing
Poor dental hygiene can lead to heart disease.
This literally happened to my grandpa this last weekend, well at least they caught it this last weekend and he needed a 4 hour surgery to fix it. He's doing ok now but is still in the hospital.
At first they thought it was a stroke because his right side was numb, and they thought he was having mini heart attacks. The heart attacks were actually seizures brought on by the sinus infection putting pressure on his brain.
Through the Pane
Springs in double pane windows. The windows are heavier than you think so the springs are pretty strong. A friend that works as a maintenance guy at an apartment complex posted a pic of one of the balancers (as they're called) that came lose and went completely through the motorcycle helmet he wears when replacing them.
It still cracked his skull, and the ER doc said if he wasn't wearing the helmet he would have definitely died. Scary to think something as simple as a window can kill you. We all know garage springs are dangerous, but so are window springs.
Water Douse GIFSwift Kick
Walking around or behind a horse without keeping your hand on it.
Horses can get very scared very fast and a well placed kick can beak your neck, can even stop your heart.
If you must move around one, keep a hand on it after it is aware of your presence and slide it with you so it knows where you are, also stay very close to it the whole time so the potential kick has less wind-up.
CO Issues
Carbon monoxide, since you can't smell or taste it you won't know it's there.
CO terrifies me. We have like 6 detectors in our house. My mom went to high school with this kid who lost his entire family to CO a few years after graduation.
He and his wife had a new baby. They were at his parent's house for the holidays around Christmas. All of his extended family was there.
Their baby was having trouble breathing, so he and his wife took the baby to the ER. By the time they got back, everyone else was dead of carbon monoxide poisoning. He lost his whole family.
Local codes only require 1 CO detector in the whole house. We've got them outside all the bedrooms, by the furnace room, by the dryer, etc. I don't mess around with that stuff.
A Bad Grip
Saving someone with a heimlich grip. You can definitely rupture someone's organs with this move and people have died as a result of being saved by this procedure. Always send someone to the hospital after doing this as the victim might otherwise bleed to death in their sleep that night.
Just a Dash....
Eating cinnamon.
Was looking to see if anyone said this. Cinnamon will dry your mouth and throat out badly, it'll mess you up quick. That whole cinnamon spoonful fad a few years ago (maybe more than a few, I'm getting old) was super dangerous. I don't remember if anyone died, but I know people ended up in the hospital.
funny walk crossing the street GIFAdd Jelly
Eating peanut butter directly out of the jar with a spoon. If you choke on it, it's going to be nearly impossible to dislodge.
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/18/magazine/l-dangerous-peanut-butter-227906.html
But do you eat it as one giant mouthful? That sounds really unpleasant honestly. I often take a big spoonful but I don't just shove that spoon directly in my mouth afterwards. You gotta savor that sh!t because it's like 400-500 calories.
The Obvi
Jesse Pinkman Reaction GIF by Breaking BadGiphyFor a serious (and somewhat generic) answer, probably not getting enough sleep or not drinking enough water, I am guilty of both of these things but it can really make you feel like utter crap and lead to serious health complications.
Steps
My answer: stairs.
I fell down the stairs when I was 13 and couldn't sit for like 2 months and I now have a bony bump on my hip 10 years later
In hindsight I wonder if I mildly broke my pelvis and it healed wrong?
But yeah. Stairs can seriously mess you up.
I have it!
Shingles. It is already inside you!!
It is miserable. I had shingles at 30 on my right side shoulder, neck, scalp and ear mostly. It can come back again, and in a different place. I am scared of it being on my face and blinding me.
Not Funny
"Pranking" someone with allergies by giving them a little bit of that allergen (I've seen articles of people putting peanuts into an allergic person's food).
What the hell? That's not a prank, that's straight up attempted murder.
My friend is deathly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and one time a kid chased him around with peanuts in his hand. Kid got suspended. Food allergies are not something to mess around with.
Listen Ladies....
surprised woman GIFGiphyLeaving a tampon in too long can cause toxic shock syndrome and it can be deadly.
Crispy
Sunburns can be very dangerous.
Normally you don't think too much of them, just a few days of irritated/itchy skin, but if you aren't careful you drastically increase your chance of getting malignant melanoma (skin cancer) through a handful of decent sunburns.
High Tension
Garage door springs.
I am very handy and can fix everything around the house. But I don't mess with garage door springs. I call the experts in for that one.
Anything with such a high amount of tension is so dangerous, when I think about it it's quite terrifying that we use these things so frequently.
Kitty has Claws
cat mountain GIF by CheezburgerGiphyA cat scratching you and breaking the skin. Cat's claws carry a deadly bacteria that, if untreated, can kill you.
Emotions are Fragile
Emotional neglect - when you have ' everything '. People always brush it off as being too needy or whatever, but in reality life long emotional neglect especially during childhood development it can impact your life deeply. You can become depressed, anxious and have anxiety. If you suspect that you might suffer from this I have plenty of resources to help guide you to healing and growth. Comment or message.
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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.