There is so much to learn and enjoy in this one chance we have at life. Well at least until our souls return and then we'll learn again. There are activities and passions and excitements we aren't privy to on the daily and it's high time we all start discussing. When you know more, you do more. You can't try a new thing you have no knowledge of, so let's get cracking. We can be more fulfilled once we're given a few ideas.
Redditor u/legionofnihilus was wondering what wonders of the world we all need to discover pronto, especially since who knows how much world is left in this Armageddon we call 2020 by asking.... What's something that a lot of people are missing out on because they don't know about it?Reading is Fundemental
reading rainbow dancing GIF by LeVar Burton KidsGiphyFree streaming movies and ebooks through library apps.
A library is 1000% underrated.
I know startup entrepreneurs that wanted to rent an office space (even though they could barely afford it AND before CoVid) so they would look more "legit" to clients.
They're an animation studio/digital agency. I told them, "if you need fast wi-fi and a space to do deep work without being interrupted - just use the library, man".
Plus they have these conference rooms you can sign up for (for free!) that are ALWAYS empty if they ever have to do a conference call.
Libraries are the best!
Let the Sky Wobble.....
A night sky that's not light-polluted. Even if you view through a telescope there will be light reflected from mist in the air, and heated air will cause the sky to "wobble". Also, your eyes will not get fully low light adapted either.
That said, you can still get great views of the planets and the moon.
Right now both Jupiter and Saturn are very easy to see (Mars and Venus should be too, but I haven't checked recently), and with 10x or higher binoculars (verified) you can see the four Galilean moons of Jupiter and get a hint of Saturn's rings. Just see to that you rest the binoculars on something solid, so that it doesn't shake.
Without light pollution you can easily see the Milky Way, nebulae and galaxies. Not so much in the middle of a city.
Brilliant Wins
The Korean show "The Genius" is the best game show I've ever seen. It's the only game show I know where contestants actually play games, not just answer quizzes. Each episode is a unique mind game that you cannot possibly win alone, but in which you must be careful who to trust. There are no defined teams, but teams always emerge. It's incredible.
In series 3, when they find and use the thing that they've been looking for all series, I actually leapt to my feet and shouted at the TV. I honestly think it's the best hour of television I've ever seen.
Worldwide Art
acting patrick stewart GIFGiphyEntertainment from other countries. If you get into TV, movies, music, etc from another country its like you open a whole new world of entertainment.
Property Research
You states comptroller or treasury office maintains an "unclaimed property" website where you can enter your name, address, etc and find various payments/refunds/dividends that never made it to you.
My sister just told me about this and I had a tax escrow refund from 10 yrs ago that never made it to me. After submitting my info and initiating my claim the state mailed me a new check.
edit
- check every state you have ever lived in
- UK site
- Aussie site thanks u/MrsFlip
- For Canadians, the CRA website has this when you loginmikechi2501
Support Local
Their local farmers market. So many people I've met have never been and they truly don't know what they are missing out on from produce to art to protein.... so many things that are unique and worth trying and seeing!
Broiler Brilliance...
The broiler function on your oven. Great for ribs, making s'mores, browning casseroles, toasting bread, crème brûlée, melting/crisping cheese on baked ziti...
Edit: thanks for the likes. Here's a recipe for corn cheese under the broiler. Please try it!
Mix plenty of shredded cheese, canned corn, seasoning (up to you but I'll do an Italian blend with pepper and salt), and a little bit of mayo in a bowl. Mix altogether well. Pour onto a flat skillet, place under the broiler for maybe 10 min. Please watch for it to get crispy. Delicious and easy! Inspiration comes from a KBBQ side dish.
Yummmmm
Hungry Saturday Night Live GIF by HULUGiphyThai food and authentic Mexican tacos.
The local Carniceria with a kitchen. Straight up some of the best damn tacos.
Fairytale Destinations....
Everyone thinks Luxembourg is a boring place with just banks and law firms and nothing else.
This couldn't be more wrong and there's an area called Vianden with a castle and a chairlift which is like a little fairytale land.
The pics on Google do not do it justice, but I lived there and trust me, there is far more to this beautiful country than everyone assumes.
"Blessed are the cheesemakers."
grilled cheese surprised patrick GIFGiphyHomemade mozzarella cheese.
With a few pieces of equipment that aren't particularly expensive you can make your own in half an hour. It's unbelievably delicious when it's really fresh. And if you stretch it right you can make your own string cheese.
editing to add :
Before this conversation took off someone asked for a recipe and I replied in a separate comment.
Adding link here for easy reference since that reply got buried.
https://cheesemaking.com/products/30-minute-mozzarella-recipe
"Blessed are the cheesemakers." - Monty Python
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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.