If you have a group of friends, fear of missing out (or FOMO), is a very real thing. It always sucks being the one left out of the action. It always sucks seeing all the pictures on Facebook afterwards, leaving you with the lasting feeling of what could've been. Trust me, one time my two best friends met Jon Cryer without me, the biggest Pretty in Pink fan you'll ever meet. That sucked.
Sometimes we're SO afraid of missing out, that we try things that we've never tried before, just to feel like we were a part of something. That's exactly what these guys did. Did they regret it? Possibly. But did they have FOMO afterwards? Hell no.
U/Professional-Exam822 asked:
What was that one thing you tried out due to Fear of Missing Out( FOMO)?
We start experiencing FOMO from a very young age. Mostly because kids love to dare each other to do dumb things for some reason.
Thanks, Dad.
When I was a kid the cool, older neighbor kids (also young kids) told me to eat grass. I of course didn't want to, so they told me they all did and I would be cool if I did. So I picked a big handful and ate it while everyone laughed at me.
Afterwards it came out that none of them had, in fact, ate any grass at all, and, as it turns out, none of us knew what would happen if one were to eat grass.
So I ran home where my old man was in the backyard spraying something with a garden hose.
I said "hey dad what would happen if somebody ate a big handful of grass?"
He replied, absolutely deadpan "tell me you didn't eat grass."
I said "well no but somebody else did and I was just..."
He said, "Gristle... Tell me you didn't eat grass..."
Tears started welling up and I said "well I was running real fast and I fell and when I fell my mouth landed on a clump of grass and my mouth closed on it and I accidentally swallowed a whole bunch of it and... Am I gonna die?!?"
He said "Probably. But go in and drink as much water as you can stand and then I will take you to the hospital"
I ran inside and drank as much water as I could and rushed out to the van where the old man was waving me into the open door. We flew out of the neighborhood, screaming towards the hospital while I cried in the back seat. Finally, we got to the liquor store down the street from the hospital where the old man said, "nah I'm just messing with you. You'll be fine."
And he went in and bought beer and we drove home.
Welcome to the theatre kids cult.
Zac Efron Hsm 10 GIF by DisneyGiphyI joined my friends in auditioning for the musical in senior year of high school because i just happened to be friends with a lot of theatre kids. Ended up with a supporting role including a duet and a decent amount of lines.
I still consider it one of the best decisions I ever made. It was a crazy amount of fun.
Dang, kids are savage.
Ate ten ants to join my brothers club in first grade. Said I could only join if I ate ten ants. So I did. And then he disbanded the club.
Of course he did. Who wants to be in a club with members who eat ants?
FOMO can lead to some death-defying stunts. Use your own best judgement on these.
People Share The 'Dirty Secrets' That Their Bosses Don't Want Customers To Know
There's a lot businesses hope their customers believe, and there are many business practices you wouldn't dare believe. These are some of the secrets Reddit ...FOMO > fear of heights.
Ziplines. I have a fear of heights so I was very nervous about going on them in North Carolina with my friends. They were so supportive though talking about how, "Its ok, you dont have to go we understand" or "Of course you dont have to, I just think you would actually enjoy it". It was because they were so nice about it I really didnt want to disappoint them. I had an absolute blast on them by the way. So much fun after the first 5 seconds of terror on the first line haha.
Remind me to never do this.
mud GIFGiphyOne of those muddy races. Got a skin infection and sun poisoning.
As others have said, I did the race.. some mud splashed right in my eyes. Not a single volunteer had water or tissues to wipe it. Ended up using the only clean spots I could find on my friends shirt. Then they didn't have enough buses to get everyone back to the parking and it rained and was freezing cold for hours waiting outside. By the time I got home my eyes were in terrible shape and scratched from the little pebbles in the mud.
Good call.
Smoking, I guess? I got curious. First time I hated it. After a few more, I started to like it, so I decided to throw the rest away before it was too late.
I did the same but it took a year or so for me to want to quit cuz I told myself I was just a "social smoker," but in hindsight whenever I'd be stressed out or drinking for years after I'd crave a cigarette. Now the whole thing is pretty gross to me and can't stand the smell.
Unfortunately, the biggest setbacks to preventing FOMO is the amount of money you drop on whatever adventure that may be.
A risky gamble.
Pretty much every sports bet I've ever made.
When you see something like England to score 10 goals against Gibraltar, the idea of them scoring 10 and you not placing the bet is substantially worse than the idea of you placing the bet and them not scoring 10. The trick is just not to look in the first place.
At least you had fun.
slot machine gambling GIFGiphyGambling. I lost $70 and had a lot of fun. Not sure I wanna lose $70 anytime again soon tho.
The thing with gambling is that if you go in with a) the right attitude (assuming you will lose everything that you gamble), b) a fixed limit, and c) self-control, it can be fine. It can be like going to see a movie (albeit an expensive one). You are spending a bit of money for the thrill and the experience. And if you do come out with more money, hey that's cool.
The problems occur when people assume they will win, gamble beyond their initial budget, or let the thrill overtake them and gamble too often/gamble too much.
It sounds like you did it right.
This is so messed up.
Bought a $20 raffle ticket for a much hyped-up chance to win $5,000.
Turns out the raffle promoters were scammers and everyone lost their money.
The best things in life are free.
For my 30th birthday I tried 30 new things. The list included a pedicure and manicure, fancy Starbucks drink, driving a red Porsche, gambling at the casino. It was a crazy fun day but I learned that I have a great life without all that stuff.
Preventing FOMO is a huge gamble at times. If you didn't enjoy doing the thing, was it worth it in the first place? Or did you just end up covered in mud and with a sun infection?
Hey, at least you didn't miss out.
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.