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People Reveal The Most Absurd Ways They've Seen Someone Throw Their Life Away

What are you doing fool?

You can't save everybody. Heck, life is a constant battle in saving oneself. And because most of us relish every opportunity life gives us, or at least try to make the most of it all, it's disheartening when we see others squelch all the chances they are given. It's always most sorrowful when it's those who are blind to their own awesome potential.

Redditor u/ghettoterrorist wanted to hear how some have been most disappointed by others by asking.... What is the most stunning way you've seen someone throw their life away?


Oh GURL!

Giphy

Former friend of mine got her master's degree and a great job working for a police department. She married a meth head burglar for some reason and she got into meth herself, and ended up in prison for storing his burgled goods in her house. Orange_Paisley

Drive Safe. 

My high school's valedictorian went to Harvard and graduated with a double-major, and was on the road to success when he enrolled in Stanford Business School for his master's.

During his second week of grad school, he got absolutely pooped-faced, got behind the wheel of a car, drove the wrong way down the highway and plowed headfirst into a taxi, killing one of its passengers. He's now serving six years in prison. blueeyesredlipstick

Weeded. 

My brother's friend decided to go to college to become a weed dealer. Took out loans, didn't go to class, and ended up dropping out within a semester.

I still have no idea why he thought he had to go to college to sell weed to college kids. It's not like they'd check his student ID. PoliticalScienceGrad

Meth = Death.

Cousin of mine got a full ride basketball scholarship into a small college. He decided not to go.

He made the decision to get into meth instead, became a dealer and got his girlfriend addicted and pregnant, and managed to get his two sisters addicted as well. Guy went to prison twice, the mother of two of his meth babies killed herself recently. His father (who was a relatively decent man) dealt with all of this by stress eating himself to death. Kraelman

Damn.

Giphy

My alcoholic FIL got a double-lung transplant, but he was drinking again within a month. He died within 2 years of the transplant never doing anything but drinking and wallowing in solitude.

Edit: I should add that this was not only a tragic waste of a 2nd chance at life, but also essentially a waste of those donated organs. WeAllHaveOurMoments

Face to Face! 

It's not incredibly stunning, just kind of eye opening how bad some people are at running their own lives.

My brother's ex-wife broke up the family in a way that caused a lot of pain and stress. She's terrible at confrontation, so instead of talking to her husband, she decided to just stop coming home and sleeping at her new boyfriend's house. He was left with two toddlers and no clue what his wife was up to until a few weeks later when she finally confessed.

Then the next 18 months was her trying to get back with him, insulting him, hoping they get be separated but stay married for the insurance, saying she was going to be homeless if he didn't take her back, and so many more things.

She makes $60k a year and lives in a big city/suburban area, yet she can't seem to do anything to take care of herself (find housing, get insurance) or her kids. They are finally divorced and my brother couldn't be happier. forman98

Snapped. 

One of my best friends, a dude I talked to daily had almost died in his 30's and had to have a kidney transplant. Didn't smoke, drink or do drugs. He had a successful business, two beautiful teenage daughters and was a very chill person, went to every cheer competition and ball game for the kids, etc.

He had marriage problems-his wife was very closed off and was cheating. He would talk to me about it but never acted like it was a big deal more of "if she stays she stays, if she goes that's fine too."

He took the whole family on vacation to Mexico, when they got back he killed her and then himself. To this day I don't know why. I know his daughters and they are doing great but I would never ask them something like that. They found them when neither parent answered the phone. I wonder if he didn't have more medical issues and just "snapped" but I'll probably never know. ben6119

Could Have Had it All! 

My wife's brother. He was awarded millions after an industrial accident. Wasted it in record time, married a woman older than his mother and had to flee the country because he had build up a massive debt within an insanely small time frame, and the wife had assaulted a doctor while in the hospital during a routine checkup. By now he has fled two more countries because he builds up new debt to everyone and everything he can.

He could have had it all. Instead he wasted it. INTRUD3R_4L3RT

Broken. 

Had a friend who I played football with and he was a great defensive back, had a chance to go to college for free on a football scholarship, one night he was drunk and got into his car drove for about 15 minutes, crashed and broke both of his legs and got addicted to drugs. Never came back to sports. Groviv

Sid's Way!

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Knew a punk rocker who idolized Sid Vicious. So he quit school, moved to the streets of downtown Toronto and started shooting heroin. needles_in_the_dark

My best friend did the same thing back in '96. Only it was Vancouver and he was a writer with this notion that you "can't be really great writer unless you've done heroin." He lasted 18 months. He was an amazing writer before he started doing drugs. bobo76565657

Service. 

This kid I knew joined the Marines, got through boot camp and was decided to be a Recruiting Assistant while he waited for space in his MOS school to open up (I met him briefly after he had just came back from boot camp, dumb kid tbh). That was all fine and dandy though.

Then, for whatever reason, he spent thousands (like all of his money) of dollars on strippers and started doing coke.

That's a dishonorable discharge in the Marines, aka he screwed up his future real bad and is now used as a cautionary tale by the recruiters. itgetsweird_

Party Over. 

Friend of mine partied late one day till 6 am and then went home, hung himself up. : He hid his depression and suicidal thoughts from all of us and no one ever even suspected that he would do such a thing. knockthatpsych

Beautiful Soul.

Giphy

My best friend... Late best friend.

He was always troubled. He was half blind, middle school drop out, tons of mental health issues... Substance abuse. But his soul was absolutely beautiful. 10/10 amazing person.

He met and fell in love with a woman who made him better in every way. She got him his first pair of glasses... His good eye overcompensated and he had super vision in it. His bad eye began to work.

She helped him get his GED. He enrolled in college.

She helped him cut back on his drinking and almost all of the substance abuse. He met and connected with a therapist, and unpacked his childhood.

She took him to get his learner's permit and he was actually turning out to be a good driver despite his eye... He was so happy.

Then one night, they had separate plans. He decided to go on a bender.... And hung himself. He rose above all the bull life handed him up until that moment. He called so many people and yet didn't call anyone who would stop him. No note, no outward signs.

It's been 8 years next month. He would have been someone more amazing than he already was. But one night of drinking did him in. 2k_0h_VI

Bankrupt Soul. 

My dad and uncle used to own a manufacturing plant alongside my grandfather. After he passed away, however, the two began to have a falling out over who should succeed him.

Then, in 2002/3, my uncle literally barred my dad from entering his own business, as he had taken sole control of the company without even telling him. This led him into a slippery slope of depression, even going so far as to attempt suicide when I was just 4 years old.

However, my uncle made some awful management decisions (just in time for the 2008 recession), and thus bankrupted the company. After that, he had a nasty divorce with his wife, and basically spent the next 8 years drinking away his fortune.

He was found dead in an alleyway 3 years ago by my cousin. What's even worse is that this was when he and my dad were just starting to reconcile after years of little to no contact. Really sad to think that it could've ended on a high note. bballconnor

The Monkey.

I was in a long term rehab with a guy who left the program early. He ended up murdering someone in a state of methamphetamine psychosis, and is now doing life without parole in Texas. He's currently 25 and was 23 when he was sentenced.

He was a bright, talented, and articulate person who just couldn't get the monkey off his back. eternalrefuge86

The Ballerina.

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Breaking her leg while doing a stunning ballerina dance. She couldn't dance again, so she became a drunk. Saphedak

Just Call In! 

A (now former) coworker I had showed up to work blackout drunk at 11 AM. Nobody had any clue where he was until Security found him passed out in the elevator.

Like, dude ... just take a sick day. We've both done backup work for workforce, and we/they don't care if you've got hasahangoveritis or are still smashed from the night before, just call in. Why the hell would you not just call in? Comma-Kazie

Hookah/Meth Menu. 

Not super stunning, but something I just couldn't understand at the time. My brilliant freshman roommate on full ride scholarship and with a 3.8+ GPA in an engineering field got addicted to Diablo III our sophomore year and promptly failed out with a sub 1.0 GPA. He moved back to his hometown and now he does meth and works in a hookah bar. I don't know man, just mind boggling. MediocRedditor

Keep Some Friends Far. 

Had a former friend who smoked weed who started playing with stronger stuff. He would come to a party and drink whiskey straight from the bottle, steal my insulin syringes or cash left lying around.

One evening he collect-called me from jail and said he wanted me to pay money to a bail bondsman, he'd been caught as a passenger in a car where the driver was transporting heroin.

"It wasn't even my heroin, it was my friends!" he said.

I told him, "Yeah, doesn't it suck when friends drag you into the mess caused by their own bad decisions?"

And I hung up. Bedbouncer

No Oxy. No!

Giphy

Meth. A cousin had a stable job, a child, and lived in a nice rented house with friends. She was going back to school to get a better job. Then she was in a car crash and hurt her leg. The doctor prescribed oxy for the pain. For 6 months weeks she was on oxy then the prescriptions ran out. She made some very bad choices to deal with the withdrawal. Now her child is with relatives, she stays with different relatives and acquaintances, no job, no money. The worse part of her situation is that she has no desire to change it. Meth will do that to you. allthedifference

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

REDDIT

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.