Life is hard, and none of use will beat it in the end. But we can make the most of precious time and learn from the falls and fashion our battle scars proudly. There is always going to be a bottom falling out but there will always be a rise. It will be long, slow, steady and more arduous than the one before but there will be a rise if we so wish.
Redditor u/puddle_socks wanted to hear from everyone about their significant life recovery stories by asking.... What's your "oh, rock bottom has a basement" story? And how did you recover?
Stay Back Jinx.
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My very first semester of college I got pneumonia the first few weeks. A week after that I got a yeast infection (a very painful one too). Then I fractured my wrist a few weeks after that. Then after I had been home for Thanksgiving for a week and had to go back and finish the last two weeks of the semester I thought "Well it can't get any worse" and I was hit by a car a week later. Urpledell
The Helpers?
I was homeless at age 18. I went to a homeless shelter despite warnings from some shady looking guy. I got treated like crap, got made fun of and belittled, and had my backpack with all my important documents stolen. All this was by the shelter staff, the people who are supposed to help. I still don't donate to any homeless shelter.
You don't know how they're really like until they're your last hope. After that i sold my cellphone, bought a tent and found a backpack in a garbage can that reeked like cat piss but was otherwise clean and did my best not to starve while going from place to place. My tent got stolen eventually but luckily nobody took the backpack. I also got a revolver at one point.
I recovered by getting unbelievably lucky and having my uncle find me and take me in and even give me one of his old property's in exchange for fixing it up real nice so he can sell it when he retires. thelongestusernameee
Off Balance.
I quit smoking cigarettes, taking pills at the same time cold turkey and with no help. My mental health deteriorated pretty fast. I felt like i really lost my mind for good. Took me a year to recover and feel relative normal again. Every month that goes by from then i feel better and better. Time was needed i guess for my brains chemistry to balance. Anevrismata
Too REAL!
Girlfriend cheated on me, my uncle died in a house fire on christmas, my cousin was shot 30 some times because he was in a psychosis and tried to take a car, watched my grandpa slowly wither away from a rare cancer in his abdomen, failed all five classes that college semester, tried to end my life but couldn't figure out how i'd do it so said ex that cheated on me called the police so i got charged for having alcohol. krammnitt
All the Bad News.
I can't get too deep because I'm on mobile but basically :
My older brother passed away shortly after I found out I was cheated on by my girlfriend. All while I was homeless and slowly losing the use of my left leg due to illness.
Then I got the news my innocent, autistic little brother got cancer.
[He's been in remission for a while now, current biggest worry is about Batman or something] Omnilink3
Thanks to the Bestie.
Tried to kill myself, got caught at the right time by mom, mom breaks down, tells me its all my fault and I'm shaming the family name by taking the easy way out. End up staying at the hospital longer than necessary because mom needs an excuse. Start planning elaborate ways to kill myself and making it look like an accident or from a disease.
(A death that won't shame my family) caught a bad case of tuberculosis, laying in bed get a deliriously good idea. Start throwing up whatever i eat or drink. Take meds on empty stomach. Take extra pills or take no meds. Having a weak stomach, now I'm coughing up fresh blood in the bathroom or wherever. I hide them away. Say I'm taking my meds. No one figures out. Goes to bed one night, wakes up in the hospital. I'm too weak to speak. I can't make much sense but I feel somehow disappointed. See my best friend beside my bed.
She's crying her eyes out. Sees me, still crying says she knew I'll survive battling this disease. Says she wouldn't know what to do if I died. Continues to say many things that I have forgotten about. I feel like I betrayed her. I'm crying with her.
Long story short, I crawled out of that basement thanks to my best friend. Yuneame
Success in spite of them!
Girlfriend left me for my best friend. Then they kicked me out of the house that I was paying rent for (turns out I was never added to the lease!). Then they stole all my stuff by not allowing me near the house. I became homeless with just the clothes on my back. I was sick, too. It was great. I worked my butt off to get an apartment, go to college with no student loans, and get a good job. LollipopDreamscape
The Light.
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My daughter went into sudden respiratory arrest when she was 2 months old. Day 9 of ICU I got a call that my older 3 kids were in a bad car accident with their dad and "I don't know if they are okay."
Fortunately they walked away with only mild concussions and my baby is preparing herself for kindergarten and is healthy as can be.
I'm so lucky and so blessed. kochanie2013
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/
Stupid is as stupid does. And it’s pretty obvious when some poor, misinformed, potentially ignorant soul needs to be put in their place. Luckily, there are a lot of witty ways to do just that. We love a good euphemism.
Wanna know the best way to call out stupidity when you see it? Stay tuned.
U/lientubay asked: What's the best euphemism for telling people that they're stupid?
Get a load of these sick burns. I swear, the people of Reddit are harsh.
Call outs are a universal language.
In Russian we have "intelligent thoughts have always followed him, but he was faster".
We have something similar in German: "Intelligence is chasing you, but you are faster."
Be your own Easter Bunny.
Looney Tunes Cartoon GIF
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You could hide your own Easter eggs.
The great Harvey Korman had some Alzheimer's @ 2005, and he still went on a talk show. They asked him how he was doing and he said he was OK. "Now I can hide my own Easter eggs." RIP.
That’s cold.
“At this point, you can only impress me."
This reminds me of something I saw in a show recently. One character said "Would you think less of me if ____." The other character said "I could never think less of you."
I lol’d.
I think I saw this one here previously "You aren't the biggest idiot in the world but you better hope they don't die".
Once told this to my brother, his immediate response was "hey, please don't die".
It takes a very intelligent person to properly call out a dumb person. Weird how that works, huh?
When the bears are smarter than the tourists.
GIF by Smokey Bear
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Now I know what Douglas Adams was talking about.
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
As the park rangers in Yellowstone say- making a bear-proof trash can is very difficult due to the considerable overlap between the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists.
That’s a gross mental image.
In Greece we say "when it was raining brains, you had an umbrella".
In German we ask God for help. "God, let there be raining brains" this sounds so weird but idk how to express it better lol.
Edit: In German it's "Gott, lass Hirn regnen".
It’s probably a bad sign when your lawyer calls you dumb.
Lawyer to client who shared detailed attorney-client privileged strategy memorandum with a whole bunch of people, including an adverse party:
Client: "Is there anything you can do to fix this?"
Attorney: "No, you've pretty much waived the privilege and now they know everything."
Client: "Is there anyway to put a positive spin on this?"
Attorney: "Well, I suppose the judge might buy that this proves that you lack the mental capacity to form specific intent."
These next ones are just plain cold, but probably very much deserved.
Meanness from a Canadian is probably well-earned.
eric cartman GIF by South Park
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On a Canadian jobsite
Ahh Terry, having you around is like losing three good men.
Oof, that’s harsh.
He's so far behind he thinks he's first.
I had a keychain as a kid that said, "She who laughs last thinks slowest.”
Those are some gross socks.
Once heard someone say "Well he's about as sharp as a sock full of soup".
"Sharp as a marshmallow" was one that went around my friend circle.
In the words of the great prophets Smash Mouth, “I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed”. That self-burn is perhaps one of the most classic euphemisms. And I just almost misspelled “euphemism”. So I can definitely relate to that lyric.
A good way to exercise your brain? Keep thinking of creative ways to insult people. Trust me, it works like a charm