People Share The Saddest Thing They've Ever Witnessed
Think of the saddest thing you've ever seen. Does it still choke you up? If so, you'll enjoy these stories of super upsetting events people have witnessed.
mythirdreddit asked, Reddit, what's the saddest thing you have ever witnessed?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
When the loneliness is palpable...
My math teacher's last class before retirement. Nobody showed up except me and some friends, we literally did nothing for 1 hour straight. The bell rings, he let out the saddest " goodbye" I ever heard in my life. I almost cried for real.
Even a grown man needs his mother. It never goes away.
A few months before my grandma died, I was in her bedroom with my dad, to say hi. She was sleeping, and my dad sat down on her bed, softly saying "mom? Mom?". He, a 55 years old man, sounded like a little kid and it broke my heart.
Imagine how helpless the bank employee must have felt, too...
An elderly woman crying at the bank because her son stole her life savings from her and went missing.
Had something similar happen to me in second grade. Kids are jerks.
My daughter was being bullied on the bus by some kids.
Her class had a project where they grew a small plant in her class that they would present to their mothers for Mother's Day.
She told me about it but asked me to keep it a secret from mom. I agreed.
Every day she would come home and tell me when the plant sprouted and she was so excited as it grew and grew. As Mother's Day rolled around she would ask me over and over again if I thought mom would love it. I always reassured her that yes her mom would absolutely love it because she has worked so hard to take care of it and help it grow...just like she had done with you.
Mother's Day rolls around and even I'm excited to see the plant. I happen to be home from work that day and she comes home looking extremely sad.
I asked her what was wrong and I could tell she was on the verge of tears.
She reached out her small hand and held out half of a broke styrofoam cup with some dirt in it. The cup had been crushed and half of the words "I love you mommy" were written on what was left of it.
The dam broke as she said "Happy Mother's Day momma" and she crumpled to the ground balling.
My daughter, so proud of her plant, decided to show the other kids on her way home the gift she was going to give her mom. A boy promptly snatched it out of her hand and threw it to the ground. Everyone laughed as he stomped on it and then grabbed the plant and threw it out the window.
My daughter said she didn't cry because she wanted them to think she didn't care about the plant and that it didn't affect her. She was always the last stop on the way home and she grabbed what she could of the cup and some dirt and tried to salvage anything left. To add insult to injury the bus driver yelled at her that she was going to clean it up in the morning.
I don't know if I mentioned this...but she was in the first grade at the time. She was 6 years old.
I killed me to write that remembering how upset I was about that. We bought a kit from the hardware store to build our own garden in the backyard since it seemed like she was interested in that sort of thing. It wasn't really the same though.
Watching your kids see just how awful people can be for the first time is crushing.
When you miss the final moments of someone's life due to flight delays.
About to take a flight to Florida. It was supposed to leave around 7 PM, but it kept getting delayed. Then it got delayed some more, then a bit more. Hours later, the flight eventually got canceled. Turned out, they never had a pilot, and they spent all that time trying to get another one, and instead of canceling the flight earlier so we can all get new flights, they kept delaying the decision until there was no other option.
On the line to get a new flight (around midnight at this point), suddenly we can all hear this woman getting louder, saying "what? He's gone? No!". Apparently, this woman was going to Florida to see her nephew who was terminally ill and didn't have long. He passed away before she could get there. If the flight was even an hour late, she would have made it in time.
Grief-stricken, the woman throws her drink. It goes behind the counter, but a couple feet away from any ticket agent. The head agent has the police called and has her arrested (or at least taken away)
Shock from trauma can be really confusing.
When I was 12 years old my brother, then 15, died of a sudden heart attack in front of me and my cousins. My aunt was a med in the military and she didn't stop giving him CPR until 2 EMT pulled her off. But what hurt me the most that night is how I couldn't cry. I knew what happened, and I knew how I should be feeling, but the tears never came. I didn't cry until I saw my dad break down at the viewing before his funeral.
Struggling animals in pain - too much for me.
I saw a dirty, skinny kitten picking around in a pile of trash bags. He tried to eat a Cheeto and made a tiny depression in the dirt to poop but nothing came out. He was clearly starving.
I took him home with me that day six years ago because I started to cry thinking about leaving him there to die. Now he's a giant goofball who rules my house.
Edit: Apparently people like Melvin. Here's a ton of pictures of my special kitty. Oh, also, he's named Melvin after Melvindale, Michigan, which is where I found him.
I uh... yikes.
My coworker's good friend was pregnant when she found out her husband was killed in an car accident. She had the baby a few weeks later but her mental anguish was taking a toll on her. One night, she fell asleep while breastfeeding the baby and the poor baby got smothered to death.
My coworker came to work and was so distraught that she couldn't even talk to customers. She just sat in her office, crying, and I felt so horrible that I couldn't do anything to make it better for her or her friend. Here I am, worrying about stupid atuff, and seeing this kind of pain puts things back into perspective for you.
This is pretty sad. What terrible parents.
When I was a funeral director, I used to run the firm I worked for's mortuary at one stage in my career so I looked after the deceased who came into us primarily.
We had a 10-week old baby girl who died due to neglect come into us and we were waiting for her scummy disgusting parents to arrange the funeral, or at least give the local council authority to arrange the funeral if they couldn't afford it or didn't want to.
Sadly, it was a good 9/10 months she was with us and the family avoided all contact (calls to them were ignored or buttoned) and the poor angel just lays there in the funeral home mortuary in her tiny coffin. I had to see her and check her every morning and watched her getting more fragile and decompose every day.
Even the local bereavement office at the hospital got involved and tried to get social services to get some sort of court ruling so they could lay her at rest.
In the end, the family answered their phone and grudgingly let the council take care of the funeral. At the last minute, the dad tried to see her (the same child he and his Mrs let starve and waste away to death) but he couldn't as she was sadly unviewable (not to me sadly, I will have the images of her every day to remember) and the parents didn't even go to the funeral.
Every time I saw her little coffin, I died a bit inside. Not all funeral directors are emotionless, we very much feel it especially things like that.
Seeing her little coffin leave the home in the back of a limo with no family or flowers was just the saddest thing you can see.
The baby ducks got washed away :(
Probably not the saddest, but the most recent: I was driving and a female mallard duck was standing in the road, refusing to move. Cars were honking and having to drive around her, but she stayed. I parked and walked over to get her out of the road and saw that she was standing near a storm drain grate. I assume she was crossing the road with her ducklings and they all fell in. I looked into it thinking they might be just inside but the water was fast-moving like a river. It just made me so sad to think that she was a mother one minute and then wasn't the next, and she couldn't understand why. She just stayed where she last saw her babies and waited for them. I chased her from the road into the park but when I drive off I could still see her lurking nearby.
Hug your kids.
It happened to me yesterday. I'm a stay-at-home dad and I was dropping my son off at kindergarten. One of the other moms there has 4 kids, and her second one is in my sons class.
As we were about to leave, I saw the mom of 4 with her baby strapped to her, and her 2-year-old son was having a tantrum about walking home. I gave her the "we've all been there, stay strong" look that parents give each other.
So the mom says to the kid, "why don't you go home with him, he looks like he wants you!"
My initial reaction was "hey, don't drag me into your drama" but I understand her frustration. I bent down to be eye level with the kid and I said, "yeah, for sure. I've got some dryer vents I can use some small arms to help me clean."
The joke was obviously lost on the kid but the mom thought it was hilarious. Anyway, the kid opens his arm like he wants a hug, so whatever, I give him a hug.
Then he clings to me, for like 5 minutes. I've said maybe 5 words to this kid in my life, and he's holding on to me like he's afraid of falling down.
His mom says, "I think he misses his dad." I'm like, "Aww is he away?" And she says, "No, he's just not a hugger. Neither am I!"
So this poor kid would go willingly into the arms of a stranger because his parents don't hug him enough. That was sad as hell.
Ignoring your kids and telling them to shut up is abuse.
Was in a restaurant, a small boy was trying to ask his mum a question. She just kept ignoring him, and when she finally turned to him she told him to "shut up, play on your tablet". His face after that was the saddest thing, kinda broke my heart tbf.
Gambling is an ugly addiction. It's sad to watch, especially at a casino.
I was hanging out with a friend of mine while he was working at a gas station store.
Someone came in, bought a bunch of scratch tickets, went to a nearby counter to scratch them, cashed out the winners, used winnings to buy more, and he kept doing it until all the money was gone.
My friend said that sort of thing is pretty normal. I don't think I could work at a gas station.
Accidents happen and poor grandma has to live with this. Horrible.
I work in a hospital so I see lots of sad stuff but nothing compared to what I saw just a few months ago.
A little boy who was being babysat by his grandmother ran out into the street and was hit by a car and killed while he and Grandma were in the front yard. His grandmother was unable to do anything to stop him or intervene in any way because she was in her 70s and had to use a walker.
I remember being in the ICU waiting room after the news was broken to his parents and grandmother and his parents were screaming and cussing at Grandma, saying how could she let this happen, they never wanted to see her again, they hated her, she would never see her any of her grandchildren again, and hoped that she would burn in hell. It got so bad that security had to come in and intervene before it got too far.
The look on that old lady's face while her daughter and son-in-law were screaming at her is something I will never, ever forget.
This thread is getting to be too much.
Was sitting at a bus stop and a dog came running around the corner of a busy intersection, saw me and started running across the road towards me. It got hit. I bawled and still do when I think about it.
imagine having no one to call when you're literally on the ground dying...
Saw a guy I worked with have a heart attack. He was holding his arm and gasping for air. I sat him down and coached him to breathe while someone else called 911. He was hyperventilating and crying. He told me he was scared. I barely knew him. Someone asked him if there was anyone we should call, he said no. This man...absolutely scared of dying...had no one to call at a time he was knocking on death's door. I was so sad for him. The ambulance came and he was okay. But that one moment where he was so alone and scared was really, really sad.
Acceptance of death doesn't come right away...
My grandfather died after a long fight with ALS. In the end, he could pretty much only move his eyes under his eyelids, and sometimes not even that.
After he passed I sat with my mom and grandma for a long time. Every ten minutes my grandma checked his nose with a mirror, hoping to find him still breathing, hoping it wasn't true.
Easily the saddest thing I've ever seen.
Throwing a party and having no one show up is devastating.
Several years ago I was at a bar/club that had a small lounge upstairs. My friends and I were on our way upstairs to the lounge when a bouncer told us the room was reserved for a private event. We thought he was joking because there was only one guy in the entire lounge and it was rest of the place was packed. We didn't think much of it and went back downstairs. After leaving the bar my friends and I went to Tim Horton's for coffee and ran into the guy who was in the lounge. We asked him how his party went. He told us that it was his college graduation party / going away party and nobody came. You could see the pain behind his eyes. I hope he made better friends since then.
I'd say the woman's reaction was warranted.
A woman kicking her deceased husband's coffin, spitting on it, and saying, "I hope you're burning in hell, you son of a bitch."
He had committed suicide and left her with five kids to raise alone.
Over-sharing is a thing. Sometimes, people really just cross the line in the information they've decided to volunteer to us.
It's hard to control who does this to us since it tends to take us by surprise, but hearing some of the things that people have suffered having to hear can easily act as cautionary tales to us.
Seriously, Who Asked
<p>I used to work at an animal shelter and we had several people who would come volunteer to help out.</p><p>One of the women who came there on a regular basis went to lunch with me. She was such a sweet woman, a little older than I was at the time. She proceeded to tell me that she used to go to the park and hook up with old men because she felt sorry for them.</p><p>WTF?</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/moviesandcats/" target="_blank">moviesandcats</a></p>Decent Bloke....
<p>I (25f at the time) was at A&E in the UK. I got discharged and was waiting for my taxi outside. This buff shirtless dude, covered in tattoos (they were decent too, imo) comes over and asks for a light. I bought a zippo for novelty so I obliged.</p><p>We got to talking and he told me how he had just got out of prison after serving a life sentence for killing his father, after his father murdered his baby sister. Had his records on him and everything (he was at the hospital as he was diabetic and had experienced an issue of some sort after being released - I have no expertise here).</p><p>I have never feared and respected a man so much in my life.</p><p>I bought him a pint after my taxi decided it wouldn't be arriving. Decent bloke - we still speak 9 years later.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/heavenhelpyou/" target="_blank">heavenhelpyou</a></p>Oh....Sounds Fun....
<p>My sophomore year In college a girl who I had a group project with told me that her first sexual experience was getting tag teamed by a couple of guys while she was in high school. </p><p>I just told her "wow, that's pretty intense." She told me that she loved it and then I changed the subject. Until that point nothing sexual had come up in the conversation.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Nothing_/" target="_blank">Nothing_</a></p>TW: Suicide
<p>My manager at my job in high school decided to tell us about how she tried to end her life on my very first day. </p><p>She was like, "One day, I decided to take some pills and end it all. I grabbed a pill bottle out of my mom's cabinet and took a handful without even looking at what it was and then lay down to die. I was so surprised to wake up in the morning perfectly fine. Confused, I checked the bottle to see what I had taken."</p><p>Yeah, it was estrogen.</p>Please Tell Me About Your Infidelity
<p>My wife loves to tell this story.</p><p>Her first day at a new company she was to meet another employee who would show her around the office. She met her in the lobby and on the elevator ride up to the office she proceeded to tell my wife how her husband has gained some weight and she is considering starting an office affair with a co-worker who is really into fitness and 'has muscles' (apparently she made a gesture where she fanned herself while saying muscles)</p><p>Like literally my wife met this lady 5 minutes earlier for the first time in the lobby and she is already unloading all this stuff on her.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Boxman75/" target="_blank">Boxman75</a></p>TW: Abuse
<p>I was seated next to a quiet kid on a high school band bus to a football game. He'd been in my band class for years, but I had never really spoken to him. He was the type who didn't fit into anything at school that I ever saw. I resolved to get to know him a bit and open up a conversation since we were going to be sitting by each other for a few hours. It was like a dam burst; that dude talked for the whole trip.</p><p>At one point, he told me that his mom was really unhappy with his stepdad but couldn't afford to divorce him. And then he told me that his stepdad would get drunk and beat him with a stick, but he wasn't sure if his mom was also getting beaten and that scared him. There was a brief pause before he said "I never told anyone that before..." Then he changed the subject completely.</p><p>I must've been seventeen or so. It shook me. Like... Obviously I was old enough to know that sort of thing happens, but too sheltered to think it happened to anyone I knew. I told my parents about it-- seemed the right thing to do. I don't know what happened from there. He and I never really spoke of it again. I just looked him up on Facebook, though. Looks like he's done really well for himself.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DietrichBuxtehude/" target="_blank">DietrichBuxtehude</a></p>Not The Thing To Tell Your Nurse
<p>I was doing my practice in a hospital. They brought a young man in the neuro clinic, he was my 1st patient. He was around 30 and he had fallen from a tree while working. </p><p>He turned out to have a complicated neurological condition that had nothing to do with his fall. He was also diagnosed with severe depression. He was in there for months and no one ever visited him, the only time he felt a bit better was when I visited him and did some tests to him. </p><p>He said "it's nice when you come and make me play with the coloured toys and make me draw things". One day he was looking out of the window, when I came in he looked me dead in the eye and told me "you know, if the windows didn't have protective bars, I'd jump right out". It was the 1st time I'd heard such thing and I remember it ever since.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Shoddy_Natural4217/" target="_blank">Shoddy_Natural4217</a></p>Ope Okay Guess We're Going There
<p>Coworker took out a client for a business lunch at a small town restaurant. He asks the waitress "How are you?" to be polite. </p><p>She proceeds to go on a 5 minute spiel about how terrible her ex husband is and how he's ruining her life and how she feels like crap because of it. After she finishes, takes their order and leaves the customer says "So you must know her pretty well?" </p><p>"Only well enough to say hi in passing." </p><p>"Oh, so then that was just as awkward for you as it was for me then?" </p><p>"Yes, yes it was."</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/NowhereinSask/" target="_blank">NowhereinSask</a></p>The Evidence Is The Burn
<p>Some guy next to me on the bus once went into a long elaborate story about how he burned his house down for insurance money like three weeks prior.</p><p> I wouldn't have believed it if his hands didn't have massive burn scarring.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/STARCRUSHER99/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">STARCRUSHER99</a></p>Who Are You Fooling?
<p>Met this dude in college when he moved into the dorm. Goofy looking redneck kid from the San Antonio area. I'm getting to know him when I notice his Spice Girls cd (this was like 2003), and I commented on it. </p><p>He then goes into this long story of how he was at the Walmart in San Antonio, looking at the CDs in that store and just happened to have bumped into Ginger Spice who invited him into the tour bus that no one had noticed, and he lost his virginity to all the Spice Girls at once.</p><p>My thought was "Thank you for this story, I know instantly that I can never trust or believe anything you ever tell me again." It's been almost 20 years and I still can't believe that was something he said in the first five minutes of meeting me.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/GreatJanitor/" target="_blank">GreatJanitor</a></p>We're never that surprised when we encounter people who are lackluster at their jobs. Bad waiters, rude customer service people, dishonest contractors, or inept colleagues abound throughout daily life.
But it's interesting that we expect to encounter that kind of ineptitude far less with certain professionals.
Salt in the Wound
<p>"I was dealing with a lot of family issues at the time and my ex had just broken up with me that week so I was taking it fairly hard."</p><p>"My therapist said 'it's because they found someone better' and when I said no and tried to explain she just dug in deeper that my ex had dumped me because they found someone better than me."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/goytctg?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">sgrmw</a></p>Suddenly, a Brainstorm Session for Insults
<p>"14, telling my shrink about how I was bullied in school."</p><p>" 'Do they make fun of your nose?' "</p><p>" '...nnnno....?' "</p><p>"And that's how I found out I have a big nose."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/gp0jn7u?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">KindlyOlPornographer</a></p>The Exact Wrong Outlook
<p>" 'You'll never do an important job like doctor, veterinarian, firefighter, lawyer, conselor...You'll probably end up in a Walmart for your whole life.' "</p><p>"I was 8 years old and still remember how mad my parents were lol."</p><p>-- -<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/goyug8s?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">SincerelyDontCare</a></p>Mourning Snooze
<p>"Nothing. She fell asleep in her chair while writing notes....I was talking about the death of my parents. I was 16. Never went to another therapist" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/gozuyga?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Papismurf101</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"After reading a few of these I'm convinced some therapists get there education on a milk box. Flipping heck. I'm so sorry that happened to you." -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/gp2zydy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">illthinkofonel8er</a></p>When Word and Deed Do Not Align
<p>"When they say things like 'okay I understand how you are feeling thank you for telling me' but proceeds to ignore most of the things I've said. -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/goyrsef?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">PrestigeZyra</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Ugh I hate that. Sympathy is not Empathy."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Rephrased: 'Based on what you've shared, I think I'm starting to understand what you have been through. Thank you for telling me. Now you said X, would you like to explain that further so I can better understand?' "</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"It's called motivational interviewing and that specific technique is 'reflecting' and 'clarification' to ensure the client is able to fully explain their meaning without the provider 'assuming' anything or ignoring the person's statements." -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/gozv732?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">jhorry</a></p>Proven Wrong Almost Immediately
<p>"Go back to work, you'll be fine, you don't need different meds."</p><p><em>"3 times being sent home and psych ward visit later" -- </em><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/goygpxp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">BalancedJoker</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/goygpxp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank"></a>"let me guess, diagnosed with depression (unipolar). prescribed an SSRI type antidepressant. turns out you have biploar depression and without mood stabilizers the SSRIs sent you into a strong manic episode." -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/gp0hdbz?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">SecTrono</a></p>Doubling Down
<p>"I had a psychiatrist who was convinced I was anorexic even though I wasn't."</p><p>"It really sucked because my therapist and my psychiatrist worked at the same company and they had a policy where they don't help people with eating disorders."</p><p>"So even though I went to a specialist and they confirmed I didn't have an eating disorder I was still banned from that facility and lost my long term therapist."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/goyzbxh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">assainXD1</a></p>Throwing Shade on a Healthy Habit
<p>"I use my creativity with art and craft as both a coping skill and as something that gives me extra purpose in life."</p><p>"A psychologist told me that doing so is maladaptive. I didn't go back."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/goyloq7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">BlackCaaaaat</a></p>Wut
<p>"Had a therapist tell me that my soul, long before I was born, chose my parents and subsequent childhood abuse so that I could learn from it."</p><p>"By this logic, of course, the abused person is always in control and the abuser is helpless. Argue with that logic. Needless to say I never saw her again."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ltikks/people_of_reddit_what_is_the_worst_thing_a/goyszg6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">mercuryrising137</a></p>People Describe Which Small Achievement They Would Actually Like A Pat On The Back For
On the internet, people tend to say things they likely would not in the real world. The anonymity of a forum or comment section--composed only of verbal contributions beneath made up names--compels us to socialize with less inhibition; we take more risks with the peers we can't see in the flesh.
THANK YOU
<p>"Maybe not small. But my job is sort of essential. I support software that is used by many hospitals and medical facilities."</p><p>"I've pretty much worked every day and made sure our sh** didn't blow up whole covid wrecked shop. I get no mention. I get no praise but damnit I'm happy to keep helping fight the fight."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp5ubry?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">shartnado3</a></p>Making All the Right Moves
<p>"Trimming 7 years (so far!) off our mortgage through minor payment tweaks and tax return lump sum payments."</p><p>"It takes planning and discipline, but means we'll both be able to retire without house-debt. Planning to surprise SO with this next year once I get it down a little further." </p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp5w7mm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">flitterbug78</a></p>The Leap
<p>"I finally got the courage to apply to, interview for, and accept another job, and quit the job I've had for a decade." -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp63t9k?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">whatisgoinghappen</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Good job. I change as well last September. After 14 years it was stressful. Especially with a wife, a mortgage and a kid depending on my income." -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp8x685?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Angio343</a></p>33.83 Years of Training
<p>"I successfully plunged a toilet today! For the first time in my 33.83 years of existence! I'm just relieved I don't have to call the guest house manager."</p><p>"That'll teach me not to flush toilet paper in India smh."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp69rfb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">fvckyes</a></p>Keep It Going, Keep It Going
<p>"Running 45 minutes to one hour most days for the last four weeks." -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp5uufd?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">InbhirNis</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"That's brilliant!! Geesh if you can keep that up, even if it becomes just a few times a week you are adding YEARS to you lifespan, as well as LIFE!" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp6gjdv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">BlueLunarStar</a></p>Pristine Extremities
<p>"I been biting my nails all of my life and have finally stopped. I always feel a little silly to show my friends and be like, look, I have nails!" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp64l2e?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">mobiuthuselah</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Hey that's awesome! I've been biting my nails for like 20 years, it is a HARD habit to break. 👏👏" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp8cu86?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">takethehiddenpaths</a></p>1, 2, 3
<p>"I did three loads of laundry today. Folded and put away too!" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp5tmtb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">rockbiter81</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Is..is that humanly possible? I mean put away and everything?" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp71hfd?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">AtheneSchmidt</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Several years ago, when I was majorly depressed, laundry was the hardest thing to do. It felt never <a href="https://ending.to/" target="_blank">ending.</a> To this day, keeping on top of laundry is like saying 'I'm doing ok' for me."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Doing three loads, folding AND putting away is amazing from my perspective! Congrats! Good job!!" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp7bebe?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Smartass_Narrator</a></p>Step One, Check
<p>"I've been making a point to try and shower every day."</p><p>"It doesn't seem like much, but when I'm going through a rough bout of depression - it's the biggest accomplishment I can muster and I'm very proud of myself and my current level of stinky-ness"</p><p>"(current stink level: not stinky!! Yay)"</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp61um4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">datCHEESElife</a></p>Upswinging
<p>"Drug addict for the last 10 years, tomorrow marks 2 months clean. May not sound like a long time but it's longest I've gone ever" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp601uu?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">yo_Slick</a></p><p>"Been an alcoholic for 9 years. 2 weeks sober tomorrow" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp5v4ol?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">IscreamwhenIsh**</a></p>Here's to You Making It
<p>"today is my 26th birthday and I'm still around for it" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp5uq5b?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">b4byd0t</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"I've been depressed for decades. I just turned 49 four days ago and I never thought I'd get here. It's been rough for most of those years, but I'm still here and I think of all the people I've helped that wouldn't have happened and it gives me a purpose. Do the same."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Think about anything you've done, even if it's just giving directions to a stranger. You helped that person get to where they needed to be. If you weren't there, they might still be lost now." -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/luddci/whats_a_small_achievement_you_would_like_a_pat_on/gp7yyjw?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">eddyathome</a></p>Time and dedication is critical to learning new skills.