People Who Took A Huge Risk In Life Reveal How It Paid Off

People don't always make the best decisions, and the impulsive ones can be some of the worst. Impulsive or risky decisions don't always lead to disaster, though.
Positive changes can also come from knowing that something is a risk and deciding to go for it anyway.
Whether it's quitting one job for another or finally working up the nerve to tell someone you like them, some of the best things in life come from taking risks.
Reddit user u/mr_antonius asked:
"What situation were you in where the outcome was questionable/risky, and you just decided and said, "f*ck it" and went with the risky choice? How did that turn out for you?"
10. Unexpected Meetings
I went out for a hike and somehow along the way I had lost the keys to my car, and it had started raining heavily and now I was stranded by my car with no way to get in, and since this was several years ago, I didn't have a cellphone. I was weighing my options, figuring out where I could walk to to find a pay phone, when someone asked if I needed a ride. Every thing about the situation said I should say no, I was alone, no one knew where I was, and hitching a ride with a stranger in an old beat up pick up is a classic way to end up a missing person. But I was cold and wet and not wanting to make a long hike in the hopes of finding a phone. So I hopped in.
Turns out, he was just a nice guy willing to give a ride to my place and then back to my car. And it gets better, along the way he was telling me about the charity group he worked for and it really sparked my interest, and seeing that my construction skills would fit in with what they were doing, I decided to apply.
I ended up moving to southern Africa, where I would spend some of the best years of my life, meeting my future wife, making great friends, etc... The entire path of my life would be completely different if I had never gotten into that truck.
That said, I am not endorsing hitchhiking with random strangers.
9. Honesty Is Usually The Best Policy
I was working through an extremely demanding emergency in a university IT department with a very capable co-worker. We resolved it successfully against many difficulties. The director of the department personally sought me out to offer congratulations and compliments. I decided "f*ck it, I'm going to tell him the truth," which was that I put in a lot of effort, but the real person who deserved credit was my co-worker, not me.
He looked at me for a second and said, "Son, many people wouldn't have said that the way you did. The next time we have a management opening, it's yours if you want."
8. Make Compromises
I found a posting for my dream job, except it only was 20 hours a week rather than 40. I said screw it and applied. I got the job, and I was able to drop down to 20 hours at the old job and 20 hours at the new job. Three months later, they offered me 40 hours at the new job and a sizable pay bump. Ten years later, I've been promoted 5 times, and I'm making more than double my starting wage. I'm so happy I took the risk with the hours.
7. Take The Chance
I was pretty hopelessly in love with my best friend of 5 years. I was so afraid that if I told him he would act awkward or he would leave me. I was also afraid that we might try dating and it wouldn't work out. One day I got the most courage I ever had and I told him. To my surprise, it wasn't awkward at all. And now we're getting married so I guess risking it all does work out sometimes.
6.
I moved to another country to live with my then-girlfriend. It was always going to have risks, and indeed we broke up 9 months after moving in together.
It's now 12 months after the break-up and I have a new job (which happens to be the highest paid job I've ever had, wheyyy), new friends, a new partner, I'm buying my first house, and I'm the happiest I've ever been. That risky choice led me to a dark place for a few months but I came back swinging.
Short story: 200% worth it.
Decided to risk a fart when I wasn't feeling too well at school. I suddenly had to go to the nurse's office and then home for some odd reason...
That really sucks, especially because sometimes a good fart is all you need to make all your gut pain go away, and when it betrays you you just want to die.
Vacationing in DC with some friends last year. Marijuana laws are shady AF out there...it's legal to smoke/have/gift, but not legal to sell it. So we googled around and found an underground "collective." You had to text them, and they would send you back an address. So we get the address, and call an uber.
We are 5 nerdy white guys in town for a Protest the Hero show to help you picture us. Well, we notice we are driving into the rather unsavory portion of DC. Like...boarded up windows and bars over those that aren't boarded and graffitied up. We decide we really don't want to get out here, but our Uber driver essentially kicks us out.
We immediately get swarmed by a group of 5 gangster looking people hitting us up for cigarettes and money...we weasel our way away and start walking towards the address. No car or transportation with pockets full of cash for some weed in the ghetto.
Well, we get to where we were supposed to go...a boarded up shop front with a 6'4 300 lb guy with dreads waves us over. We walk up to him, and he apparently knew why we were there...he takes us inside to a windowless lobby and tells us to get out our wallets...immediately knew we were getting f*cking robbed and possibly worse. I've seen the Wire and knew what Snoop did in buildings like this...I hand him my wallet and he rolls his eyes and says..."get your ID out fool."
He verifies we are all 21 and then opens a solid metal door. It was like a f*cking movie. he opens the door and Snoop dog is playing and there are 10 tables set up in a circle full of high quality bud and edibles and all sorts of things. We make our rounds, buy a bunch of stickers and pens. Got gifted our associated weed gifts for making purchases...got the f*ck out and got an uber back to our AirBnb and proceeded to party till we couldn't move.
That was a rollercoaster of emotions. Going from being so sure i was about to die to my first legal weed experience.
I asked if could go to the bathroom and the teacher said go right ahead
I had a job offer for a relatively safe job in my hometown. I was waiting to do a second interview for a job WAY above my experience level, at twice the salary, but at a city two hours away.
Job offer in my hometown couldn't wait until after I completed the second interview. I went f*ck it, turned it down, went for my other interview.
I now live at that that city two hours away, making more than I ever would as a starting position in my hometown.
Got locked out of house on a snowy night (I was also drunk and in my late teens). Decided to climb to the one window several floors up that I knew was open. While I was successful (and therefore didn't freeze). I think about that moment sometimes and absolutely cringe thinking on how it could have gone terribly wrong. Haven't done anything similar since.
Dating and the search for love and companionship... What a nightmare.
This journey plays out nothing like in the movies.
Every Prince or Princess (or everything in BTW) seems to have a touch of the psycho.
The things people say during what should be simple dinner conversation can leave a dining partner aghast.
Like... do you hear you?
Redditor detroit_michigldan wanted to discuss all the best ways to crash and burn when trying to make a romantic connection. They asked:
"You're on a date and it's going really great. What can another person say to ruin it completely?"
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"

Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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When we first meet someone–whether through mutual friends, at school, or in a new work setting–we generally feel people out to determine if they're worth getting to know.
While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"

Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Children tend to believe just about anything they hear.
That there are monsters under your bed, watching too much TV will make your head explode, and silly faces will be permanent if you make them too often.
The sky is truly the limit when it comes to silly things that children will believe.
Some call it naivitée, other's youthful innocence.
But it's hard not to look back with embarrassment on certain things we believed as a child, that today might simply seem dumb.
Redditor Disastrous_Toe_6548 was curious to learn the multitude of silly things people believed when they were children, leading them to ask:
"What's the dumbest thing you believed as a kid?"
Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
Silly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
So that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
The miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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