We all have certain things about ourselves we would love to change.
Many aspects of our bodies, inside and out is the first thing to come to mind.
And what's frustrating is that many of those things we're passed down to us thanks to DNA.
Certain diseases and bodily aspects "run in the family."
Which often feels like a cosmic joke.
We have to learn to embrace it.
So let's do some venting...
Redditor dump_acc_91 wanted to hear about what generational issues have been passed along to many of us.
"Which sh**ty genetics did you inherit?"
My eyes. One droops, seems to be a paternal side issue. I'm looking into eye surgery but it's expensive.
Head to Toe
the addams family remix GIFGiphy"Hair on every inch of my body except for the top of my head."
elgatogordo19
"Me too... And I'm a lady. Thankfully, due to the wonders of laser hair removal, no one can tell anymore that I used to look like the love child of a yeti and cousin It."
LilPeaHen
Drenched
"Excessive sweating."
mrzpzp
"Same and the treatments are considered cosmetic where I live. I just want to sweat a normal amount and not have to change my clothes multiple times a day like a normal person. lol"
Kyubey4Ever
"Same! My mom could stand in the sun for 2 hours not breaking a sweat while I will be drenched when the temperature rise by one f**king degree so thanks dad."
lawsuy
Scars of the past...
"Severe acne when I was a teen that left behind scars."
DeathSpiral321
"Acne that forgot to leave with the rest of puberty is also not fun. I have the scars AND I have the angry zits that like to crop up along my bra line. At least at this point, my face is taking the least of it and I don't have deep pockmarks or scarring there. But I don't wear plunging necklines because my chest is a mixture of new and old scars."
ConniveryDives
Brush Away
"Teeth. I brush using an electric toothbrush for 2 minutes twice a day using prescription toothpaste, I floss twice a day, I've had braces and I floss under the permanent retainers once a day, I wear my night retainer every night and clean it every morning, have a dedicated tongue brusher and scraper that I use as needed, I go to the dentist twice a year and get fluoride treatments, I don't drink soda or eat excessive sugar, and I still have cavities."
"I had to get a root canal that ended up failing (missed by the guy who did the root canal and 3 separate dentists) and when the cap eventually rotted off I had to get an implant which got infected, then got infected again, then was deemed chronically infected and had to be removed. Now my wisdom teeth are acting up and need to be removed. I am so f**king sick of putting in so much time, energy, and money to be below par with most of the rest of the world I'm only 33 ;_;"
NeedsItRough
Bad Breed
Red Blood Cells Sickle Cell GIF by DiscoveryGiphy"My parents met in their 20s, bonded over how they both have sh**ty circulation and everyone in their families has crappy circulation, and were like ‘I know, let’s breed!’. Went as you’d expect."
cateml
Bad circulation sucks. People don't understand the issues it causes. All of these can be difficult to deal with.
Bad Moves
poop toilet GIF by Poo~PourriGiphy"Dad has IBS-D, mom has IBS-C. My GI said you’d think they’d meet somewhere in the middle and give you regular bowel movements. Sadly not, I’m also a C."
Torshii
Issues of the Mind
"Likely Alzheimer's. Both grandmas had it, my mom has it, and I'm in my early fifties and starting to feel the beginning of decline. Frankly, I'm scared sh**less."
f_leaver
"I'm in the same boat, 2 generations in my family are diagnosed with it on my mother and father's side. Lucky me it's was late in life for both sides of the family, but I've always had notoriously bad luck so we'll see. If you haven't already, I'd definitely suggest seeing a neurologist sooner rather than later."
Taz447
It's gone...
"Hair loss."
Girlinda7
"Me too, but it's not a full bald. It's much thinner hair by my crown and down the middle of the top of my head. There's still hair there, but if you look at my head from above you can see that the hair there is much sparser."
potatoluIz
"My wife says it not a big deal but I always tell her she would be freaking out if she started to lose her hair too. Hair means just as much to men as it does to women. Confidence killer."
YM1979
Painful Endings
"I'm slowly going blind from RP. Thanks mom. My spinal discs are deflating and pinching off my nerves, Thanks dad."
ruzzerboo
"My son has RP as well. He is blind and uses a cane. He has a good government job, is married with two children. There is no cure but maybe someday. They are always working on trying to find a way to fix the retinal cells that are dying. It will happen but I am not sure if it will be this century."
LazyBox2303
Evolution
Come On Reaction GIFGiphy"Half of my face has my mom's bone structure, the other half my dad. Come on, evolution, I thought this was all about symmetry. OH and they both have addictive personalities which makes substance abuse almost instinctive. Luckily I was a pothead instead of an alcoholic or pill popper. We’re all doing better now LMAO!"
vashonnn
Form the start...
"Hard to tell what was shi**y genetics and what was a result of my mother smoking like a chimney throughout the pregnancy."
TirayShell
"Same. And she recently admitted she drank 2 beers a day as well with me so that's cool. It's a miracle that I'm a functional human."
pennylane3339
Generations
"It's alcoholics all the way down."
faceeatingleopard
"Alcoholism going back multiple generations on both sides of my family. So well documented that one of my great grandfathers was written about in The NY Times back in his day, for a few of his drunk antics. My mother got dementia from alcohol-related brain damage before 45. I just don’t drink at all, I know it’s there waiting for me."
amarg19
barely function
"The gift of over thinking (anxiety)."
Username-xxx
"I feel your pain. It takes a lot for me just trying to function since covid. Social media/news organizations don't help at all."
"Half the population is becoming desensitized, emotionless, and seriously lacking any empathy while the other half can barely function due to the stress of the state of world politics/job market/just trying to survive. The world was not like this 20 years ago, though the signs were there and were being ignored. I want a restart."
CocoScruff
The Slip
"My back went out in my 20s, and wasn't getting better. After a while I couldn't stand up straight, and had to get it scanned. The found the channel in my spine that the nerve goes through is 1/4 the size of most people's, so the very minor disc slip I'd had became a major problem."
"They wound up having to carve that channel (dunno what it's called, sorry) wider. Instant relief, but I now have a pretty weak back that's prone to going out. I recover with rest, now, thank goodness, whereas before I wouldn't. Anyway, that's probably my worst thing, genetically speaking. Bad spine."
Coygon
Blow Ups
"Anger. My father gets angry and used to get violent and even beat up my mom and us kids. My first reaction for anything is anger but over the years I've tried to control my anger as much as possible and I'd say I'm doing a much better job than before."
peoplecallmedude797
Everything
"Being unusually hairy, oily, and large framed for a woman. It's a thing with my family, none of the women in it are exactly the picture of traditional feminine beauty. I have to wear guy's sizes in shoes because my feet are too wide for most women's shoes."
alufangirl1993
Life sucker punches everyone...
"A very rare recessive progressive genetic disorder. I'm a carrier. My wife also is a carrier. Incidence of being a carrier is over 1 in 1,000,000. Unfortunately for our kids, they have a 1/2 chance of being carriers, 1/4 chance that they won't, and 1/4 chance that they'll inherit the double recessive gene and manifest the disorder. 2 out of our 4 kids have manifested the disorder and their life expectancy is 10-12 years. Life sucker punches everyone."
mbstone
It's all a mess...
"Short, acne, small boobs, crooked teeth and underdeveloped/too far back jaw (they got mostly fixed with braces), thin hair, mental illness, scoliosis, tiny toes (what the f**k is up with that, I get too many comments about my baby feet) Can't think of anything else a the moment. It's like I won the reverse genetic bingo. If this was medieval times I would definitely be the repulsive town witch."
amputatedsnek
Well, we are who we are, for better or worse. Let's make the most of it.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.
