Every decision, big or small, shapes the trajectory of your life. Even seemingly insignificant choices can set off a chain reaction, leading to unpredictable outcomes you’ll feel for years. Someone sparked a fascinating discussion on Reddit recently, asking people about these types of tiny-yet-life-changing decisions. Here are 14 of the top responses.
14. The Dates That Defied Expectations
“I was doing online dating with no success and was ready to give up. I almost canceled my date out of pessimism but figured it was already scheduled. I’ll just go, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just take a break from dating. The date lasted about 8 hours, and 15 years later, we’re still together.”
“Oh, I love this. I had a similar experience with my now husband. Nine years ago, I almost canceled our first date after an exhausting few weeks of bad ones. And now we’ve been married for 5 years and have 2 kids.”
13. A Lifelong Love Affair With Art
“Took an art appreciation course in college. I had a career that had nothing to do with art, but I’ve spent at least part of every holiday since then touring museums in different world cities and various states and provinces in the US and Canada. It’s given me so much enjoyment in life.”
“I teach art appreciation and studio art classes. This made my whole day. It feels so good to see people find joy in art.”
12. How Profit Sharing Paved the Way for Retirement
“Started working at age 16. My supervisor suggested I sign up for “Profit Sharing,” a 401k precursor. Stayed with that company for 25 years and made a nice contribution to my retirement later in life.”
“I did the same thing. When it was time for my first raise, I was also eligible to sign up for profit sharing. An old timer told me to put the raise into the program because I wouldn’t miss the money. With the company match, it turned into over six figures by the time I left the company.”
11. The Unexpected Career Trajectory
“I took a job in an Emergency Room doing insurance paperwork. I thought, “Okay, but what happens before they get to the hospital?” That exposure led to a career as a 1st Responder. I never would have imagined I would be helping people in Emergencies. Been doing it every day for decades.”
10. A Water Bottle That Led to Marriage
“2015, in Ukraine. Vinnytsia, to be exact. I went to the shop to buy a bottle of water. No gas, no flavor..just a simple water bottle. I ended up getting married to the cashier who saw me a few times and was always curious to know what the **** I was doing in that part of the country.”
9. The Dinner Date That Sealed the Deal Between Coworkers
“I and two other coworkers decided to grab dinner after our shift. One ended up canceling, so I thought my other coworker would cancel, too. We were both hungry, so we decided to still grab dinner together. We’d been coworkers for over a year and have always gotten along, but this dinner felt like a first date. It was so enjoyable, and we talked so much that we didn’t realize the restaurant had been closed and the workers had been cleaning up around us (the servers were too nice to interrupt our conversation). He and I ended up falling in love soon after that. Been together for over 6 happy years and wouldn’t change a thing.”
8. The Unexpected Digital Romances
“I had a blog where I couldn’t figure out some HTML code, so I emailed the blog of another person who had figured it out, and they sent me the code. They lived about 1,000 miles from me and had never spoken before. Four years later, we’re married, bought a house, and have a child together.”
“Accepted an invite to some dude’s team on Overwatch (videogame). Now I live with him on the opposite side of the country, and we have two dogs and a Costco membership.”
7. A Train Ride that Changed Everything
“Took the wrong train in a new city to a minimum wage job that I didn’t want but needed at the time. I asked a random guy for directions when the phone’s GPS [was still awful]. He happened to be going in the same general direction. We rode a train together and nerded out on films we were into. He was an aspiring filmmaker (very beginnings of aspirations), and I was just a film nerd without any post-high school education or thought of “breaking into the industry.” We ended up becoming roommates and collaborators eventually. Sold our first film to IFC like 2 years ago.”
6. Bad Burger King Choice Leads to Marriage
“On a night out, I went to Burger King and at the last second decided to get chicken nuggets with my burger instead of chips. I ate the burger but didn’t feel like the nuggets by this point (and wished I’d gotten chips instead), so I asked the person opposite me on the bus if he wanted them (my exact words were, ‘ay lad, do you want my chicken nuggets’) he said yes, and we got talking. That was 16 years ago, and now we are married with a beautiful daughter.”
5. The One Trip That Changed Lives
“I was flying to Costa Rica to go backpacking south from there, but my sister told me to fly into Guatemala; I had to see it. So I did, and here I am still 10 years later, with a son and a life I never imagined.”
4. The Kindness That Came Back
“I chose to be nice to everyone in high school, even the kids people thought were weird. ****** my life up pretty bad 10 years ago, and I recently got a call asking if I wanted to train as a software developer by one of those kids. I was frying chicken in a gas station for scraps. The dude said he remembered me being smart and into that stuff and knew I could learn fast.”
3. A Journey of Redemption and Artistry
“I went to prison for a robbery. I did it. I was a heroin addict. After almost 5 years at a work center, I got a write-up that would make me stay in for a few months longer. The warden offered a deal that if I would paint a mural at a local high school of their mascot, they’d forgive the writeup. I had always been good at drawing (they knew that, which is why they asked) but had never done a mural. I figured out how to scale it up in my head and did it. I got out about 6 months later and made it my career. I’m now married, happy, and fully booked until the summer of next year for work and owning my own business. In September, I will have been out for 10 years.”
2. Another Unlikely Love Story
“I met a girl in a Physics of Sound course in college. She was a cute goth girl…and knew one of my favorite bands. I told my friend, “She’s the only person I’ve ever met who listens to this band!” He said we’d get married, but she had a boyfriend. Well, they broke up, and now we’re married. It’s such a wild course of events, too. We actually went to 2 separate colleges; they just shared a physics department. She was a linguistics major; I was in Audio Engineering. Her advisor told her it was an easy science class (it was not). So we studied together, and she later told me that I was actually studying and she was just copying my homework, lol. For anyone curious, the band was Poisonblack.”
1. The Injuries That Led to a Fairy-Tale Ending
“I broke my hand playing soccer in high school (fell, landed awkwardly). Consequently, all I could do for gym class was walk a loop around the track the entire class period until my cast came off. A girl had a cast on her broken finger (hers got accidentally closed in a car door), so she walked with me daily, and we talked and hit it off. 20+ years later, we’re married with a couple of kids.”
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE COMING UP:
10 Things People Do That Other People Think Are Stupid
Have you ever looked at someone and thought, “What on earth are you doing?” You’re not alone! Here are 10 things people do that others think are foolish…
10 THINGS PEOPLE DO THAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK ARE STUPID
10 Disturbing Secrets People Discovered About Their Friends or Family Members
Have you ever thought you knew someone, only to discover something that totally changed your opinion of them? Here are 10 disturbing secrets people on Reddit found out about their loved ones.
10 DISTURBING SECRETS PEOPLE DISCOVERED ABOUT THEIR FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS
10 Key Secrets to a Successful Relationship You Should Learn ASAP
How do some couples do it? What are their secrets to a happy, supportive, loving, and longstanding relationship? Find out here…
10 KEY SECRETS TO A SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIP YOU SHOULD LEARN ASAP
10 Things Attractive People Can Do That Ugly People Can’t (According to Reddit)
Beautiful people enjoy all sorts of additional perks that the rest of us don’t. Here are 10 of them, as noted by people on the internet!
10 THINGS ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE CAN DO THAT UGLY PEOPLE CAN’T (ACCORDING TO REDDIT)
10 Things That’ll Improve Your Life So Much You’ll Wish You Did Them Sooner
What improved your life so much, you wished you did it sooner?” That’s another question someone just posed on Reddit. Click below for the 10 best answers!
10 THINGS THAT’LL IMPROVE YOUR LIFE SO MUCH YOU’LL WISH YOU DID THEM SOONER
Source: Reddit.