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RULES (updated 01/22/25)
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I got really sick and debilitated. Got a grim prognosis that I'd just get worse. Got me to really take my health seriously and do all I personally could through a lot of trial and error to see what might make for a better quality of life. Lost massive weight, kept it off long-term, defied all expectations for over 2 decades, did some extraordinary stuff I'd probably not have attempted if not faced with the end of my life as I've known it.
After many years of working marketing for high tech firms, with an ever-increasing salary until it hit mid six-figures, I had a complete meltdown and dropped that work entirely, with no employment prospects and no idea of what to do for money, living off my savings for a year.
This enabled me to finally take the plunge and move half a world away (teaching English at first) to reconnect with my roots. I've been here now for almost 24 years and haven't been happier. I even returned to marketing (well, market consultation) in 2016 and managed to somehow not have a second meltdown.
I think the worst may have been my dad dying suddenly when I was a teenager and can't really think of anything good that came from that.
But my ex getting abusive was traumatic all round for me & the kids so maybe that was worse, and it did have some good knock-on effects - I got my older two kids into colleges away from home so they could be away from him and away from having to help with the younger ones, eventually got the rest of us out and wow did my life take a turn for the better. While his fell apart completely, which (while it's not a positive development) did give me confidence that he was actually the problem.
I'm sorry that happened and I'm glad you survived. Well done for getting your kids safe, you're an inspiration as a parent. Have you read Why does he do that? it's the greatest book on domestic abuse ever written
Had a serious car crash that would have gone fatal if I was just a bit unlucky... That was one month after I got my first car. I think after that I quickly became an insanely good & safe driver
Got cancer and the medicine turned me into a woman
Woah. How does that work?
t blockers are a big part of prostate treatment, my testosterone went from a score of 652 to 5 on the blockers after 18 months I cracked and started to feel feminine, I liked it, then I started to take estradiol , can't believe I get to live my last few years this way, Really lucky
If you get splashed with hot water, do you turn back into a guy?
Considering the shower temperatures of my wife and all the girlfriends I had before her I am almost 100% sure that's hot water would not change much. Maybe very cold water?
Ranma's curse wouldn't know what a shower is though. It just knows what Ranma would consider hot/cold.
Welp, this was the biggest whoooosh I've ever seen. Someone from the Blahaj communities makes what I thought might be a trans-based anti-joke, and I get the backlash for responding with a good-faith-based anime joke?
Mice got all inside my 2016 car. Passenger seat belt set off the airbag light. Turns out they chewed up some wires. Dealership found mouse evidence under almost every panel front to back and decided to total the car.
The dealership and KBB quoted about 7 grand for the car, but insurance gave me nearly 13 grand as the payout. That money plus some of my saving went straight into buying a new car. Fully paid up front.
I was real sad at first to have my car be totaled, but after getting the phone call saying how much the payout would be, I didn't mind so much. Getting a new car had been on my mind for a while, so it ended up working out perfectly in the end.
I ran out of money.
Couldn't pay the bills
Rent was due.
Could barely afford to get to work.
I broke up with my sponge of a gf moved out of the flat, took a month to save some money and started again.
Best result I've ever had.
Yes, it's so vital to remove those who pull us down!
My brother pushed me through a glass window and I legally died for 12 seconds and received over 200 stitches.
My mom and dad both come from big families so when the gifts started coming in, the look on my older brother's face was so satisfying to me. It was like my own special birthday and Christmas presents rolled into one.
Fought eviction and lost. Got dragged, bad. Triggered a cascade failure of emotional distress. Reunited with my estranged mother after nearly 20 years; she helped save me.
Fell very sick and was diagnosed with a rare condition. It's allowed me to be more honest about how I'm feeling generally. And the lawsuit I won in regards to the whole thing allows me to live a modestly comfortable life whether working or not.
Wow, interesting! May I ask what you have, purely out of curiosity?
... the condition, not the money, of course. But if you want to mention that too, that'd be fine.
Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Basically, the artery running between my heart and lungs just started closing itself up for no discernable reason. That means rhat my body isn't getting nearly enough oxygen and that the right side of my heart is working itself to failure to try to compensate.
I've never heard of that. It sounds terrifying. How did that lead to a lawsuit?
Accidental pregnancy gave me an awesome family that i didn't know i wanted. I'm thankful every day.
discover i have languge diffculties when i was 23 years old (parents never said anything to me). foguht it was normal to just not understand anything or if someone talks to me i just forget anything they say to me, and every big word is so hard.
helped my depression alot
It's always great and even life-changing to get accurate diagnoses!
Two years ago my son had an asthma attack –his first– that nearly killed him. He was hospitalized for a week, unable to breathe on his own.
Ouch... but wait, what was the best thing that came out of it all?
Well, he survived and we now have both preventative and emergency strategies in place. Plus the oxygen mask made his X-wing pilot Halloween costume a lock.
Pics or it didn't happen! lol jk. Glad it encouraged emergency protocols! Those are critical.
My first GF did me a solid my leaving me. I wouldn't have had the guts to do it though the relationship was already long gone.
Not sure if years of being bullied/slandered, being kidnapped, having to face my disability, or any of my brushes with death count. They all have challenged my sense of security in a way I keep in me.