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Life is full of choices we make every day. Most of them are small, like deciding what you want to eat for dinner or what flavor of toothpaste to buy. But others, the big ones, have the power to completely redirect the course of your life.
Recently, people in this popular Reddit thread were sharing stories about exactly that. But instead of discussing their own experiences, they reminisced about the wrongdoings of others, which left their lives completely in shambles.
Scroll down to find the most chilling ones that might make you reconsider your own big choices.
Bored Panda also got in touch with No_Potential6463, the person who started this discussion in the first place.
You can find our conversation with them below!
Discover more in 40 Of The Quickest Ways People Ruined Their Perfectly Good Lives
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#1
Mom had an affair and abandoned our family for said affair partner when I was a baby. Thought the grass was greener. Turns out the guy she left for was a raging alcoholic who just never could clean up. Pawned her jewelry for booze after he lost his job, hired escorts, the works. Put my mom through h**l. Ended up dying of liver failure and my mom is alone now. I think the guilt and shame has caught up to her. I’m not angry anymore. She made a mistake, but it has been one of the biggest lessons in my life. My dad has never spoken one bad word of her in my 35 years of life. He’s incredible and I’m thankful everyday he raised my brother and I.
Amanda Reinstatler 2 months ago
Haing an affair and abandoning your whole family seems like a lot more than just "a mistake". Mistakes are not deliberate, and that woman made a LOT of choices to end up where she did.
RELATED:
#2
Back when I was delivering pizzas in a fairly nice area, some kid put six rounds of .380 auto in my chest to steal my camero. Later found out this kid had a full ride at UF, straight A student, from a very wealthy family. Just started rolling with a bad crowd I guess. Got caught when he brought the car home, and the next morning it went out on the news. His own dad turned him in. Aside from some wicked scars, I made a full recovery.
Amanda Reinstatler 2 months ago
That actually says a lot about the dad....so sick of trust fund b!tches getting away with everything
#3
This is from someone who wrote into an advice column but it has stuck with me lo these many years. The guy wrote about how he had begged his wife to swing with the couple next door. She was **deadset against it but he pestered her about it for a couple of years** and she finally, **reluctantly**, agreed. When the time came, the guy was very disappointed to find the neighbor’s wife was not as “tight” as he had anticipated. Meanwhile his neighbor was giving his wife what looked to be an out of body experience. It made him EXTREMELY angry and resentful of his wife for enjoying it so much. I think he said something like “I can’t even look at her without wanting to punch her in the face.” The columnist told him off and advised him to file for divorce. The guy wrote an update stating a few months after the “swinging” occurred, the neighbors divorced and his wife left him for the guy next door. They married soon after. He felt blindsided and betrayed.
Amanda Reinstatler 2 months ago
"This was supposed to make ME happy - not HER!! waaaaaaahhhhhhhhh" HAHAHAHAHAAA
We reached out to redditor No_Potential6463, to find out what inspired them to take such a question to Reddit. "I want to avoid making mistakes in my life. I think there’s a lot to learn from the stories people have told, which serve as a reminder of the dangerous choices that must constantly be avoided."
#4
There's a video of a guy who goes to slash the tires on a bus. Bus tires hold a h**l of a lot more energy than car tires so instead of a hiss when he stabs the tire, his arm gets blown off and his body is thrown to the ground.
#5
Narcissist/ egotistical brother-in-law disrespected my mother-in-law and wife (fiancée back then), claimed he was better than everyone else and that his friends were his only true supporters/ family. Moved out of their apartment to "launch his band" and "get out of the s****y and ghetto city" he grew up in. He's homeless now in the same city.
#6
when my 27 year marriage was ending, my soon to be ex husband, who did not know how to handle money at all, asked me to make a list of how to keep his bills paid. I did. Divorce involves #1) me taking half the marital assets and b) he has to pay his own bills now. When he discovered this he was very bitter and decided he was just "not gonna do anything that b***h says" as per the list of how to pay his bills. He was sued and had his pay garnished, lost his job, his car, his home and his entire support network all within a year because he didnt want to handle his finances the way I told him to, after he ASKED ME HOW TO DO IT! That one decision ruined his life.
When asked if they noticed any patterns or behaviors that tend to result in people ruining their lives, they said, "The most common answer was drugs, especially heroin and meth. Addiction is very serious and can destroy everything someone has worked for."
According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, over 70,000 people die from drug overdoses in the US annually. And this number is unfortunately growing, with deaths increasing at an annual rate of 4.0%.
#7
Guy I went to middle school with met a 13 year old on Fortnite and traveled from Pennsylvania to Georgia to try and hook up with him. Kid understandably got spooked and told the cops, who nailed him in a sting down there when he'd already traveled down. Turns out he had a COLLECTION of CP on his computers. Is currently doing 15 years in federal prison. He had a good job in a private school and was a basketball coach, and well respected before then. The scary thing was that he was also a tutor at a special needs school on top of that, and if he'd wanted to take advantage of that he could have. As an aside, he was a complete d*******g to me since I wasn't one of the popular clique, so any tiny shred of sympathy I'd have for him was never there to begin with. Enjoy prison, chomo.
#8
Dude I worked with decided to tell a racist joke to a very high up admin, who was also a black woman, and her lawyer. Fired, bye career
#9
My middle school principal. He had a wife, kids and a house. He lost it all when he was caught trying to pay a 15 year old for s*x that turned out to be an undercover officer. He got charged and was put on probation for 3 years, lost his job, most likely won't ever see his wife or kids again and I doubt any place will hire him
Redditor believes that at first, these stories may seem bizarre and entertaining, but they definitely can help raise awareness, especially for young people who are just entering the world of relationships, drugs, and independence.
Jackson House addiction and recovery centers second this and recommend discussing your knowledge and experience with people around you.
Unfortunately, common stigmas still surround this topic, so spreading awareness in your community or on social media can help combat this and encourage more recovered people to step forward and share their own stories with those who need it the most.
#10
Friend graduated with me from pharmacy school, we were all set to start making 130k+ a year for the rest of our lives. He sold 2.9 million dollars of oxycodone to an undercover DEA agent like 3 months into his first job. What a total idiot. 19 year prison sentence, lost his license, obviously, so now he'll be a 45 year old unemployable felon when he gets out instead of a respected healthcare professional with a good wage.
#12
Pound a bottle of Jack. Hop in car with girlfriend. Drive 100 mph. Hit tree. K**l girlfriend. Breathe through tube for rest of life. Quadriplegic. He was 16 at the time.
#13
*World of Warcraft*. He had a full scholarship to a very good university that his family could not have afforded otherwise. He started playing WoW 60 hours a week and got expelled halfway though his second year.
#14
A patient of mine when I was a student nurse. 19 years old, male, dove head first into unfamiliar body of water. Instant C3-C4 quadraplegic. I was assigned to him for an entire rotation on the rehab floor. His girlfriend came every evening for a few days, then skipped a day, then skipped a couple, then didn't come again the rest of the time I was assigned to him. He was heartbroken, but she was younger than him and she looked very upset and scared whenever she was there. We had to clean him up after bowel movements (sometimes needed an enema to even have one). One day we were cleaning him, holding him over on his side so we could do it, and he broke down sobbing. It was so terrible. Over the years I've wondered what happened to him. Wish I had made a note of his name so I could have followed up.
#15
A friend of mine freshman year in college, took all the money his dad had given him for college and bought a ring and proposed to his girlfriend, who was a senior in high school. she said she wanted to wait until she graduated, which he took as a no, and in a fit of anger, threw the ring into the nearby lake. His plan was his dad would be so happy he was getting married, that he would reimburse all the money he had given him. Instead, the ring was gone, he had to drop out of college because he couldn't pay, and last I saw, he was working at a convenience store in town. Even though she said wait, she still tried to get back together with him afterwards, and he said no, you weren't interested when I proposed to you, you won't be interested again.
#16
Impulsive decision to street race their friends on a country road. Hit a tree and and managed to k**l everyone in the car. From bad decision to death was less than a minute. I didn't so much see it happen, as I got to comfort the best friend of one the kids in the aftermath.
#17
Guy wiped out on the road in front of me in his motorbike. His chin got caught on the metal rung used as a step at the back of a truck in front of him. I'd never seen someone literally lose their head until that moment, and I'll be ok if I never see it again.
#18
Goody two shoes mom of two lil kids, never a party girl, she’s the one who had 1 glass of wine and called it a night. 40th bday, her friends got c*****e. She’d never tried it. Did a line at home with friends. Fentanyl… Dead. Kids have no mom, and she gets labeled as a junkie.
Amanda Reinstatler 2 months ago
This is AWFUL!!!!! I know someone else who OD'd on that sh!t : (
#19
Not me directly. But I remember a few years ago, a colleague was late for work due to her train being delayed. She was coming from outside London and someone tried to take a shortcut during morning rush hour; by running over the tracks. A train hit them, they survived but lost their legs. I dunno why but that’s always haunted me. Especially when I am running late, and there is the temptation to drive faster or take a risk of some kind. It’s not worth it.
#20
I knew a funeral director who took a ring from the hand of a deceased person at the cemetery after the family had left the graveside and before the body was lowered into the ground. He did some jail time and lost his license and livelihood.
#21
A woman I worked with got her nursing license and got a job a month later ( where I worked) she proceeded to steal a bunch of pills that day and was fired and lost her license.
#22
Kid was messing with me in high school, I stood up for myself. Teacher broke it up. Kid rounded up his boys and tried to run up on me same day at lunch. Two of the three guys he was with were old team mates of mine and backed off immediately, third guy left too. Kid pulled a knife on me in front of the resource officer, got tased and sent off to juvie. He's been in and out of prison since and on hard drugs. That was 16 years ago. Edit: honestly I should be the last person defending this guy but the assumptions of mental health issues or just being on the path to drugs and alcohol are nonsense. This guy was a decent baseball player and I don't know of any substance use in school, no mental health issues to speak to other than being an a*s and was during a time where I'm sure both our hormones were raging. I know I had issues with my behavior at that age. I'm not sure why he picked on me or how it got that far that fast but you all are just jumping to conclusions that aren't inline with what I know is true. This guy just made a big mistake and it seems to have snowballed his life away, it's not an uncommon situation. I now work in behavioral health and I've seen it a fair few times. Could he have had these issues and I didn't know? Sure but as the guy who was there it doesn't feel like it. The prison system in this country does not help people.
Amanda Reinstatler 2 months ago
Prison in the US is not for rehab or even punishment - like everything in this God forsaken country - its ALL FOR PROFIT NOW
#23
Taking out his motorcycle and thinking he doesn't need a helmet because he's just going a couple blocks.
#24
A friend became a manager where she worked, so her work friend became her employee. Dude was older than her by like 15 years and obsessed with her, but she had no idea. She was a friend of his family, an auntie to his kids, she would have brunch with his wife regularly. At one point, he got his hands on her keys while she was working and he had a copy made of her house key. He waited years for the opportunity to break into her house when she was away on holiday and he was seen by a neighbour, who called her. He went from married with a happy family and a steady, government job to divorced and unemployed, he lost his house and custody of his kids in the divorce and now lives in a one bedroom apartment in another town.
#25
My cousins wife. She was a neighbor of his since they were pretty young, and we all knew her from when she was a little girl. She grew into a beautiful woman, they started dating, married ( I was their best man), and had beautiful twin girls. They had a very nice suburban home. She somehow got involved in the Denver m**h scene. Abandoned her husband, her kids, and was living under an underpass somewhere in Denver, just a shell of her former self. Then we got word that she had died. Heartbreaking.
Amanda Reinstatler 2 months ago
I dont understand WHY people try that sh!t. NOBODY "dabbles" in m**h. Youre either a strung out a****t or youve never tried it. There is no casual weekend m**h user
#26
Guy in my high school went hill jumping (speeding in a really hilly area outside DC, hit the steep hill fast enough and its like a ramp and you get some air) and flew over a hill into the back of a car stopped behind a bus. Mom and kids in the car were k****d.
#27
A well-respected pastor in my town got caught having an affair. He had a wife and 2 kids. Wife left him, girlfriend left him, wife got the house in the divorce, he lost his job and only sees his kids twice a month. It’s all completely his own fault and I don’t necessarily feel bad for him, but man, you have never seen a more broken shell of a person. When he’s not with his kids the little time he gets with them, he stays holed up in his apartment, doing the work from home job he managed to get. He keeps completely to himself, barely goes out, is super quiet when he has to be out, and looks really rough. He’s like a ghost just floating around. The few friends who go and check on him every once in a while say that his kids are probably the only reason he’s still alive
#28
Former Redditor SpontaneousH. He took h****n for an AMA to prove it wasn't as good/bad as everyone said. He got hooked and blogged his whole downward spiral. He got rehab and was better last i heard, but it went from "dude, bad idea" to 'you can't stop watching the tragedy unfold before you" in no time
#29
Knew a military guy who solicited s*x on gov't computers and lost his wife and home after he was caught. Investigators found evidence of fraud and other stuff on his PC so he was charged for that too. While confined to quarters, he set a fire that could've endangered dozens so he caught even more charges. All of this he could've avoided just by using his personal phone/computer. I think society is probably better off w/ him getting caught though
#30
Smart Type-A student going to medical school, abused Adderall to keep up with the work load.. turned into a c*****e addiction, then m**h, then death. She was a wonderful person before all that
#31
When I worked in food service, one of the kitchen guys backflipped into a shallow lake and hit the back of his neck on the protruding supports for an old dock. I believe he was instantly rendered quadriplegic. That was maybe 15 years ago and I have no idea if he's still around, but he was a really nice guy, maybe late teens or early 20s. Saddest s**t I've ever had happen to anyone I knew.
#32
Gambling addictions! The UK is plagued by constant adverts for gambling sites, so many different types, and now you don’t have to leave your house or look anyone in the eye while you do it. Vaguely knew a guy who blew all of his (and his wife’s!) savings in the course of a single evening. All online while she was sat in the room. The addiction had been there for a while, but that was the big one. I’m pretty sure he spent more than they actually had. Lost everything - she left him and the rumours were that he was gonna lose his house. I left that job a while later, so no idea what became of either of them, but I doubt it was good.
#33
My ex wife. We had three small kids. Happy life single family home brand new Camry. Met an old friend, started doing speed, left me and the kids 6 months later. Fast forward 20 years. She is still a loser. Kids are grown. Don't want to visit her.
#34
Not really that fast but fast enough for how badly she ruined her life. Woman I knew got a near half a million windfall. She filed to divorce her husband, bought an expensive house, met a new guy became his sugar mama, got engaged to him after learning she was pregnant. All of that was in less than a year. In less than a year she had no money left, made no investments except for the house. Her ex was suing her for full custody and attempted parental alienation, and her young fiance no longer wanted to marry. And it wasn't because she was broke (there were still things to sell) but because she had became abusive towards him. Btw ex-husband did get full custody because go figure she had been abusive towards him and report from the new fiance really helped out. I think she got supervised visits.
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