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Hey Pandas, What’s A Moment In Your Life That Felt Insignificant But Changed Everything? (Closed)
Life has a funny way of turning small moments into major turning points. What’s one seemingly ordinary moment that ended up changing everything for you?
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#1
The time I broke my own rule about answering my phone. I had caller ID, and the rule was if I didn't know the person who was calling, I let it roll to voicemail. My phone was set to ring four times before rolling over, and for no reason I can figure I picked up the call right on the fourth ring.
Background: I'd spent the day at a copy place because I didn't have a computer, and I was looking for a job. I'd placed a personals ad a month before and hadn't checked for responses until that day. There had been one response that was now a month old, and I was intrigued by what the sender wrote, so I replied with "Sorry it took so bloody long to get back to you. . ."
And he called me back. We celebrated our 25th anniversary in June.
So, answering a phone call from a stranger led to me meeting my husband.
Final score:
5points
Inigo Montoya 4 months ago
Turning down a job at Microsoft in 1990, because I wanted to design computer hardware instead of software. I ended up at a string of tiny high tech startups, all of which failed. I made okay money but definitely not rich. Meanwhile, a friend took the job I refused, and quickly became ridiculously wealthy from Microsoft stock options (built a large mansion on Lake Washington, got a high end yacht, massive investment portfolio, etc). While I don't necessarily regret the decision, I do wonder about how radically different my life might be if I had worked there.
Patrick Palmer 4 months ago
It's 1978, I went to a party in a city one hour away from home, with some army buddies. Drank too much, decided not to drive home with those buddies. Their car went off the road into the woods, and their bodies weren't found for a decade. I was only 18.
RELATED:
#2
I had a painting studio in NYC for about 2 years, when the owner told me I had to leave. 4 days later, he came to my studio to apologize and said I could stay. I could not believe my response. I said "no thanks Joe, I've made other plans". I immediately turned around to see who said that!!!! It couldn't have been me...I would never give up my studio.
A few days later, I went to France for a painting workshop in The Loire Valley, in some obscure town....(since I didn't have a studio anymore). I wound up buying a house there, and lived my dream of painting in the French countryside for over 20 years.
Final score:
4points
#3
I read a novel called 10:59 by N. R. Baker. It was brilliantly written, funny and clever, but I didn't think much more about it until about a week later. Suddenly it started striking chords all over the place, everywhere I went I was thinking about the theme it focuses on. I won't give anything away, but look at reviews (Amazon, Goodreads) if you want to know more. Astonishingly good book and it completely changed the way I look at society now..
Final score:
4points
B (Submission author) 4 months ago
I'd honestly like to understand why anyone would downvote this..? I'm not advertising the book, I'm just saying how much it changed my life. Some people need a bit of perspective.
Sarah 4 months ago
Agreed. I’ve looked it up on Amazon and ordered it! Arrives tomo!
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#4
First day of high school, I threw the basketball back to the guys on the court. It bounced off the head of some short chick in front of me. 30 years later we're still best friends (she claims to have no memory of this--obviously I gave her amnesia).
Final score:
2points
#5
Skipping school to go see my sis in uni, was actually scouting the uni. I met her colleagues that day, one of which I married years later. Neither of us finished that particular uni, we switched into other ones and graduated there instead
Final score:
2points
#6
My oldest daughter was home for the weekend from university and my youngest daughter had her friend spending the night. I awakened in the middle of the night and found the spot next to me empty. I wondered where my husband was. He wasn't in the bathroom and so I went downstairs to look in the kitchen to see if he wanted a midnight snack. He wasn't in the kitchen and I was getting very worried about him. I started to look in the family room and then I heard a loud moan. Immediately, there were more moans that followed and I rushed down the hall to the reading room and burst in the door, thinking he was having a heart attack. Instead there he was with the phone in one hand and I thought he was calling for help . . . that was when I noticed his pants down around his ankles and his own "joystick" in his other hand working it for all he was worth! On the computer screen was definitely p**n. I ran up the stairs and locked the bedroom door. I called our phone carrier and told them it was an emergency and to break into my husband's connection to make sure he was okay. This was over 20 years ago when they would honor such a request. The next day I started to look for "clues" and I found out through receipts that he'd been enjoying "nooners" with his secretary. When he was served with divorce papers a month later at his office, I think he might have had a real heart attack, sad to say he didn't but he wishes to this day that he had!
Final score:
-1point
#7
Trying to distill it to one moment is short sighted. For me: getting into a Ph.D. program, getting fired and working as a bookkeeper where I could have taken off with $150K, the ten times I've moved across the country and met a lot of new people. Getting married and divorced, representing myself in the process. Five months and five days in the Henrico Hilton and having to completely start over.
So yes, each of those were part of my changes in life. There were not insignificant. Meeting my good friend Keith by happenstance was insignificant at the moment, but he has been a great friend.
Final score:
-2points
What do you think ?
Corbmi 4 months ago
I sent my brother an email about running a half marathon together. He crossed the finish line and dropped dead. Who I used to be died that day. It's been years since this happened and I still think about how much damage that email did to my family.
Orwell 4 months ago
Oh geez. You're blaming yourself? If it hadn't been the run, it would have been something else. Heart disease is often undetected, especially in the young, outwardly healthy population. Please, please allow yourself to see that his death was not your fault. Peace to you.
Load More Replies... Corbmi 4 months ago
I sent my brother an email about running a half marathon together. He crossed the finish line and dropped dead. Who I used to be died that day. It's been years since this happened and I still think about how much damage that email did to my family.
Orwell 4 months ago
Oh geez. You're blaming yourself? If it hadn't been the run, it would have been something else. Heart disease is often undetected, especially in the young, outwardly healthy population. Please, please allow yourself to see that his death was not your fault. Peace to you.
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