78 Times People Took A Leap Of Faith And Ended Up Making Their Best Life Decisions

I was roaming the streets and eating scraps for years. Couldn't find a job no matter how hard I tried, and not having any skills in life or family (I was raised in foster care) surely didn't help.

One day, while looking for a restroom to relieve myself, I stumbled across a college that just so happened to have an open house enrollment going on, and figured that was the perfect excuse to enter the building and freeload off their toilets. Little did I know, however, that the universe had other plans for me. A guidance counselor had approached me and asked if I was here for open house. Being embarrassed to admit my true intentions, I told him I was and ended up joining him as he regaled the countless opportunities presented before me.

I was intrigued by their surgical technology program and decided to give it a shot. Needless to say, I had finally found my passion in life. Went to school for 18 months, plus an additional 4 months of internships, all while homeless. Upon graduation, I was offered a permanent job at the hospital I interned at, and after 4 years, I had enough cases to take the CSFA exam.

I have been a surgical assistant since, and I remind myself every day just how fortunate my life turned out. Now that I'm an old man, I feel I have enough experience to encourage others that it's never too late in life to strive for better. You just have to have patience, persistence, and passion.

6 years ago my art was stolen by 1000s of online shops. They printed my art on all kinds of products and sold them everywhere around the world. They made millions from it. I even saw people wearing my art on the street and saw it at markets and souvenir shops on vacation.

I tried to fight the theft by myself but gave up because it became too overwhelming. For every counterfeit item I got to remove, ten new ones popped up.

Then 2 yrs ago I started working with a law firm. 16 lawyers took down over 2000 shops to this date & recovered funds. They said it was the biggest case of art theft they have ever had to deal with and they’re still working on it!

After almost giving up and at some point even wanting to quit art, I just bought my own apartment with the money my lawyers recovered so far!

Artists: never give up fighting for your rights! You’re worth it!

I wasted my time "working" for them when I should have been getting an education. I am happy to announce that I finally got the guts to leave, moved across the country, and at 22 years old, I'm going back to University.

I tried again and this time it was a SUCCESS!

Heart disease runs in my family. My father had a heart attack when I was fourteen. I have two little girls and don't want to leave them early as my father did. After the birth of my second daughter, I knew something had to be done.

My family didn’t think it was important for me to learn life skills other than cooking and cleaning because I wasn’t the boy they wanted. I bought a fixer-upper house, and I’m slowly making it my own… one new skill at a time.
I don’t speak to them anymore.

It has officially been 18 months since I decided to cancel my nose job and lose a lot of money. It has been my biggest insecurity my whole life and I planned my rhinoplasty for 5 years.

As the date approached I realised the nose job would never actually make me happy because my issue wasn’t about my external appearance at all - it was much deeper and something cosmetic surgery wouldn’t fix.

Anyway, I am finally starting to love my nose and how it makes me unique. Getting a nose job was the best thing I never did.

B. Sc. Cybersecurity (First Class Honours). Excited for what’s to come next!

1) I said I have depression, not because I wanted to get attention or something like that. I said it so everyone could understand why I was happy.
2) Yes, I have severe depression. Psychiatrists are not supposed to say how bad your depression is. It was my clinical doctor who (by mistake) said it when I told him how much of the antidepressant I was taking (I'm taking the maximum safe dose). I don't actually like to talk about the specifics.
3) I'm following a treatment that is not working as intended. Just before my trip, my levels of a specific hormone were a bit off, so my doctor said that we're going to try a few things to see if I can get better when I get back.
4) I hate this. I hate that I can't have a normal life because of this. Making this trip was easy because I actually like to be alone, so escaping from everyone felt great. Yet, I still have my ups and downs. I tried to get out of bed early every day, and I still couldn't manage to do so. But I try to enjoy most of the day when I'm out. I've been in suicide watch more than once. It's horrible to try your best and yet some days you can't get out of bed, hating yourself because of it. Trying so hard to do it, but you just can't, like an invisible force is not letting you move.
5) I know that my depression is still here with me. And yes, maybe when I get back to my place it'll be hard, but thankfully I have a doctor, family, and friends who are going to help me out.

I think today I realised I'm not as depressed as I have been, but I've been locked into the depressed routine for so long. Especially through COVID. I live 5 minutes from here, and the only thing stopping me from enjoying it is me.

I cried after I took this picture. I thought it was lame that I was so proud of feeling happy that I had to share it. A glimpse of what happiness is like.

Last week, my girlfriend broke up with me. Instead of spiraling and drowning myself in alcohol, I spent my free time this week making this box and a bunch of cool pendants to fill it with. Still 18 months sober. 

I started working on my master's in space sciences and engineering. Follow your gut and do the thing.

I thought about giving up, but today I’m managing to live from my dream of being an illustrator.

Regime 1mg finasteride per day Switched from 5mg minoxidil to 2.5mg a few months ago and gains still been fine.

I feel happy like never before. Highschool, here i come!

It’s quiet and a little lonely but peaceful and i want to think i finally deserve some peace. I don’t have anyone to share it with,hope it’s ok here.

After having a baby, running a marathon seemed way less intimidating, but it still required a lot of physical and mental work. What a ride.

My dad has been really busy with work for the last 35 years. He worked in a company for 25 years and was never really happy. He has never had time to follow his passion for painting. He told me his dream was to master watercolor painting. He sent me this yesterday.

Safe to say, I am happier than I have ever been and I am SO lucky to have a view like this every day. It was ridiculously scary but the best decision I ever made.

This is my grandmother, Joan Alexander. She was denied the opportunity to graduate from the University of Maine in the 1950’s. She had done all the coursework, but was forbidden from student teaching because she was pregnant. This year, my aunt (her daughter) reached out to the university. They agreed subsequent life experiences counted for the student teaching, and she graduated in May!

I wanted to share what I think helped me in the very difficult times in my journey.
1. Believe in yourself. Don't ever stop. Tell yourself. Repeat it out loud. Look in the mirror. You got this.
2. Feel your feelings. I don't stress this enough. Even if you are crying for 3 months straight (I did), keep going. Feel the pain, sadness, anger, frustration, and the happy.
3. Find a schedule.
4. Love yourself. Keep loving yourself.

Growing my hair since 2018, sorry about the B&W filter, bit self conscious about having acne in my mid 30s.

I finally feel myself getting better! Life is good! 

I’ve been rotting in bed for a few months and physically couldn’t get myself to do anything about it, but today I chugged caffeine and put on a show on my TV and just kept moving. I feel like I can breathe.

One year alcohol free and never felt better! Far less anxiety, better self-esteem and mood, less tummy issues, better skin, more energy, and improved relationships. Couldn’t ask for more.

I couldn't do it because I was insecure and had all kinds of excuses. Since 2019, I've been fixing my life, and 2 weeks ago, I decided to start pursuing my dream. I have my first (paid) role tomorrow.

I know it’s not new advice, but considering how wildly expensive fast food has gotten since COVID, making myself make meals (including fast-food-inspired mock-ups) has given me more food, better food, and healthier food. Of course, it helps to enjoy cooking too (making virtually every layer of everything takes time), but the money you’ll save making things from scratch is no joke. But, it also helps that these dishes are also plant-based, so I’m saving a lot of money by subbing meat and dairy.

I went from spending any amount of extra income I had — and then some — on getting food delivered at least three days a week every week, and most of the time, I hated myself after I finished eating because of the money spent and/or the food being mediocre.

Today was the first day in many, many months that I've actually put effort into an outfit, tied my shoes, or properly gotten ready to leave the house. I have extremely severe depression and anxiety, so it's very hard for me to do these. I never leave the house. I left the house today.