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29 Honest Stories That Show How Random Life Decisions Can Lead People To The Right Place
16 years ago, I was planning to celebrate New Year’s with friends in another city, but the trip fell through at the last minute, and I went to visit my friends, where I first met my bestie’s friend. A few years later, I asked her out, then we got married, and we have been together ever since, with three incredible kids.
Indeed, life is such a strange thing that literally everything in it is interconnected in some way, and it’s impossible to say exactly where any given twist of fate will lead us. So, our collection of stories today is dedicated to people recalling the sequence of events that led them to where they are now.
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#1
Born
Grew up in small town
Mom is bipolar, sister is too. Dad works a lot.
Illegal substances/partying in high school
Meet a Marine @ age 16 (he was 18)
Marry Marine 2 yrs later.
Move to military town
Husband deploys while I work
Husband gets home
Deploy again
Home again
Deploy
Home, get out of Marines
Move back to home state
Jobs/School
House
Dogs
Kids
Now I'm a SAHM with two girls. Because sometimes marrying your first love and military marriages doesn't end in divorce.
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#2
Born
Moved to the middle of nowhere Montana at 5
Mom abandoned our family at 15, therefore raised by ultra-conservative, yet awesome, dad (He was basically, Hank Hill.)
Met high school sweet-heart sophomore year
Joined Navy right after high school
Married high school sweet-heart
Divorced High school sweetheart 3 months later when her neighbor got her pregnant while I was deployed half way around the world
[Insert lots of alcohol here]
Got super depressed, tried to off myself.
Went to the hospital, got fired from the Navy for being nutters.
[Insert illegal substances and alcohol here]
Lived in seattle until I completely ran out of money, places to live, and people who would do me favors
Moved in with my sister in Montana.
Got married (not to my sister, sheesh guys.)
Went to college and got my degree in computer engineering.
Had 2 awesome sons
Got well paying engineering gig.
Now I'm your tpyical middle-class American dad. and it only took 30 years. I've never been happier!
#3
Well I became dependent to opiates after I had brain surgery
Life spiralled out of control
Lost the house
Daughter went to live with my mother
Life continued its downward spiral
Got further into illegal substances
And crime
Became homeless
Slept outside in December, discovered rock bottom
Checked into rehab
In and out of rehabs for 2 years
Homeless again but clean and working
Now I live in a transitional housing apartment as I try to save money to move closer to my daughter in a place big enough for both of us.
Starting out from scratch is hard.
You know, everyone makes their own choices, but the outcome is often completely unpredictable. One spends years studying, working, and doing business – and then suddenly faces a terminal diagnosis. Another does nothing for years, and then suddenly hits the lottery jackpot and becomes a millionaire. That’s life, and everything is so strange and complicated.
On the other hand, does this mean that you can simply neglect self-improvement and career development, succumbing to fatalistic tendencies? Absolutely not! This collection of stories includes some truly inspiring tales from people who literally made it themselves. However, just read and see for yourself.
#4
Very religious parents, wild times, alcoholism, eloping, working on sobriety, and a one year anniversary next month.
#5
Born
Moved to San Jose at age 1
Moved to a different neighbourhood 2 years later
Met the girl (Cara) who became my instant best friend and who would later become the love of my life. We are the same age.
School and stuff. The us; met people, got into cliques, usual stuff
Finally asked Cara out. Relationship becomes official.
Cara passes away in a hit-and-run accident. We were 18.
Recovery time for me. Lots of grief counselling and dealing with my demons
Move to Canada to go to college and get away from my past
Got my Honors BSc in Biochemistry
Started my PhD in Cancer Research
Diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer about 6 months ago
Finally coming to terms with it and zero regrets
Currently living life like a champ! Making excellent progress with my degree and ticking stuff off my bucket list at the same time.
#6
Mostly just drifting like a jelly fish. Also I say yes a lot. Now I own my own business that is doing pretty good it's a restaurant though so I'm fat now. Now I drift like a manatee.
Of course, family has a decisive influence on a person’s fate. Statistical data on intergenerational mobility in the US convincingly demonstrates that family background and parents’ income significantly influence their children’s ability to move up the income ladder. On the other hand, family is, in board game parlance, a booster, and then you play on your own.
For example, the authors of this article recently published on the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research rightly note that the influence of family on people’s later lives cannot be considered in isolation from neighborhoods, schools, and the overall environment in which a kid grows up. Family provides a starting point, while everything else can either enhance or weaken this effect.
#7
My parents signed the permission slip to play the violin when I was in 4th grade. Now I'm almost 30 and a professional musician.
#8
Procrastinating so hard all the way to this point and am now working at Wal-Mart.
Edit: Am currently attempting to attend college. It's a start but...it's something
Edit 2: Thanks for all the inspirational advice and stuff guys! I will definitely attempt to better myself later!
#9
Spent a whole year unemployed and out of school.
Now i have 2 jobs and I am a full time student because who needs sleep right?
A significant portion of the stories in our collection come from people in middle or even elderly age, but that doesn’t mean nothing good can happen to them in the future. Yes, ageism is unfortunately pervasive in the modern world, and, for example, an AARP report based on data from the summer of 2025 states that 64% of workers aged 50+ have experienced some form of ageism.
On the other hand, world history is replete with truly remarkable success stories of elderly people, and even simply old people, achieving great success. For example, Colonel Sanders opened his first KFC restaurant in his fifties, and Ray Kroc only began managing McDonald’s restaurants at age 52, turning them into a global empire.
#10
Turned down football scholarships since my heart wasnt in it anymore. Got accepted to my dream school. Financial aid ended up being short.
No longer able to afford my school I chose. Thought about the air force. Loved my then girlfriend too much and decided to stay and work for the family business for a year.
She broke my heart 2 months ago. Dove back into lifting to clear my mind. 30 lbs lighter as of right now. Going to community college as of right now. Plan to transfer next semester. I'm doing good. :).
#11
1. Fail/barely pass college courses (even those I enjoyed) and dropping out with the intention of not returning
2. Decide to return to college a year later
3. Re-take class that I had withdrawn from, get partnered up with a friend of a friend in a behavior lab class
4. Friend refers me to her boss at the time
5. Get job in my field (psychology) as a behavior therapist and graduate
6. Plan to start grad school in the next year.
#12
Dropped out of school.
Moved for a job.
Settled for the first relationship I got into in the new city.
Got guilted into marriage.
Worked terrible office job.
Divorce wife.
Quit job.
Aunt passes away, leaving me money to go back to school.
Get associates, lose 40 pounds, acquire younger hotter awesome girl. Continue on bachelor's degree.
But if you go further back in history, there are even more amazing success stories. For example, fifteen hundred years ago, at the court of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, there was an elderly courtier named Narses, completely inconspicuous and unknown to anyone.
When, at the age of 74, the emperor suddenly entrusted him with the command of one of his military expeditions, almost everyone thought Narses would fail miserably, and that it would be the first and last campaign of his life. How wrong his detractors actually were!
Narses lived another two decades and went down in history as one of the greatest military leaders of his time, bringing the emperor more than a dozen glorious victories. So, who knows, even if you sincerely believe that you’re destined to accomplish nothing glorious or remarkable in this life, just recall this story – perhaps it will inspire you to something truly great.
#13
Born. School. More school. Then even more school. DEBT. Three jobs. Move into own apartment. Laid off. Back to school. More debt. Became a nurse. Work work and more work and yet, still, debt. Hoping I win the lottery soon.
#14
Born,
Parents got divorced before first memory formed (mum had an affair with dads best friend).
Lived happily and unhappily on and off with mums new husband for 11 years(he was a bit of tyrant, sexist, but provided lots of happy memories as well.)
Mum and Step dad divorced (mum had an affair with a 21 year old married father, whom she had met on the internet)
(insert arguments, drunk parents and step parents, moving out etc)
Mother spends 6 years getting wasted whilst I babysit my brother after school.
Mum gets with and gets married to (third marriage) an old family friend.
I hate him,argue, get verbally mistreated by him and finally move away to uni.
Ex-Stepfather dies.
Visit my father 3 times a year throughout my life.
Meet my SO, struggle to get through uni.
Now first full time job. Happy, Live with SO.
#15
Worked for my dad's company over highschool summers. Absolutely hated it. Realized if I didn't get a degree, I'd end up working/owning it and hating my life forever. Went to university for an engineering degree, worked hard, and am writing this from my desk at the engineering internship I got in April, before I return for my Senior year next September.
Looks like I'm on track to be a computer hardware engineer, and do what I love (tinker with electronics), and not take over the family business. Suck it dad. (But not really, cause you're a great guy and were a fantastic father, and work harder than anyone I know, I just hate your line of work).
From the perspective of our actions and the consequences they lead to, it’s also interesting to watch the movie Mr. Nobody, starring Jared Leto and Diane Kruger. The filmmakers argue that the main problem is that each of us is forced to make choices, one way or another, but there is no right or wrong choice.
Even the seemingly worst decision in our lives can actually lead to very happy consequences – and vice versa, of course. It all depends on how we view these consequences. And, certainly, no assessment is final as long as we’re alive and can still change things.
#16
Met a guy online in a different city, loved the place so much I went to university there.
Moved to another city after uni with another boyfriend who got a job there.
Got a serious chronic illness.
Lost my job because of it.
Got suicidally depressed.
Decided to retrain then emigrate to make my life worth living again.
Met the love of my life while retraining in the city I moved to with my now ex.
We emigrated together.
I'm happy as Larry :-).
#17
Bullying in middle school leads to choosing to be mute. This leads to me being a social outcast in high school. Then someone exploits my insecurities to SA'd me, leading into a severe social anxiety for years. Drop out of high school. Slowly recover over a few years until I'm brave enough to get a GED and go to college. Make wonderful friends that support me and help me find confidence again. With new confidence, meet an incredible girl who is now my lesbian lover/mistress.
I'm pretty happy with my life currently.
#18
* *Aged 10*: Bro tells me about games he made on powerpoint with friends, can't remember how he does it
* I try and figure it out and come up with my own method
* Friend sees my attempts and says just use RPG Maker
* Use RPG Maker, become really good at the event systems
* *Aged 16*: Take up Computing studies, realise that programming is just like RPG Maker eventing
* *Aged 18*: No idea where I wanted to go in life, ask bro who says "It is obvious, you've been making games since you were 10, go to university and study that", he finds some universities that teach game art, I find one that does game programming
* University denies my entrance due to failed A-Levels, offers CS degree. I call them up and beg them over the phone, show them the games I made since I was 10 and got a "Well why didn't you show us this to begin with?"
* *Now, aged 22*: I graduated as one of the highest achieving students the university has ever had, job offers by all sorts of game studios, awards for being fantastic programmer.
I still keep close to the RPG Maker community to this day.
And you know what? This is all philosophy and abstract reasoning, but life, full of colors, sounds, joys, and sorrows – life is still here, with us, and only we have the power to make it bring us something good, even if we have to choose between two bad options. Even if everything around us seems awful and joyless...
Please read these three dozen stories, some simple, some incredibly complex, some mercilessly sad, some hilariously funny. But what unites these authors is that they are always brutally honest, or do their best to be so. Well, enjoy your reading, our dear readers, and don't forget to leave your comments if you liked any of these tales listed here.
#19
Born
Went to school in grim Northern England town
Bullied (I wonder how much of my personality is as a result of this)
Met nice girl
Uni. Physics. Learn to code games for fun
We realise nice girl has crippling depression (Took us far too long)
Get job developing software out of Uni (Godsend. I got really lucky with it)
Job gets me on grad scheme with big company.
Get married to the nice girl.
Find nice team to work on in the big company.
Write book (at work... shush)
Nice girl get's pregnant...
And now! I've been very lucky.
#20
My dad went down to Mexico to party hard. My mom noticed him and his flashy red sports car. They partied hard together, moved to the U.S., got married, and had a son. I'm alive because my dad likes to party.
#21
Because I look and act like a younger version of someone else at my first career job. Seriously I was hired because of that, which then spiraled into becoming a Web developer.
#23
The major stuff
-organized sports
-pushing myself to get good grades and get into University
-cut some terrible "friends" out of my life
-getting into university and doing too much(partying, volunteering, student government, frats, even rec sports)
-quit a job in financial services
-got put on academic probation, fuck it, did more extracurricular stuff
-won awards in community bringing a ton of press to my school, while being on verge of kicked out for poor academic performance
-stopped showing up at everything for awhile and unintentionally cut some amazing friends out of my life
-got another job in financial services
-quit job because I felt dirty selling unneeded financial instruments
-found a business partner/mentor and have started focusing all my time on one thing - my business
Now I'm pretty much the most motivated and happy I've ever been. There's still problems. My family is very critical and negative of my decisions. I still haven't talked to some of my best friends for almost a year because I don't know what to say. I'm also dead broke trying to build up market share in a competitive industry. But I also feel like I actually have a goal, for once in my life, that is worth working towards.
#24
my sister had a baby and I thought "well that was cool. I'd like to see that again."
Now I'm a midwife.
#25
Ended a 4 year relationship that had grown stale and bitter. Quit my job of 3 years because there was no room left to grow. Gave up my apartment, and am currently moving everything into storage. Bought a plane ticket for one month in Europe leaving in two weeks. The real question is not what led me to this point, but where am I going to go from here? I've never been more excited, free, and scared in my life!
#26
Bought a sewing machine with my first paycheck ever--babysitting job. I'm currently a fashion designer in NYC. :)
#27
I live in the north east of England, very industrial and very poor.. Anyway I always wanted to write computer games and I started writing zx81 games when I was 8. I left school at 16 and was doing a business programming course, when 4 months in I overheard a conversation about a local games company wanting someone who could help them make cheats for games..
I butted Into conversation and make them send me..
I got the job making cheats for the game genie device for genesis and snes, while I was at the company I showed them all my other work and I was hired full time..
I've been professionally writing games for over 22 years now, all because I overheard a conversation :-)
#28
Went to my friends house when I was 13. He showed me what video games are because before then I only really played gameboy. Learned that I loved video games. Now me at 18 and him are best friends and I'm in school for video game development.
#29
My grandfather took me camping in Great Smoky Mountains National Park when I was 4. We went every summer after that until I was about 13 (sporadic trips after that). When I was 9, I decided I wanted to be a Park Ranger there. It took a while, but when I was 28 years old, I got the chance. I worked in the Smokies for 4 years. During a hike one day, I met a woman that would later become my wife. Now I'm happily married with kids and can say that I had the opportunity to work my dream job. Best years of my life.
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