40 ‘Butterfly Effect’ Stories Where Seemingly Insignificant Choices Had A Great Effect On These People’s Lives
For better or for worse, every single decision that you make, every tiny little thing that you do will have an effect on your life. No matter how insignificant an action might seem at the time, it can start a chain reaction that leads to outcomes that you had no idea of predicting. And you’ll have to live with those consequences for a long, long time.
Redditor u/nevermeant2bethisway wanted to find out about the choices that internet users made that changed their lives forever and sparked an intriguing discussion about the butterfly effect on the r/ask subreddit. We’ve collected the most interesting stories. Read on to check them out and to see just how fickle fate can be.
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To go into McDonald's when I was 7.
I was having a final farewell week with my dad as I was moving away to Scotland with my mum the week after. As a treat he took me to McDonald's but on the way I changed my mind to Burger King and then I changed my mind AGAIN and we went back to McDonald's.
Thank goodness I did because the total strangers standing in the queue in front of us was a mum and her 6 year old daughter, it was her birthday as she had a 6 badge on. Me and the daughter immediately became friends and her mum and my dad decided we should all go to the park together. They swapped numbers and stayed in touch. Every time I visited my dad from Scotland I would ask to see the girl from McDonald's. A few years later my dad and her mum moved in together. Then when I was 14 they got married and my best friend got to be my sister. This year it will be 25 years since that day I walked into McDonald's. So very very grateful.
I chose to buy a dog. That little chihuahua and my mom saved my life. I was in deep depression with plans for suicide. My mom convinced me to get a dog. She gave me comfort and companionship. There are two awesome kids that wouldn't exist if I hadn't followed my mom's advice.
Not having a baby when I was 17. Would have ended up with a raging idiot (my ex) in my life forever. Today I couldn't even tell you what province he lives in....if he lives at all. Pro choice all the way!!!
I had an abortion when I was 17, not a proud moment but yes pro choice all the way,
The butterfly effect, a part of chaos theory, means that small changes can lead to larger and larger differences as time goes on. Even the tiniest shift in the environment or a single action can alter the course of history. And you can never tell with any certainty what consequences lie further down the line.
On the one hand, deciding to wear a pair of garish red pants instead of conservative blue shorts can be the trigger that lets you meet the love of your life. On the other hand, it might have happened due to a combination of hundreds (if not thousands or more) of little actions you’ve done that week… or due to the interconnection of millions of separate events in the city that day.
Trying to unravel every tiny cause and effect can give you a real headache. If you start obsessing over these details and all the possible ways that something mundane (e.g. eating a sandwich instead of making yourself fried eggs that morning) might backfire you in a day, year, or even a decade.
I was in high school, was going to sit next to this one girl, X, I had a crush on. Then I heard another girl, Y, just a casual friend at the time go, "hey, sit next to me here." X was kind of ignoring me at the time, so I moved. I'm glad I did, cause I ended up marrying Y and we're still very happy.
25 years old, working as a waitress/bartender for 5 years, went down to the local community college one late August day to just get some information about how to become a nurse. Sat down and talked with the professor, who before I could even think about it or change my mind, signed me up on the spot and a year later boom, I was an LPN. Fast forward 6 years later I was an RN, now it’s 30 years later and I’m still at it!! But it gave me a good life, and the ability to save for retirement (hopefully in 18 months!!).
Applying to a coding bootcamp. I went from being a broke stripper to an upper class salary working white collar jobs in months.
It’s best to embrace the innate unpredictability of life and to admit that some good and bad things will happen to you regardless of what you do. The best that we humble Pandas can do is control the things that we actually can control (e.g. what we eat, how much we move, the people we spend time with, the jobs we apply to, etc.) and change how we react to unfavorable outcomes (like being more stoic or relying on your sense of humor when things don’t go our way).
Though it’s important to recognize the impact that luck (or randomness) has on your life, it shouldn’t mean that you ought to feel powerless. Believing in good luck can give us hope for the future. Meanwhile, believing in bad luck gives us something to blame when our plants turn sour. And being either optimistic or pessimistic primes us either for success or failure.
But one way or the other, it’s essential to take ownership of our choices, not just put everything down to luck. We have to recognize that our decisions, actions, and hard work do play important roles in how our lives turn out—even if favorable circumstances (read: luck) may give us a boost from time to time.
I had just broken up with my gf, realized I had no reason to stay in my city anymore. All my friends moved away, so I said "F**k it, I'm traveling Europe"
I got my passport, had all my plans set up. Then on Fathers day, I got a text from my ex. "Happy Fathers day" it was a picture of her ultrasound.
For about an hour, I had a dark thought. "I could run...I could go to England and just disappear, kid be damned"
But that went against everything I was raised to be. So I decided to stay, got back with my ex and had a son.
I'm a single dad now with a 4yo and a 3yo. I'm glad I stayed, I could not imagine what life would be like without them. Can't imagine what she would be like as a single mother, cause she became a raging alcoholic after our daughter was born.
Messaging a complete stranger to tell her she genuinely made me laugh in one of the darkest periods of my life. Been together almost 9 years, married 5 and have a 5 year old. Life has it's gifts..
Last year, the best choice I made was to quit my dead-end job and pursue my CDL. Throughout my entire adulthood, I had been making no more than 34k a year. However, this decision led to a significant change, as I now earn 65k. While it may not appear substantial to some, this increase has truly been life-changing for me. Additionally, I am proud to be part of one of the best unions in my area, which provides excellent benefits for both me and my family.
By taking ownership of our decisions, you can learn from our successes and failures. However, if you refuse to admit that you control (at least some of) the things happening in your life, you’re only setting yourself up as a victim of luck, whether good or bad.
Content creator Haythamj previously explained to Bored Panda that people are incredibly curious about the butterfly effect. “I think it resonates with people because we’re always obsessed with why things happen. It’s the backbone of all education. so naturally, when this can relate to people’s personal interests, such as pop culture or history, it will grip people," he told us earlier.
According to him, people really enjoy creating theories about how seemingly unrelated things can have direct correlations once you do a bit of digging (and perhaps add a dash of outside-the-box thinking).
11 years ago I decided to stop buying cigarettes. I was a pack a day smoker for 17 years. I said I'm not quitting, I'm just not going to buy any today and if it lasts a week, a month, a year, then great. But didn't want the pressure of quitting, and hey, it worked. I don't miss it at all.
I feel like a lot of the posts dont have any butterflies in them at all. As all BP post there is a lot of boring test to scroll between the real content, but BP writer seems to not actually read what they write and think if the post is about what it says. It can still be great posts, just the topic that is different from the actual content.
Walking across campus after finding out my scholarship was revoked due to a drunk driver shredding my foot. (Long story. No one did anything wrong except the driver. Just is what it is). Saw a sign for Disney World internship program recruiting that day. Said f**k it and wandered in. Applied. Got it. Met my future wife on the first day. 17 years later she's still my Disney Princess.
My then boyfriend, who was my childhood sweetheart looked at me and said “want to go to the courthouse next week and get married? We can tell our families later”. I said yes.
Then I invited his parents and siblings and best friend and I invited my favorite sibling and my best friend.
Had the best less than 15 people in attendance wedding.
We celebrated 10 years in April. We have a baby due in August.
It was the best “f**k it, yolo” decision I’ve ever made.
At one of the lowest points in my life, I decided to start journaling and do one small drawing every day.
Two years later, I'm still doing those drawings.
I've never been very good at sticking to things, but I managed to stick to this.
This small achievement gave me confidence, and I was able to use that confidence to affect change in my life, for the better.
I'm now starting a new job this month and my life is looking much brighter than it did back then.
It seems silly, but I really do feel like that small step towards discipline and daily productivity really helped change my perspective and outlook.
I’m happy for you! Glad you stuck with the drawings. I think I’m similar to you in a way (I’m a procrastinator and I’ve been falling out of good habits recently), so I really liked this story. Wishing you the best now and for what’s to come!
I had my MSG (Marine Security Guard) packet ready to go when I was a Lcpl in the Marine Corps. MSG are the Marines that work in embassies. It’s one of the reasons I joined up. Well I had a girlfriend and she pleaded with me not to go. She begged me to stay with her. So I chose her. Threw the packet away and we got married that week
She would later cheat on me with about every first responder back home (absolute badge bunny) and we have been divorced for the last 7 years.
But that’s not the part that changed everything (although it changed a lot lol). She gave me my first son. That boy changed everything in my life. My perspective on life and how I go about living that life. He’s the reason I left the military and became a teacher. Most of my life choices since his birth revolves around him. I was super lucky I received full custody of the little man. He continues to improve my life to this day.
There are days I look back to that day and wonder how life would be if I sent in that packet, but I quickly dismiss those thoughts. I wouldn’t change s**t.
Breaking up contact with toxic people. Including a father and a sister. Should have done it 20 years ago.
You don't owe your family anything. You can leave whenever you want. Just because you are related, does not mean those are good people. It's your life, please act accordingly.
Good for you. I went no contact myself with my family too. Now both our parents are gone. We do a Zoom ~ once a year for 45 minutes. If they want to see each other (they all live close except me), that's fine with me but I refuse all the invitations to be there on site. I never regretted it.
Swung into an Outback Steakhouse after surfing at Tybee Island outside Savannah with a buddy while in the army. Saw a young lady at the bar and told my boy that’s the girl I’m going to marry.
25 years (21 of it married) later still going strong!
I decided to ignore blood in my stool. Two years later I was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal colon cancer.
Get checked ASAP ask you doctor for a fit test.
Every year, the health dept. sends us an envelope and it's for stool testing. You do the test at home and if something wrong with the results you bring them to a doctor to go see a specialist. Actually my BIL had stage 4 and I really thought he was going to die. Your story breaks my heart too.
Left the fundamentalist Christian church. I was in a leader training meeting listening to a pastor talk about encouraging others in the gift of prophecy. I realized that I couldn’t in good conscience encourage people because I didn’t believe it.
After the meeting, I asked the pastor to talk. I told him that I wasn’t doing the program. I spent about a week sorting out what I believed, what I disagreed with, and what I didn’t agree with but accepted as a benign cultural part of Christianity.
A week later, I told the pastor that I was leaving the church. It’s been 17 years and I have never regretted this.
On my 40th birthday, I quit my job to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. After I finished the hike, I sold my house in the city and bought a small wilderness cabin and never made it back to work.
Quitting drinking.
Hands down best decision I've ever made.
Drinking heavily for 3 years killed my health faster than I could have ever imagined. Sometimes it sucks to not partake. I drive down freeways & see billboards for booze everywhere & I think 'Joe Camel & any cigarette ad are all banned but he actually won't kill me as fast as Jose Cuervo' plus Joe Camel won't kill you while driving its ridiculous the glamorize allowed of booze everywhere
Choosing to participate in martial arts was a decision that forever changed my life. It had a profound impact on various aspects, including the way I talk, walk, and perceive myself. Martial arts gave me more confidence and transformed my mindset.
There were several things along the way that changed my trajectory.
1. Left my hometown and my best friend who decided to become a drug addict
2. Quit smoking and hanging around low motivation people
3. Got a science degree that allowed me to earn a comfortable living
4. Cut my mom out of my life, who had put me down constantly since I was old enough to remember
5. Married my very normal stable husband and had children with him
I quit sugar. Anything that wasn’t fruit. I was the unhappiest I had ever been in my life and I told myself, “just 1 month”. Every hard day I just said, “one more day”. Then I kept going, eating healthy, no processed foods, working out, day-by-day I gained momentum. I lost over 100lbs (probably 150lbs, but I never weighed my starting weight. I imagine it was close to, if not over 300lbs).
This completely changed my mind, body, and spirit. My friends asked “How did you do it?”, I said, “I stopped lying to myself”. I was wishing and hoping to be “skinny” but was eating and treating myself like c**p. Sugar did not make me happy. Processed foods did not make me happy. When I finally took control of my life, I lost the weight, and my mindset shifted to: “I want to be healthy” not “skinny”.
I gained a little bit of weight during covid, but now back on track. I have never felt better in my life. I grew up fat, I was always “fat”, and I now have a lil more chub than I would like, but I am happy and healthy and not too hard on myself. It just takes one day, day-by-day, but you have to do it for yourself. Only you can do it for yourself. The hardest thing is facing the reality of your choices and habits.
ETA (It's a long one!): Thank you for the award and the positive responses! Truly, our society (in the US) makes it difficult to eat healthy. It's an active choice we have to make, and everything surrounding us wants us to quit and crave. What helps me most is cooking for myself and being in control of my ingredients.
In the US we do not teach proper nutrition, cooking, or meal planning, which is a foundation of health. I had to educate myself and started with a "clean-eating" path, which included animal products but no processed foods or added sugars (I did eat Lily's Dark Chocolate Chips, no added sugar, which really helped my chocolate cravings in that first month!); I had lost 100+lbs. But I admit, it was more restrictive. At the time that's what I needed.
Then covid happened and I was depressed and had to eat frozen pizza and ice cream! I had to! So I did! But then that's all I was eating, and I wasn't happy again, and I gained maybe 40lbs.
I reflected and shifted my mindset again and found something that works best for me: a Whole Food Plant Based lifestyle (check out the r/PlantBasedDiet sub!). I feel no restriction with this lifestyle, and have lost weight without working out. I only walk and do yoga and pilates. And I love to eat! We should enjoy eating and life! My mind, body, and spirit have never been more positive than living a plant-based life. There is so much variety and freedom. Plants are medicine!
I advocate for a plant-based diet, especially if you're like me who loves to eat! We need to eat! Food is fuel! Plants have a lower calorie density, so you eat and feel full! Greens and Beans baby! Get that fiber! Get those micronutrients! It's all about longevity and nutrition. But it's not like years ago on that first month of my journey I was craving vegetables, it took time and I evolved to this point. It's a journey, day-by-day, and I am still on my journey.
But years ago, after that first month, then months of no added sugar, I could actually taste food again. I could taste the sweetness of blueberries and broccoli, but it took time. I remember eating some candy when I felt more in control of my eating and thought, "I can taste the artificial chemicals", and I didn't want it. Because my gut shifted. They say your gut is your second brain!
I could talk about this stuff all day, I know this edit was long. But truly this choice is what changed my life forever. Honestly, I open my messages for anyone struggling and needs some encouragement to message me. I truly love to help people, and know how intimate this is (food and our bodies). Thanks for reading friends!
Coming out, saved my life.
Until I met my wife I never understood how profound this was for people. I always had gay friends and it just never occurred to me that they had to hide themselves. I just never thought about it. They were just friends. She explained how difficult it was for her coming out as Pan to her toxic Christian family and it really shifted my perspective on things. I'm glad I can look back and not be ashamed off who I was in the 80's and 90's as a kid. Even though LGBTQIA2S+ people have apparently only existed since since the early 2000's.
Decided when I started college to start saying yes to opportunities and to interact with people more often instead of being paralyzingly shy. My reasoning was that in college, no one would know who or what I had been, so being someone knew would not look fake or phony. Life immediately became less stressful and more fun. That has remained the case ever since.
I probably should listen to this story, being super shy as well. But I went out of my comfort zone this (school) year and I’m happy with myself. Then this summer I’m back into the comfort zone — I guess I need an entire summer to recuperate, but I’m kind of kicking myself.
Cut contact with my abusive mom.
After years of therapy, I finally accepted that my mom was a narcissist who "loved" me as a SERVANT but hated me if I showed any signs of having my own mind. When I decided to stop seeing her, my brothers said, "But she's your MOM". I said, "Was she ever ABUSIVE toward you?" and they had to admit that NO, she wasn't. "Then you don't know what she is to me," I said. It's STILL hard, 3 years later, because I feel compassion toward her for her age and mental state. But the analogy the therapist used was, "If you have a dog that you love, but it BITES you every time you see it, would you keep that dog? - Even if you know the dog 'doesn't MEAN it' - but still, always BITES you?" I had to say No, I wouldn't keep that dog. So I couldn't let my mom continue to destroy me. (*edited for spelling)
I was engaged at 24 we called it off a mutual decision. She went on to eventually marry and have 2 kids and raised a beautiful family.
I moved out of state, worked for three beverage companies that all ended up getting bought. Not retirement money but allowed me to travel, live in full amenity lofts in downtowns and go to every concert festival I wanted. I realized I wasn’t the family person and glad we didn’t get in a situation that would have been detrimental to everyone especially if we got married and had kids.
Made a spur of the moment decision when I was 18 not to go to school for what I had planned to my entire teen life and applied to work in the UK for a few months
It completely changed the trajectory of my life and led to a series of other gut instinct decisions that gave me the life I have now that I absolutely would not have if not for that first choice
The "series of other gut instinct decisions" and their respective outcome are what would make this story fit the topic. Kinda worthless without the context.
Before my husband and I were dating, we talked a lot and hung out as friends. The night before I was supposed to go to Vegas for a friends birthday he kissed me. Needless to say the whole trip I was antsy thinking about him and how crazy I felt for already being in love. I went to see him the day I got back, and never came home. Now we are married with a perfect baby just under 2 years later
I got divorced after 10 years of marriage i was heartbroken. I saved up my money and went to Africa to teach English and was loving it there. I had to come back to my home country to renew some papers and i the day i went to book my flight back to Africa the place was closed. So to kill time i went to a local halal shop to get some food and met someone i hadn't seen in years. We chatted and he asked me did i remarry and of course i said definitely not! He told me he had a friend i said i wasn't interested. The friend he just mentioned walked in and we looked at each other and 3 weeks later we married. Its been nearly 20 years now. I still look at him and think if that travel agents hadn't of closed i would have never gone into that shop and my life would have never have been as full of love and laughter as it has been.
Back when The Onion was only in print, there was an ad in one issue that said _The Onion Personals: You could do worse. Hell, you always have_. Met the love of my life a few days in.
Need more info on this story. It sounds like you were in a bad place in your life, but did it last??
started lifting weights, left mormonism
Seeing a therapist about my anxiety.
Having my son. I love that little f****r with everything I am, but damn life used to be so much simpler.
Applying to a coding bootcamp. Best decision I made as well. I don't absolutely loathe what I do for 40 hours a week anymore and I have enough money to only have to check my bank account to make sure I still have the financial cushion I managed to get into place.
I can't speak to what the job market is nowadays, and I personally wouldn't recommend a bootcamp when everything you need is available for free online, but if anyone has ever been interested in giving coding a shot I'd strongly recommend it.
coding is easier than you think but different languages are harder/easier. Start with python or php, those are probably easiest.
When I was 13 years old, 25 years ago, me and some friends were shark fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. My buddy caught a shark and gutted it and put it on the side of the boat. He was older than me so he was an authoritative figure of some sorts.
For whatever reason I wanted to jump in the water and swim after these events and I asked my older buddy if I could. He hesitated for a second and said no.
A few seconds later he shines the light on the area I was about to jump and there’s a massive hammerhead shark right there. His decision to say “no” perhaps saved my life.
I don't think a hammerhead shark has ever killed a human (at least not according to the Australian Marine Conservation Society) but there could have been much worse in there!
Signing up for school as soon as the pandemic hit, I now have a completely new career and life because I immediately took action after loosing my income during the pandemic.
Going to get my masters degree. I was on a path of poverty even with my bachelors degree. Now I’m on a very comfortable trajectory and can afford a decent life for myself and my family
I think it is important to share also in what field is your Bc/MA? :)
Leaving home.
My cousin (19) made a prank call asking to speak to a man between 18-21. The guy said he was 28. So she handed the phone to me and told him, “Talk to my cousin. She’s divorced and lonely.” I said NO, then yes. We met, dated 2-1/2 years, and got married. He was the most amazing stepfather to my boys. I still love the man he is.
Note: this post originally had 42 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
So while I'm happy for the folks in many of these stories, I feel like many don't understand what "butterfly effect" means lol
The post should just be re-named "life-changing decisions". No butterflies in there.
Most of these storys lack the unexpected effect down the road. "I made a decision once and it generally benefited my life so I don't regret it" is not what butterfly effect means.
Not The Butterfly Effect!!! Wrong interpretation of assignment! Good stories though, most about choices and crossroads in life🤓
I am super introverted, had no interest in hanging out with people outside of work but I had a lady I work with ask me to hang out multiple times and I finally did. Became good friends with her and her husband. Several years later said friend gets caught cheating on her husband, he calls me screaming and crying. I helped him get through the divorce and 2 years later we ended up married. Never thought I would end up with my ex best friend's husband but we are going 5 years and I couldn't be happier.
This is a copied buzzfeed article. As many bored panda posts now. It also has nothing to do with the butterfly effect. Eye roll.
None of these are butterfly effect stories. Sorry, but they aren't. They are "good decisions I made" stories and sorry, but most of them are quite dull....
I was accepted at a university. The day before I selected my classes, I changed my major on a whim. This caused me to take a course I would not have had to take with my previous major. On the first day of the required course, I met my future wife. We were married after college and she talked me into relocating to another state. That led me to landing a very lucrative job. That led to a sucessful career and an early retirement. In other words, a snap decision made for a very happy life.
When I was 24 I had an alright life in Brazil with a boring job and an awful girlfriend. Couldn't leave this situation and at that moment the only thing was important to me was m playing rugby on the local team. Turned out my gf played that as well and was having an affair with the new coach. I broke my knee not long after and couldn't walk, my girlfriend didn't care and I had a lot of my teammates coming to hangout with me and look after me. At that moment I told everybody what was going on (I kept to myself). They fired him, we broke up and she moved out (finally) and I decided to not be depressed and looking for something better. Few years later I just drop everything and move to Poland (got a job opportunity) and later moved to London, i have a great career now (as a game developer), I lovely wife from New Zealand (that I met in London) and we are moving to New Zealand with a lovely toddler and we are having our second son soon :)
Friend of mine introduced my now wife at a social event. I had notorious bad luck in dating so I didn't think much of it going to a party afterwards and exchanging numbers. After about six months of dating on a long distance relationship, me trying to put snow chains on my tires during a snow storm at one of the passes while coming back from a visit, that's when I said "if I'm doing this, then I should buy the damn ring and get it over with". Long engagement, but been married for 23 years.
On April 25th of 2021, I decided that I had to confess my feelings to the woman I love. The fact that she feels the same was surprisingly the least amazing part of what happened from there! We got together, the next day I remembered who I really am, we got married a few months after that, I remembered I'm intersex not long after, we bought a house on early 2022, and now we work at the same place on the same shift. All that from just deciding that I shouldn't hold my feelings in any longer!
I should have been at work but my mum had booked a dentist appointment for that day. I'm her carer as she surrendered her driving license when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. We've had discussions before about her making appointments without checking if I'm working first but she kept doing it. Normally I'd call and change the appointment date. However this day I decided to call out of work on carers leave. When I got to mum's house she was struggling to stand. Her speech was slurred and stuttering. She couldn't raise her hands very well. I was worried and I told her I thought I needed to take her to the hospital. She argued with me. The appointment was for the dentist to have a painful tooth removed and she didn't want to have to put up with the pain any longer. I decided to wait a little while to see how she was. She then told me she had a headache. That sealed the deal for me, I phoned an ambulance.
Split up with my boyfriend of 3 years, the relationship was OK, but was going nowhere, we were drifting along together. We kept in touch and met up every now and then, he wanted to get back together. One night we went to a bar in Soho, in Central London. He was trying to persuade me that we should be a couple, get married even, he could change, things would be different. I have to admit, I was wavering, he was a good guy and I hadn't found anyone else. It was a crowded bar and there was a big group of people standing next to our table. Suddenly a guy leans over and says to my ex, "Excuse me, you make a lovely couple, I think you should marry her." "Thanks very much," says my ex, "That's just what I was saying." The guy then turns to me, "I don't think you should marry him, though, I think you should go out with me instead." That was 28 years ago, the guy got my phone number when my ex went to the toilet, he called me a few days later and we've been together ever since.
Am I right in thinking the “Butterfly Effect” is when something happens that can change the fate of not one life but many others & has many routes for it to go one way or another? If so, I feel my example of this began when I broke my right foot/ankle in May 2007. Little did we know, the lack of understanding from doctors in my home country would eventually lead to me being the first diagnosed case of CRPS where I live. Had they known then what they know now, I might’ve had my amputation (which they strongly & mistakenly believed would make the CRPS spread further within my body) a lot sooner than 10 years later. Despite experiencing the worst possible pain known to humankind, I’m actually glad I had it done later … as my mum spoke to a lady on FB about her son with CRPS whose doctors were refusing surgery (for lack of knowledge); so my mum shared our medical info with her & soon after, we heard that boy was getting his surgery, which I believe helped his CRPS. Mine is in full remission since the surgery. 🥲
I had a mental breakdown and decided to go back to school and started taking classes on mental health. Spent the next 11 years completing multiple degrees. I'm now a psychologist and a social worker and a professor. I'm not sure how this happened.
So while I'm happy for the folks in many of these stories, I feel like many don't understand what "butterfly effect" means lol
The post should just be re-named "life-changing decisions". No butterflies in there.
Most of these storys lack the unexpected effect down the road. "I made a decision once and it generally benefited my life so I don't regret it" is not what butterfly effect means.
Not The Butterfly Effect!!! Wrong interpretation of assignment! Good stories though, most about choices and crossroads in life🤓
I am super introverted, had no interest in hanging out with people outside of work but I had a lady I work with ask me to hang out multiple times and I finally did. Became good friends with her and her husband. Several years later said friend gets caught cheating on her husband, he calls me screaming and crying. I helped him get through the divorce and 2 years later we ended up married. Never thought I would end up with my ex best friend's husband but we are going 5 years and I couldn't be happier.
This is a copied buzzfeed article. As many bored panda posts now. It also has nothing to do with the butterfly effect. Eye roll.
None of these are butterfly effect stories. Sorry, but they aren't. They are "good decisions I made" stories and sorry, but most of them are quite dull....
I was accepted at a university. The day before I selected my classes, I changed my major on a whim. This caused me to take a course I would not have had to take with my previous major. On the first day of the required course, I met my future wife. We were married after college and she talked me into relocating to another state. That led me to landing a very lucrative job. That led to a sucessful career and an early retirement. In other words, a snap decision made for a very happy life.
When I was 24 I had an alright life in Brazil with a boring job and an awful girlfriend. Couldn't leave this situation and at that moment the only thing was important to me was m playing rugby on the local team. Turned out my gf played that as well and was having an affair with the new coach. I broke my knee not long after and couldn't walk, my girlfriend didn't care and I had a lot of my teammates coming to hangout with me and look after me. At that moment I told everybody what was going on (I kept to myself). They fired him, we broke up and she moved out (finally) and I decided to not be depressed and looking for something better. Few years later I just drop everything and move to Poland (got a job opportunity) and later moved to London, i have a great career now (as a game developer), I lovely wife from New Zealand (that I met in London) and we are moving to New Zealand with a lovely toddler and we are having our second son soon :)
Friend of mine introduced my now wife at a social event. I had notorious bad luck in dating so I didn't think much of it going to a party afterwards and exchanging numbers. After about six months of dating on a long distance relationship, me trying to put snow chains on my tires during a snow storm at one of the passes while coming back from a visit, that's when I said "if I'm doing this, then I should buy the damn ring and get it over with". Long engagement, but been married for 23 years.
On April 25th of 2021, I decided that I had to confess my feelings to the woman I love. The fact that she feels the same was surprisingly the least amazing part of what happened from there! We got together, the next day I remembered who I really am, we got married a few months after that, I remembered I'm intersex not long after, we bought a house on early 2022, and now we work at the same place on the same shift. All that from just deciding that I shouldn't hold my feelings in any longer!
I should have been at work but my mum had booked a dentist appointment for that day. I'm her carer as she surrendered her driving license when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. We've had discussions before about her making appointments without checking if I'm working first but she kept doing it. Normally I'd call and change the appointment date. However this day I decided to call out of work on carers leave. When I got to mum's house she was struggling to stand. Her speech was slurred and stuttering. She couldn't raise her hands very well. I was worried and I told her I thought I needed to take her to the hospital. She argued with me. The appointment was for the dentist to have a painful tooth removed and she didn't want to have to put up with the pain any longer. I decided to wait a little while to see how she was. She then told me she had a headache. That sealed the deal for me, I phoned an ambulance.
Split up with my boyfriend of 3 years, the relationship was OK, but was going nowhere, we were drifting along together. We kept in touch and met up every now and then, he wanted to get back together. One night we went to a bar in Soho, in Central London. He was trying to persuade me that we should be a couple, get married even, he could change, things would be different. I have to admit, I was wavering, he was a good guy and I hadn't found anyone else. It was a crowded bar and there was a big group of people standing next to our table. Suddenly a guy leans over and says to my ex, "Excuse me, you make a lovely couple, I think you should marry her." "Thanks very much," says my ex, "That's just what I was saying." The guy then turns to me, "I don't think you should marry him, though, I think you should go out with me instead." That was 28 years ago, the guy got my phone number when my ex went to the toilet, he called me a few days later and we've been together ever since.
Am I right in thinking the “Butterfly Effect” is when something happens that can change the fate of not one life but many others & has many routes for it to go one way or another? If so, I feel my example of this began when I broke my right foot/ankle in May 2007. Little did we know, the lack of understanding from doctors in my home country would eventually lead to me being the first diagnosed case of CRPS where I live. Had they known then what they know now, I might’ve had my amputation (which they strongly & mistakenly believed would make the CRPS spread further within my body) a lot sooner than 10 years later. Despite experiencing the worst possible pain known to humankind, I’m actually glad I had it done later … as my mum spoke to a lady on FB about her son with CRPS whose doctors were refusing surgery (for lack of knowledge); so my mum shared our medical info with her & soon after, we heard that boy was getting his surgery, which I believe helped his CRPS. Mine is in full remission since the surgery. 🥲
I had a mental breakdown and decided to go back to school and started taking classes on mental health. Spent the next 11 years completing multiple degrees. I'm now a psychologist and a social worker and a professor. I'm not sure how this happened.
