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#3
Made an appt with a clinic 3 hours away, turns out I was months into it, and only a few days away from the cutoff, as in 'no, you can't get an abortion'. They did mine the next day. Thankfully I was 18 at the time, so I could do it on my own, parents never found out until decades later.
I couldn't believe how close I cut it, and every now and then I think what a completely different (and truly awful) path my life would have taken if I had been a few days later.
Do you know the saying “things happen for a reason”? It basically entails that everything that occurs, even the negative stuff, isn’t random, but has an underlying meaning or even purpose. It’s usually used to find comfort when facing hardship, to rationalize seemingly arbitrary happenings, or to simply believe in fate, which suggests a larger story where challenges end up leading to better outcomes.
While some people full-heartedly believe this saying, others also take into account that there are some more underlying reasons behind what happens to us besides the “it was supposed to be like this” idea. Believing in it basically goes along the lines of the idea that we don’t really have that much free will.
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That’s something we already talked about more in this piece, so we won’t go into it that much today. Just as we said, some philosophers and people believe that all we do and all that happens to us is predestined and we essentially have no say in it, while others oppose such a thought, saying that we have a lot to do with the choices we make.
For instance, we have several parts of the brain that are involved in making decisions. These brain regions work together to evaluate potential choices, assess rewards and risks, and consider all kinds of implications of each decision. The list includes parts like the prefrontal, insular, and cingulate cortices; the amygdala; and the striatum.
#7
Vietnam was just rumors at the time, though there was more going on there than they were telling…
But had I not enlisted, I would have been highly likely to be drafted. As it was, I did my 3 years in Germany and flew home, free and clear.
I watched Ken Burns’ series on the war, and the interview with one of the grunts who was at My Lai. The guy even LOOKED like me….
#8
I went to the law school admissions office to drop them off, but the person there told me I had to upload them to a third party website and they would get them from there—for a fee of $250 dollars.
I was dumbfounded. A public university was telling me—as I stood with all my materials in hand—that I had to pay a huge amount to have a private company send these same documents to _this very same office_, with a huge time delay on top of the fee.
I told them I wouldn’t take up any more of their time, turned around and left. I’d never intended to apply to any other schools, so that ship sailed for good.
But I would have been miserable as a lawyer. It took me a little while, but I found an _amazing_ career and did things I could never have dreamed of before. I’m in a rough patch now, but I’m hoping that turns around soon. But whatever comes next, I’m lucky that I’m not a lawyer.
#9
All the information regarding decisions that these regions have to process is collected from and driven by the mix of our emotions, past experiences, core values, and the environment.
And still, all of this considered, it doesn’t mean that every single choice we make is conscious. Some things we decide come from the brain’s automatic processes, so basically, things like habits, subconscious feelings, and instincts.
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After a month foster trial he went back. I was heartbroken, but there was something not right. I still can’t really put my finger on it, but he went back and we got a new foster trial with another dog we did decide to keep.
We eventually learned that the dog we didn’t keep at his next foster attacked the woman fostering him, out of the blue, from behind, and bit her multiple times without any warning or provocation. She ended up in the hospital for several days. This was someone with years of rescue experience with difficult dogs and the dog needed to be euthanized.
I definitely dodged a very dangerous bullet.
#12
At the same time, even if we make conscious decisions, we might not be aware of their consequences. Like the people from today’s list. At some point in their lives, they were faced with a choice that could have turned things for the worse.
Yet, they managed to pick the right option and dodge a bullet. The thing is that they didn’t realize the magnitude of the decision when they were making it; the realization came only later.
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#14
Because the world is weird, I’m now friends with two other ex’s and we’ve compared notes. The dude lives a completely scripted life. Same love letters. Same birthday gifts. The three of us each have the exact same custom made t-shirt.
#15
Nice looking couple: nerdy guy, pretty brunette. Asked to sit at my table and started a breezy chat (ugh). Finally told them I needed to get back to my studies.
They asked what dorm I lived in (I lied). They asked for my phone number (lied again and said I was waiting for a new phone).
They left me a pamphlet then she asked for a hug.
The pamphlet was an introduction to Dianetics 🙄.
Do you have any similar stories from your life or someone else’s you know of? Please, don’t shy away from sharing it all with us in the comments!
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I wasn’t the smartest 4 year-old.
#18
I only avoided this by a minute. After parking my car and starting to walk to the ice rink, I realised I had forgotten to move my bag to the boot. I walked back to do that and then headed to the rink again.
As soon as I reached the entrance of the mall, the roof came down. I would have been injured by the roof collapse if I had not walked back to my car. .
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