Someone Asks What Facts Sound Comforting But Are Actually Highly Disturbing, And 30 People Deliver

Life can be incredibly fragile. So it’s important to take good care of your body and mind and know what to do in case of an emergency. That way, when something (inevitably) goes wrong, you’ll be tough and capable enough to handle it.

However, living in constant paranoia and fear is horrible. Yes, bad things can and do happen all the time. While you can prepare yourself for some of them, others are completely and utterly out of control to anticipate or react to. You need to be able to get on with your daily life without succumbing to chronic anxiety. And that comes down to recognizing what you can control (to a certain extent) and what you really can’t.

Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the thread to learn more about the inspiration behind the question, as well as to get their thoughts on dealing with situations we can't control and not living in constant fear of the unknown.

According to redditor u/Soupmandog589, they thought of a fact that "seemed comforting on the outside but was actually disturbing on the inside," which prompted them to ask the r/AskReddit community for their perspectives.

However, because the OP had created the thread a while back, they can't quite remember what the initial fact that started the entire discussion was.

The author of the thread opened up to Bored Panda that they are fascinated by what other people on the internet had to say on the topic. They also shared with us how much they enjoy learning new facts.

"I’m curious, and would like to hear other people’s facts," they told us. "I just love facts."

We asked the author of the thread for their thoughts on how people can come to terms with the fact that some things are entirely out of their control.

Redditor u/Soupmandog589 told us that self-regulation is incredibly important. "I have autism and have stuff that I can’t control but which causes major stress such as loud noises and atmospheres," they were very open and honest with Bored Panda.

"Self-regulation and listening to music usually helps for me but different things can help different people," they said.

To put it simply, self-regulation is a person's ability to control their behavior, emotions, and thoughts, for the sake of long-term goals. Emotional self-regulation, for instance, means managing one's more disruptive emotions and impulses.

Not only that, but it also involves rebounding from the disappointments we face in life, as well as behaving in ways that are consistent with our values.

According to the OP, the secret to making the most of one's life, no matter the consequences, is committing yourself completely to your goals, whatever they might be.

Something that we most definitely cannot control is avoiding any and all accidents. What you can do is choose to be more attentive as a pedestrian. You can choose to drive carefully. You can follow the road rules and what to do if someone needs immediate medical help. But accidents can and do happen even if we’re doing everything right. Choosing not to travel, whether by car, plane, or any other mode of transportation, is not an option if you want to make the most of life. 

You need to travel for work, to visit the people you love, and for those annual holidays somewhere far away, so you can forget what a computer even is for a couple of weeks. 

‘Simple Flying’ notes that the odds of someone getting into an accident during a flight are 1 in 1.2 million. Meanwhile, the chances of this being a fatal accident are 1 in 11 million.

A study published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2020 found that flying is 6 times safer than it was 30 years ago and 22 times safer than it was 50 years ago, around the world. We’ve seen technology and safety standards improve over time.

Luck. Genetics. Both of these have a role to play in what happens to us. Getting frustrated about how unlucky you’ve been is going to eat away at you. A far healthier response is to look at things from a growth-oriented perspective, where you don’t see failure as something inherently wrong. Or, to put a slightly cheesy twist on it: “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.” If you take failure or bad luck personally, it can destroy your confidence and sense of calm.

Health and fitness coach Anna Armagno Toussaint previously explained to Bored Panda the things that we can control in life. 

"You can control what you put into your body. You can control your water intake and the foods you choose. You can choose to exercise or be sedentary. In most cases, there are good or bad decisions you can make. And the biggest one is that you can choose your mindset about things," she told us in an earlier interview.