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35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
FEB 16, 2023

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them

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Sometimes, we get in our own way far too much. We overthink. We overcomplicate things. We procrastinate. We think of a dozen little reasons why we can’t succeed. But finally taking action (and adding a dash of patience and persistence!) can make us realize that a task was far simpler than we ever thought it could be. Relatable? You have no idea!
Redditor u/UnoAboveAll recently went viral after starting up an interesting thread on r/AskReddit about some of the most memorable ‘it can’t be that easy/it was that easy’ moments people ever had. We’ve collected some of their best stories to motivate and energize you to get started on all of those tasks you’ve been avoiding. Meanwhile, check out Bored Panda’s interview with u/UnoAboveAll on dealing with overthinking and learning to embrace potential failure!

#1

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
Changing my bathroom faucet. I'm a 56-year-old woman that's never done any plumbing before. Turns out YouTube is a wealth of knowledge. It really wasn't that hard! I get joy every time I wash my hands knowing I did that.
373points

Just like many of us, redditor u/UnoAboveAll, the author of the thread, is an overthinker. They told Bored Panda that most of the time, they don’t have a solution on how to deal with overthinking as a whole. However, what does help is actively taking breaks.

“I try to help myself by breathing and occupying my mind with other things. Filling my mind with anxiety and focusing too much on the harder things of life will only take away my sleep. Having time to organize my thoughts, one at a time, and deciding what to do later would be my best option,” they said.

“I know it’s hard. I have been there. Most of us have been there. But we all have our own way of relaxing. Choose your best hobby. Take your time, drink coffee, tea, or your favorite drink. And don’t forget that break time is important. Even if life it’s difficult, don’t forget to stay healthy, both physically and mentally,” they advised all the overthinkers out there to be kind to themselves and slow down.

#2

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
The day I left my abusive ex husband. I was so scared to leave but scared to stay. But once I broke free other felt so easy looking back in hindsight.
321points

#3

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
Got a salary request when applying for a job, accidentally wrote double what I meant to write since the number keys were right next to each other. They accepted anyway.
312points

As we’ve previously covered on Bored Panda, people generally tend to spend a lot of time thinking and ruminating on the negative aspects of life. In short, we’re all pretty anxious about making mistakes in the future. Somewhat ironically, the more we think about the errors we might have made in the past, the more likely we can be to repeat them.

And while you’re busy overthinking every single detail, opportunities are passing you by. For some individuals, the fear of making a decision and eliminating all other possible choices is what’s scary. However, not making a decision is actually a choice in itself. A passive one. The antidote to overthinking is taking action and committing to a decision. It won’t come easy at first, but we can train ourselves to be more proactive and to trust our first impressions in any given situation. The longer we wait, the more lost we might feel.

#4

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
Going back to school.
I've been toying with the idea for years telling myself it was too far, too expensive, too time consuming etc and that because I had a home, job and child to maintain I couldn't do it.
Something in me finally cracked recently and I thought f**k it and made a call to a tech school nearby. 3 days later I'm on a tour. The tour is maybe an hour or 2 total. Papers were all done online annnnd I start Monday! They also threw a TON of financial aid at me. I'm only gonna pay about 50$ a month until I've graduated and those payments go up to about 95$. Still very manageable.
My classes are only four hours long, they're at night, and I only have to be in class 2 days a week. The rest of my studies are done at home with a tablet they provide me so I don't even have to buy a computer or anything.
Couldn't believe how easy and affordable it actually was. They estimate I finish my program in about 8-10 months.
303points

#5

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
Found a 60” tv by the dumpster. Plugged it in, didn’t turn on. Looked up common problems with the model number, bought a part on eBay for $20, replaced part, had a huge TV.
291points

#6

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
when i started my add medication - i never knew how life could be and how easy it was to just get up and do stuff
changed my life for the better and i’ve managed to turn so many things around, cant believe it took me 18 years to get diagnosed
277points

Now, failure isn’t something that many people actively enjoy. We’re all social animals, so our reputation and whether we’re respected both carry a lot of weight. However, focusing on your reputation alone and being scared of making mistakes can make you miss out on lots of opportunities in life, including solving apparent problems and trying potentially fun new things. Hardly any success in life is simply handed to us. We have to make mistakes, readjust our approach, and try again. It’s the way that learning works. None of us were born ‘perfect.

In redditor u/UnoAboveAll’s opinion, trying new things may be hard for many. “Most people make monsters out of small things, and it’s understandable. I have been overseas for 5 years right now, studying college in a different country. It was a hard adaptation, it was hard trying to figure out what to do,” they opened up to Bored Panda that they’ve dealt with failure many times, not just once or twice. They’ve had thoughts about giving up cross their minds plenty of times. However, they persevered.

“Failure is part of our lives. Many of us fail once or twice, but that’s what makes us human. It’s in failure that we are thoughts lessons. I don’t think that failure makes us wrong or worse than others. I do think that failure can lead us to better thinking: I can be better than my past self. And it’s what drives me further,” they pointed out that it’s this constant evolution that helps humanity progress as a whole.

#7

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
One of the kids I babysit was going through a phase of “I want to be a baby again”. Jealous of her sister. Weeks of gentle parenting and such.
You know what worked? I was eating ice cream and she wanted some. I said babies don’t get ice cream.
That was it. She was done.
265points

#8

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
I was at a locally well known, upscale restaurant one time. I had ordered sweet potato fries, and it came with the most amazing dipping sauce I had ever had. Tangy, spicy, the whole package. So I figured I didn’t have anything to lose, and asked the waitress if I could have the recipe. She said she’d ask the chef, but of course I figured they’d say no.
A short time later, she came out and handed me a photocopy of the recipe. And that was that. I’ve made the sauce a few times since, and it’s still just as amazing.
250points

#9

Honestly, after being incredibly broke, I remember how easy everything suddenly seemed when I had money.
Car broken? Get it fixed. Sick? Go to the doctor. Need a babysitter? Hire one.
Money makes everything so much easier and less disruptive to life.
I knew I'd made it when I put my bills on auto-pay.
Report
239points

“Don’t fear failure. Ironically, when you fail, embrace it. And use it as a subject to drive you further. Of course, it can also mean you shouldn’t try to fix your own sink without a manual,” they quipped that embracing failure is a wonderful and mature approach, but that we should also fail in a smart way, not just doing random things.

The most mature thing you can do is embrace your feelings of embarrassment if you happen to make a mistake. These are very uncomfortable feelings, but you should do your best to not run away from them: you’ll become more resilient when dealing with embarrassment in the future.

Some things that can help you deal with them include laughter and considering the consequences of your past failures: oftentimes, things were never as bad as we’d previously imagined they would be. We survived. Now it’s up to us to turn all of our past failures into learning experiences.

#10

Every couple of months, after staring at a pile of important-looking mail with dread, I grit my teeth, suppress further procrastination, and start working through the pile.
Ten minutes later, I’m done, and pissed at myself for worrying about it for so long instead of just doing it.
*Every* damn time.
237points

#11

When I was a kid in the 80’s, my family was broke. We were two pay checks away from living in our car. We did have to live in our car for a few months before my mom landed her job. Anyway, imagine a single mother of three,who works 3 jobs just to make ends meat.
I was just attending jr high school. 8th grade. And I was playing in the back of our house. I noticed something in the dumpster that I haven’t seen before. I fished it out and brought it home. It was a computer. A monitor, keyboard, and tower thing. At that time monitors sat on top of the box. And they were HUGE! Not to mention expensive. I managed to set it up and it was already booting into windows 3.1. When my mom got home, she was LIVID! She thought I stole it. We cant afford anything close to that. No way! But once she saw the grass stains on the side, she knew.
We had that computer for 4 years. It helped me in ways I can’t even believe. Because of that computer, my love of electronics and my curiosity flourished. No, I am not a computer tech now, but I am the resident computer nerd for my family. I make a living online, and I attribute most of my knowledge to what I can google. So yeah! It WAS that easy!
224points

#12

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
I've hated every job I've ever had, at 18 I joined the military for 6 years....that sucked the whole time, then went into customer service at Walmart, and they were a bunch of a******s to everyone. Tried security and they were just degrading. Job after job doing what I thought was the right thing. I decided to apply for a local HVAC company just working call center, nothing big, I think there a total of 9 of us on phones. Honestly it's the best job I've ever had, we all get along, spend hours a day on our group chat sharing memes, our management has one on one meetings every two weeks with the goal of "this meeting is not work related but we want to know just how your doing, how's life treating you, what do you need?"
There's constant communication about expectations and how we can better meet them and how they can help us perform better. The majority of the companies profits are used to better employee lives (I get monthly commission and residuals, and $30 a month healthcare with BCBS) along with monthly pot lucks, paid lunches, competitive pay starting at $17 an hour. I haven't seen any turnover...literally none, my position was only hiring because too many people got promoted.
219points

According to the author of the thread, they never expected that their question would get that much attention online. At the time of writing, their post had 36.5k upvotes. We were curious about the inspiration behind the question.

“What I had in mind was thinking about a very interactive question, where people would be willing to share their experiences,” they told Bored Panda that they wanted other internet users to share their own stories.

#13

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
One time I tightened my gas cap and the check engine light went off.
216points

#14

I actually have an relevant answer.
So I'm a disabled guy. And a little person. Lived my entire life in my parents house that wasn't at all accessible and was looking to move out into my own apt. I never understook anything by myself much less something so huge.
I got into the waiting list of an accessible apt for "poor" folk. I got it in THREE MONTHS. It literally changed my life. I now live on my own and no one limits how many gummy 🐻 I eat.
Report
197points

#15

Dancing in my wheelchair. I don’t have legs so I never hit the dance floor, but once you’re there, you just move and let go
188points

The OP pointed out that plenty of people are scared to go for truly hard tasks like getting a degree or starting a business. So they wanted to take a peek at some opposite situations. They wanted to find out what people have tried that seemed hard at first, but with a bit of courage, they realized that they had it all backward!

“That would be not only inspiring to me but to other people as well, as seen in the replies. I’m very proud of many people in the replies and how they weren’t scared of trying out new things.”

#16

I had accepted a new job but was anxious about giving my notice at my old job (I had been there for 8 years and really loved my team). I had also been stressed out that I was taking a week off between jobs because it was a stretch financially. I finally set up a meeting with my boss. I couldn't even sleep the night before.
An hour before I was going to give my notice, my boss's boss called me into a meeting. With HR. I was being laid off (along with a large number of other employees). They were so sorry, my boss's boss was in tears. She promised they would "take care of me". Anyway, I got 20 weeks of severance and a full three weeks of between jobs. Unfuckingbelievable. The best thing that's ever happened to me.
I was so shocked that I almost started laughing during the meeting and had to pretend I was trying not to cry.
187points

#17

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
Drinking water.
Went from having issues getting to sleep and then waking up grumpy and tired. Water has changed my life. Thought it would be super difficult to kick soda, but once I tried and didn’t give in the benefits out weight the taste.
172points

#18

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
Worked on an almost 5 million dollar lighting rig for a concert as a junior guy on the job. We get it all plugged in and patched but none of it would turn on. All the guys were freaking out trying to figure out why. The team collectively had about 150 years of experience.
No one checked to see if the generators were turned on.
I was like no way this is why but I'll just go check if the generators are good. Flipped stuff on and viola.
169points

#19

I bought a Dyson V7 Vacuum that wasn't working for 55 Euros on eBay. I thought I'd try to replace the battery with a knockoff and if it didn't work, send the battery back and sell the dyson for the same money. It didn't work but I noticed I could register it for warranty. I called the support and (because I like to be honest) told the guy It's a used device and I didn't have a receipt. The guy said it doesn't matter if it's used as long as the serial number is still eligible for warranty. They sent me a new battery twice and when that didn't work as well, they told me to send the motor in. A week or so later I received a package with a brand new Dyson V8.
Edit: Forgot to mention: Dyson is really expensive but their support is first class as well. The guy on the phone really did know a lot and was very nice and helpful.
163points

#20

35 "It Can't Be That Easy" Things That Turned Out To Actually Be Easy When People Tried Them
Solving a decade of disability with an over-the-counter iron supplement.
Edit: I seem to have convinced a number of people they're iron deficient and that they should start taking iron pills. While iron is unlikely to be harmful in over-the-counter doses over the short-term, in the long-term it can literally kill you. *If at all possible,* get medical supervision for doing this. I'm doing it on my own because I can't convince my doctor I'm deficient when I definitely am, but this carries risks with it.
153points
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