#1
#2
Two months later, we were co-writing a book together. A year later, it got picked up by a small publisher. And somehow, I became an author—because I missed a bus.
#3
Then I met someone who I really clicked with that had a 6 year old daughter. She held off on introducing us until things got serious, and I (reluctantly) met this kid. Her bio-dad skipped town the day she was born, and that was the worst decision HE ever made.
Long story short, 25 years later I walked her down the aisle at her wedding.
It all started with this thread in the AskReddit community, where seven days ago, the user u/sharknurse simply asked the netizens: "What’s a small decision you made that unexpectedly changed your life forever?" So, as usual, a small question led to a large thread, with 3.9K upvotes and nearly 650 comments. Lots of stories, lively discussion - in short, the butterfly effect at its best.
#4
#5
#6
On day 2, I heard someone from the large friend group next to my camp site ask "does anyone have any mustard?" No one responded so after what felt like way too long to me I said "I have mustard." They invited me to hang out and became my friends for the rest of the weekend.
I started casually chatting with one of the girls from the group over text since we lived in different states, 2 months later she invites me to go see Radiohead with her friends and we've been dating ever since. I'm planning to get her a ring this year, all because I had mustard.
The very concept of the "butterfly effect" was originally introduced by the famous American mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz in the second half of the last century. According to his thought experiment, a butterfly flapping its wings in Iowa can cause an avalanche of effects that can reach its culmination during, let's say, the rainy season in Indonesia.
In turn, this concept appeared in Lorenz's head, most likely, thanks to the famous story by Ray Bradbury "A Sound of Thunder", where, if you probably remember, a butterfly also played a key role in the development of the plot.
#7
#8
I have no family history of breast cancer, no symptoms, and am also quite young so was not planning to get a mammogram anytime soon.
That casual decision likely saved my life.
#9
We had a good time and at the end I was hesitant to ask for her number because I just wasn't that kind of person. But something told me to just ask her, so I did. She gave me her number and said the only reason she gave it to me is because it was her last day at that store. She didn't usually date co-workers.
We went on a date after that and several years later, we ended up marrying. She's my soul mate. For some reason I stayed late that day even though I absolutely hated work back then and never wanted to give more to a company than I had to. But I stayed late on the last day that I could have met my wife. Something told me that staying late that day would change my life, and it did.
I'm forever grateful to my friend and to my wife who makes me a better person in every way.
To be absolutely precise, in that story, humanity invents time travel and, during one of these trips to the distant past to look at the dinosaurs, one of the characters accidentally crushes just a little butterfly.
And so, as a result of this - through a whole chain of events that happened over a hundred million years, upon returning from the journey, the hero discovers that his action unwittingly changed the entire course of history, leading to the victory of a completely different political party and a different leader in the elections in the country.
#10
#11
6 months later I was living in a completely different city and 10 years on I still love it and wouldn't change a thing.
#12
As for the stories presented in this list, two main plots prevail here: when people met completely by chance - and this gave rise to a wonderful and long-term relationship, and when someone, also by a happy coincidence, discovered a serious illness in themselves or someone close to them. The illness was cured thanks to timely intervention.
In other words, the vast majority of these stories really have happy endings, which once again proves how coincidences can make our lives way better.
#13
#14
I got called on to a film two weeks later and got linked with some pretty notable people. Four years have gone by now and I’m a professional actor. Completely changed everything for me and I never thought I’d love doing this. .
#15
We’ve been together for over 4 years now, have a beautiful and brilliant two year old son and we will be welcoming his little brother on Wednesday.
"Now I will try to dispel the romantic haze that surrounds such stories," says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. "In reality, we can only evaluate events many, many years later, so in any case, we perceive everything that happens, already knowing the outcome."
"For example, when evaluating the consequences of an invitation to a romantic dinner that ended in a long-term happy marriage, we actually proceed from this. That a completely unexpected small action led to good consequences. This is called the availability heuristic - that is, an assessment based mostly on our knowledge."
"On the other hand, literally any birth of any person, given the incredible number of probabilities even before their birth, looks like a real miracle. So if people like to believe in happy coinsidences, if they really help us live better and happier - so be it!" Irina sums up.
#16
#17
It transpired that I didn't have a viral chest infection, I had infective Endocarditis, a bacterial infection of the internal surfaces and valves of the heart.
Long story short, I came very close to dying from the IE, sepsis, multiple organ failure and several TIAs.
I lost my left leg below the knee and my right toes. 6 months in acute care, 3 in a specialist neurological rehab facility and another 15 months waiting for suitable housing.
I'm currently waiting for heart surgery to replace one valve and repair another.
#18
In any case, we are quite sure that you'll enjoy reading these inspiring stories from a variety of people. Well, and maybe when you'll be hesitating one day whether to do something very small and insignificant - you'll remember this post and do something that will lead you to happiness and prosperity. Who actually knows, because this life is beautiful because it's completely unpredictable!
#19
Met my now wife there. She told me I looked like Jack Black, but it's okay as she liked Jack black.
That was 20 years ago this year, I love her immensely we now have 2 amazing kids and I've never looked back.
How different life could have been if I didn't go to that pub.
I know most people wont see this edit with it being a day later, but in a weird coincidence.. I've just had a memory pop up... this was exactly 20 years ago today. S**t, how time flies.
#20
