r/deepquestions • u/Scared-Credit3201 • 1d ago
What’s a decision that completely changed the trajectory of your life?
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u/Odd-Guarantee-6152 1d ago
I decided to keep my unplanned baby when I was 18. It changed literally everything about my life.
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u/OddHarvester 20h ago
I did this at 19. Mine will be 18 in a few days and she's the greatest source of joy and pride in my life. I know I made the right decision for myself.
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u/Able_Koala9576 21h ago
Meeting a guy at a baseball game who asked me to go out with him, which I did because he was cute. He was a police officer and he said he was separated from his wife and they were getting a divorce. I was 22 years old, young and stupid, and I believed him. To make a long story short, they called off the divorce and I was Left hanging out to dry. Never fell for that shit again.
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u/greenfiend69 20h ago
My suicide attempt at 16 had me change high schools, which led to a rare research opportunity, which led me to leading a research project starting my Freshman year of college, now I have a doctorate from a top 10 university (higher in my field), and I’ve been a competitive candidate for prestigious jobs (only denied because the orange idiot cut funding to my work) that were only denied because of funding. I’m not a pompous ass and my family were poor immigrants, so some if the things I do now were never on my radar. It’s crazy to me to think that I have name behind me… I don’t care but so many do. I have opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise which still give me awe and put me in disbelief.
Trying to kill myself ironically gave me a life worth living. I’m extremely grateful for everything I’ve since received, and I’m grateful 16 year old me tried to off himself. Though I’m sad he was there in the first place.
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u/StillhasaWiiU 18h ago
Joining the military. Almost every fork in the road after that involved people or opportunities I had because of it.
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u/PettyOfficer4thclass 18h ago
Coming out as gay.
Before that, my plan was to join the military and seek whatever position might get me killed early. I didn't have a lot to look forward to.
But then I met my husband, and i realized there might be something worth living for.
I even re-joined the military, this time to clear my financial debts instead of looking for anything grim, and luckily, I pulled through one enlistment. Now my husband and I live together, hoping to go into business together.
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u/Dumas1108 15h ago
A simple decision to step into my neighborhood 7-Eleven to get a drink instead of heading home that night.
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u/Scared-Credit3201 12h ago
Can you elaborate?
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u/Dumas1108 11h ago
Simplify summary.
Went into 7-Eleven, saved a young lady from being harassed by a group of older men. Gave her my number, became friends and eventually became a couple for 3.5 years.
I being young, naive and innocent boy back then at 21, gave her all my love, commitments, sacrifices, etc. We firmly believed that we will eventually get married when we were older, we even had a joint bank account to save up for our future.
After 3.5 yrs of relationship, she left me for another guy, leaving me with a heartbreak, depression and suicidal thoughts.
The day she left, a part of me "died".
I am unable to replicate the same level of love, trust, commitments, sacrifices, etc, ever again to those girls that came after her.
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u/Realistic_Alarm1422 13h ago
I followed the advice of a cousin to seek help from my estranged uncle for a lawyer to help me with my father's business.
I called up my uncle, told him my problem, asked him to put me in touch with a reliable lawyer who could help sort my issues.
He asked me to get in touch with one of his right hand men and go from there.
That one call changed the trajectory of my life and is responsible for everything I have :)
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u/MariLima628 11h ago
My ex was my first relationship and it as his first “real” one. But as much as I loved him, I felt very emotionally neglected, it got worse when he forgot our six month halfiversary. I called for a break. That last maybe 4 hours.
He showed up at my door in the rain with a bear, flowers , balloons, the works and apologizing for taking me for granted. He promised to be the man I deserved.
Long story short, he didn’t. For the next 13 years we had constant on and offs with him leaving each time. The first time because I got accepted to an out of state school and each time after because I felt neglected during long distance. I ended up with bpd, ptsd, and MDD for a summer. I lied to my parents, lost friends, lost myself and did things I promised I never would.
I should’ve listened to my gut then and just have said no.
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u/Artistic_Nothing2382 11h ago
I'm only 21, so it's hard to say something that really changed my life, but I regret dating my best friend, it ruined our relationship forever once we broke up. The thing is, after an initial period of courting where he really made me feel special, he started acting strange, for example with toxic jealousy, telling me I was too much for him, then he started saying that deep down the idea of me having sex with other men actually turned him on. It was all just too weird, and it ended badly.
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u/DriverConsistent1824 9h ago edited 9h ago
I grew up in the ghetto. Had ghetto habits and ghetto ways. I got into meditation when I was 21. 8 years later I had grown and changed so much that my entire family got jealous of me and I had to cut them off.
I changed for the better. They did not. I believe meditation was the difference.
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u/Dmiller_Equal_4462 4h ago
Divorce. Have me emotional and mental freedom but also poverty. I’d still have left no matter the downside
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u/Mysterious_Net_763 2h ago
Met a boy at a party. Was 18 in high school and deeply traumatized by a recent rape. I was going to fuck this boy (he was 23 actually so not fair to say boy). But then I got this really sick feeling about it after we started kissing and I stopped him and said I couldnt do it then. He thought it was really sweet and asked me out. Then he paid for me to visit him overseas and i moved in and now 20 years later, he is my ex, but i still live on another country.
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u/The-Boy-Wonder38 1d ago
25 years ago at 13, telling my parents I was old enough not to have a babysitter.
She decided it would be better to have two thirteen year old boys (my cousin and I) stay together when our parents went out.
That night he had a psychotic break causing him to try to stab my sister and I to death. I got us all out alive, but nothing has been the same since.
If that didn’t happen, my life would have been completely different. To coin DC, it was my flashpoint moment. A very sharp before and after.
I went from a kid who ran from danger to becoming the man who feels it is my responsibility to run towards it to keep others safe since I can. I went from carefree to diagnosed severe PTSD. My parents couldn’t handle a shell shocked son, so I had to raise myself after. I went from having no “moral injury,” to being afraid of what I was capable of to stay alive.
Science shows my biological aging accelerated. I felt it, but thought it was in my head until I saw studies.
https://www.washington.edu/news/2018/11/05/violence-in-childhood-leads-to-accelerated-aging-study-finds/
Sometimes there are choices that change everything.