Page 5 | What small decision changed the course of your entire life?

justanothermanicmonday1 · 2023-09-10T10:51:07+00:00

Lighthearted. Mines was just getting out of a relationship, being in my thirties and thinking I'd never ever meet anyone. I'd got used to the fact that I wouldn't likely have children, and be alone. And I was fine with that. 4 weeks after I ended my relationship, my friend asked if I wanted to be set up on a date with her friends friend. I was extremely reluctant..... 3 years later we have a toddler and a newborn and it was the best decision I have ever made in my entire life. I didn't think I would ever be this lucky. He treats me how I deserve to be treated, hands on, funny, respectful, romantic & the best role model for our children! Intrigued to hear people's stories whilst my newborn sleeps away..... 🥹

Phos · 10/09/2023 15:05

I was working as a teacher, bloody fed up and on a whim I decided to apply for a Grad scheme for no good reason other than a friend of mine who did a similar degree to me did one at that company so I thought if she could do it...

Everything happened very quickly. Within two weeks I'd gone through the assessment process and got offered the job. 10 months later I moved to London and met who is now my DH.

Vebrithien · 10/09/2023 15:07

I read The Lord of the Rings.

Went to a related club at Uni.

Met DH.

Also;

Played one more game with DD in the morning, before walking to school. We were narrowly missed by a cast iron radiator falling off of the back of a skip lorry. It exploded when it hit the ground, shards everywhere.

HelloVeritas · 10/09/2023 15:09

I think Seychal worked for MI5 - would love to hear more 😀

Millic · 10/09/2023 15:10

@TraineeOT I ended up studying OT without really knowing anything about it, I’d started another degree but quickly realised it just wasn’t for me… I managed to transfer internally to OT on a bit of a whim really. 10 plus years on I think I finally know what I want to do in my career, still OT, but I’m just on the cusp of leaving the nhs. Good luck with your training!

Saverage · 10/09/2023 15:10

All these 'how I met my DH' stories remind me of the Tim Minchin song 'If I didn't have you...somebody else would do.'

All the lyrics are so good, so difficult to pick a passage, but one below. Basically, that if you are in the frame of mind for a relationship, and have options to meet people, there are multiple small decisions that would lead to someone, but not necessarily a particular someone.

"And look I'm not undervaluing what we've got when I say That given the role chaos inevitably plays  And the inherently flawed notion of fate It's abstruse to deduce I found my soul mate at the age of 17 It's just mathematically unlikely that at a university in Perth I happened to stumble on the one girl on earth  Definitively designed for me"

Rockbird · 10/09/2023 15:11

I was sacked from a bullying job that I hated and went to the job centre that day to find something else. They tried to get me to sign on but I said no, find me any job. I was so ashamed and wanted to move on ASAP. They sent me to a civil service interview that afternoon and I met DH there. 25 years ago last week.

Gymmum82 · 10/09/2023 15:19

I was morbidity obese with significant health problems. I’d just joined slimming world for about the 5th time having tried and failed on that and every other diet in existence before.

Plucked up the courage to join a gym and headed in to my first ever exercise class. I was already anxious and seeing everyone setting up equipment that I hadn’t a clue what to do with I turned round to head straight back out of the door. The instructor stopped me before I managed to leave, asked if it was my first time. Helped me set everything up and then came and spoke to me after the class to check how I’d got on. Made me promise I’d come back again the following week which I did.
That incredible woman now 7 years later is my best friend. She took me under her wing, she motivated and inspired me, she helped me to stay focussed when it got tough. She changed my whole life for the better. I lost 7 stone with her help. I’m now fitter than I’ve ever been in my life, my health has improved immeasurably and my mental health also.
I’ve also got the best friend I could ever wish for who I love with all my heart

girljulian · 10/09/2023 15:22

HangerLaneGyratorySystem · 10/09/2023 14:39

I think maybe OP should have said what changed your life for the BETTER so as to flag up that people were not welcome to talk about difficult shit on her thread 🤨

She never said they couldn't? The first complaining reply didn't give a moment that changed their life at all, it just complained about the thread in general because OP was happy.

Here's a moment that changed the course of my life not necessarily for the worse but in a way that leaves me with huge what-ifs: I kissed a boy by a riverbank when we were at uni and we had a brief affair. Then over the holidays I got with someone else (my now husband) and so did he, so we remained great friends (and still are) but that part of our association was over. He's now married to another woman and I do wonder what might have happened. I think we'd have been good together but it would have been a different life.

Badbearday · 10/09/2023 15:23

Took the kids to an activity today. Managed to leave a bit earlier than usual.

Chattering away & took a couple of wrong turns in the car. Ended up on a street we’d never normally use, just in time to see a poor chap fall off his bike.

He was fine but we were in time to help him back on his feet.

UnctuousUnicorns · 10/09/2023 15:24

Saverage · 10/09/2023 15:10

All these 'how I met my DH' stories remind me of the Tim Minchin song 'If I didn't have you...somebody else would do.'

All the lyrics are so good, so difficult to pick a passage, but one below. Basically, that if you are in the frame of mind for a relationship, and have options to meet people, there are multiple small decisions that would lead to someone, but not necessarily a particular someone.

"And look I'm not undervaluing what we've got when I say That given the role chaos inevitably plays  And the inherently flawed notion of fate It's abstruse to deduce I found my soul mate at the age of 17 It's just mathematically unlikely that at a university in Perth I happened to stumble on the one girl on earth  Definitively designed for me"

Oh, he can fuck off with his word salad, the verbose cunt!

Saverage · 10/09/2023 15:25

Gymmum82 · 10/09/2023 15:19

I was morbidity obese with significant health problems. I’d just joined slimming world for about the 5th time having tried and failed on that and every other diet in existence before.

Plucked up the courage to join a gym and headed in to my first ever exercise class. I was already anxious and seeing everyone setting up equipment that I hadn’t a clue what to do with I turned round to head straight back out of the door. The instructor stopped me before I managed to leave, asked if it was my first time. Helped me set everything up and then came and spoke to me after the class to check how I’d got on. Made me promise I’d come back again the following week which I did.
That incredible woman now 7 years later is my best friend. She took me under her wing, she motivated and inspired me, she helped me to stay focussed when it got tough. She changed my whole life for the better. I lost 7 stone with her help. I’m now fitter than I’ve ever been in my life, my health has improved immeasurably and my mental health also.
I’ve also got the best friend I could ever wish for who I love with all my heart

It's amazing when people come into your life like that and make a huge impact. And the joy is, you never know where or when you might meet them.

Songbird74 · 10/09/2023 15:26

My sister met some random man in the high street, they exchanged numbers, dated briefly and I went on to marry his brother 😂

Kittensat36 · 10/09/2023 15:26

Some friends were looking after a cat that had been owned by a lady with dementia and went into a home. They needed to re-home the cat pronto. I had a mouse problem and had been looking at adopting a cat and been doing the research.

"Oh bring her round next Wednesday" I said before I could stop myself.

What arrived was an elderly lady in a fur coat with a massive intolerance to mice and a kvetchy meow. Once we got used to each other, she was the loveliest cat ever.

Saverage · 10/09/2023 15:27

"Oh, he can fuck off with his word salad, the verbose cunt!"

Hmm, not word salad, as the lyrics makes perfect sense, even if you don't agree with the sentiment. But suit yourself.

tuvamoodyson · 10/09/2023 15:28

HangerLaneGyratorySystem · 10/09/2023 14:39

I think maybe OP should have said what changed your life for the BETTER so as to flag up that people were not welcome to talk about difficult shit on her thread 🤨

But she asked for instances that have changed your entire life…it could’ve been good or bad, it isn’t for things that changed your life for the BETTER, it could be ANYTHING that changed the course of your life!

Lifeomars · 10/09/2023 15:30

I'm enjoying reading the happy stories, it is heartwarming. I have always taken up invitations, gone on training courses, been friendly and hopefully kind to people. However there has been no happy ending for I get terribly lonely but try to count my blessings, I am healthy and can get by financially but to be honest I have had some terrible things happen to me in my life and I sometimes think this is because I deserve it. I have had broken relationships, been a victim of a very serious crime, been divorced, deserted and have had bad mental health problems . I always felt that by being positive and reframing the bad that things would work out for me, but they haven't. Of course I am not unique in having had a tough life and I appreciate that many others have far worse things happen so I am grateful for the good stuff

Vegemiteandhoneyontoast · 10/09/2023 15:30

20 years ago, OH pointed out a course advertised in the village news letter to study horticulture at the local agricultural college. I booked onto it and it was the best course I've ever done and I was like a duck taking to water. I absolutely loved every minute. Today, I work in a large and beautiful garden with a glorious view and am probably the most contented I've ever been.

mimiku · 10/09/2023 15:33

19yo me saying “I’m not paying £35 for the morning after pill you must be joking, it’ll be fine it was a one off”

My ignorance got me back, DS is 8 now. Love him dearly but £35 would have been a lot cheaper 😂

Boshi · 10/09/2023 15:40

This is a really heart warming thread but meeting the other half is going to be a story of life changing in a new direction for 99.99% of people 😅 and it’s always going to be ‘by chance’ rather than by design

But it’s nice to reminisce about when you met your other half ❤️

Saverage · 10/09/2023 15:42

Lifeomars · 10/09/2023 15:30

I'm enjoying reading the happy stories, it is heartwarming. I have always taken up invitations, gone on training courses, been friendly and hopefully kind to people. However there has been no happy ending for I get terribly lonely but try to count my blessings, I am healthy and can get by financially but to be honest I have had some terrible things happen to me in my life and I sometimes think this is because I deserve it. I have had broken relationships, been a victim of a very serious crime, been divorced, deserted and have had bad mental health problems . I always felt that by being positive and reframing the bad that things would work out for me, but they haven't. Of course I am not unique in having had a tough life and I appreciate that many others have far worse things happen so I am grateful for the good stuff

You absolutely don't deserve it, please don't think that. I'm sorry things have not always gone well for you.

Pebblesflintstoneandbambamrubble · 10/09/2023 15:43

I'd been through dv and was dipping my toe back in the dating field via online dating

My god there was some dross

Had enough of the dick pics and 'sexy' talk so deleted the app

About 6/7 months later,I donned my hard hat again (I must have been bored that night) and said hello to about 10 random men

One was my now dp-been very happy together for the last 8 years

Zebracat · 10/09/2023 15:44

I walked home from the pub with a casual acquaintance, and , because I was pissed, told him that his clothes were dreadful and he needed new ones. He asked me to go clothes shopping with him and I did. Still together 35 years later. And his clothes were unspeakable! But he is lovely.

Fartooold · 10/09/2023 15:45

Not going home after falling out with a friend I was meant to be staying with, aged 16.

Never lived at home again, met 'DH' and married him at 17. Been married 45 years. 40 years too long 🤨

Had two children, built a career, now early retired.

MittensForKittens123 · 10/09/2023 15:45

When visiting London for a gig popped in to an office I’d worked in there a couple of years before. Said hello to people, and in conversation mentioned to my old boss I was job searching in my home city.

3 weeks later I got a phone call asking me to go back and work for them on a four week contract. I did, and 15 years later I’ve built my life in London, and am working in a completely different bit of my industry than I would have done in my home city.

HoneyPotts · 10/09/2023 15:46

So many of these stories involve meeting a man.