What small decision changed the course of your entire life?

[justanothermanicmonday1]

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..... 🥹

Smoking a spliff in Kenya of unknown substance when fifteen.

I got rejected from Oxford so I went to another Uni. I meet future DH 3 weeks in.

That of itself was a bit of a sliding doors moment as I went to a student society in the first week when he wasn't there, missed it in the second week for some reason when he attended and then I forced myself to go the week after and that's when we met.

It's 18 years and 2 kids later. I'll also never have the question, 'What if I'd applied to Oxford?' hanging over me. I know the answer 🙂. Be brave ladies!

5 years ago I left a secure job (for various reasons) and ended up doing a bit of agency work until the start of the pandemic. Thankfully the agency paid furlough and then in September 2020 I started my current job, yes it's a level down and £300 a month less than my job five years ago but it less stress, totally different culture. It's given me time to heal from some of the issues of my job 5 years ago and has given me the time and space to incorporate my passions into the job daily. I now (once I'm out of bed and properly awake) actually want to go to work and miss it in the holidays. I strongly believe that even if we don't see it at the time everything happens for a reason.

What happened? What did smoking said waccy baccy lead to? Do spill!

Well said OP to all the posters who don't like someone celebrating a bit of happiness, tell them to jog on.

When I was about 14 I was having piano lessons. My piano teacher briefly mentioned her daughter, who was a speech therapist. Well that it was it then, that was the only job I wanted to do and 20 years later I still love my job.

My not so happy one (but on reflection I think thank god that happened!), I was 5 weeks pregnant and booked an appointment in with a doctor because I was having awful bloating. I genuinely didn't think it would be an ectopic but turned out it was. If I hadn't decided to book that appointment who knows when I would have found out and what would have happened.

Going to a couple of Proms concerts, when I was at university. I enjoyed them so much, I decided to get a ticket for the Last Night, and whilst I was queuing out from the Thursday beforehand, I was befriended by a regular Promenader who took me to the pub where I met dh.

We’ve been married for 31 years, have three dses, one lovely DIL, and became grandparents for the first time last year.

I'm single and in my 40's and absolutely love these threads. I also love hearing about how people met their partners, I think it's lovely. Also, being single in your 40's doesn't mean you will be single forever, if you're open to meeting someone and put the effort in then I'm sure you will.

Many years ago when I was 19 I met a guy and quite frankly fell right in love but didn't have the courage to say anything and apparently neither did he. We then lost contact I ended up in a disaster violent cheating very short marriage. Ended up being single for 8 years and bringing up my son alone. When I turned 30 met up with this guy by accident and we have never been apart since infact we got married 31 days after meeting up again and now have another 3 wonderful children and I'm the happiest bunny ever. Turns out we were both to shy all those years ago to say anything and the minute we met up again it was like we had never been apart

Joining facebook was a life-changing thing for me. The second, maybe third person I interacted with (I joined because a friend talked me into it, so all my friends were Thier friends initially) was the person I'm now married to!

I don’t think the universe ‘has a plan’ at all!

The determining moment of my life was probably as a meek, obedient ‘eldest of a big family’ 13 year old who, because of semi-literate, unworldly parents and very poor schools, hadn’t realised she was clever, asked my mother ‘Would I ever be able to go to university?’ and she said ‘Oh, no, that’s only for rich people’. If I’d listened, I’d have done what my parents wanted me to do, to leave school at 15 and train as a hairdresser, marry young, live locally, and be a SAHM to a large family.

Fortunately some core of stubbornness saw me think ‘There’s more to this’, and got me applying for scholarships etc, and to Oxford. I’ve had a much more fulfilling life than the one my parents mapped out, and my siblings followed.

You'll never guess where sperm comes from!

I didn’t have the best start in life. Managed to get into uni (albeit, a bit of a shit one because I flunked school) and graduate.

The 6 months after graduation were the worst. I got kicked out my house share (because my friend owned the house got a boyfriend), was sofa surfing, had a really crap part time job where I was treated like total shite, no money. I was applying to jobs in London in my field but it was so competitive and I was up against candidates from much better unis. I was so depressed and I felt like I’d slipped back into what things were like for me growing up (no money, stability etc).

One day, I had a call from a recruiter offering me a role in a huge company in London on a 1 month contract covering for someone. I thought it was a bad idea for a moment and then thought ‘F IT’! I had no where to live and no stability but I had to change something.

I was there for a good 6 months in the end and gained so much experience. I met some of my best friends (after meeting no one at uni with any similarities to me!). I landed a permanent position straight after at a very prestigious company and it has changed my life forever. They told me it was because I had gained so much experience at my temp role.

I will be forever grateful to that recruiter for calling me and thank god I picked the phone up.

I was 19 and a uni student.

We had a room to let in our shared student house which we had advertised on uni noticeboards (mid 1980s, so before the days of internet and social media). A guy knocked on our door one afternoon, looked around and took the room. I didn't know it at the time, but he was to become my DH several years down the line.

We've been married for 30 years now and have three grown up daughters.

One for my mother, many years before me. It was the 1950s. She was a new student at a teacher training college. She and her friends had been invited to a dinner and dance hosted by another university in a neighbouring town. She didn't want to go because she had no partner of her own at that time, but allowed her friends to persuade her.

She met a young man at that dance. They were married for over 60 years (until his death just a couple of years ago 😥). My sister and I would probably not have been born if my mother hadn't gone there with her friends that night. She went in to the do with no boyfriend and emerged a few hours later with one.

So what if many of these are tales of how people met their partners. Contribute something different or scroll on by if you aren't interested.

Going to a counselling session before abortion, my son is now 4. Then partner wanted me to have an abortion and was furious I had changed my mind but feels shame about that now and we are married and have a second son too!

I think about my son. He was being put for adoption and the family finder found a family and phoned their social worker. For whatever reason they said no but the social worker put us forward instead. On paper we were not a match but our beautiful boy has been home for 9 years now. 🥰

Had my bike nicked. While sat in the police station to get a crime number for the insurance I spotted a job advert in the local newspaper. Got the job, met a girl through it. Was meant to be a short term thing as I was planning on quitting the job and moving across the country. She ended up getting pregnant so I stayed put.

If some knobhead hadn't pinched my bike, my life would look completely different. Bloody glad he nicked it!

Many years ago, I used to be a traffic warden - a police one not a council one. One of my colleagues was sick one day and they were short handed , so needed a volunteer to go out with the mobile team, so I volunteered . So there I was , standing by a van waiting for the driver to return , when another man , completely randomly , ran up to me , grabbed me by the lapels of my gabardine raincoat ( yes it really was that long ago) , and threw me through the glass front of a chemists shop I was standing next to. As I lay there amidst the baby formula and incontinence pads , I can remember thinking most distinctly , “ if this is going to keep happening , I’d really like to be able to do something about it “

7 months later , I got sworn in as a constable at Hendon. I should be retiring in 6 months .

Great thread op it's really positive from the "u didn't want to go out, glad I did met husband".

My SIL suggested we try lane swimming one day to get fit - I went in to enquire, joined on a whim and she never turned up. Nearly 2 years later I have lost 4 stone, feel happier and healthier than ever and have made good friends with the regulars. I suffered a lot with my mental health in past and that moment truly changed my life forever.

They don’t have to read it!

I think what is interesting is how people get slightly knocked off their usual routine then something good happens.

My DH's aunt had lived alone until her sixties, then met a widower at church and is now happily married and enjoying her twilight years with him. Really unexpected at the time, of course everyone is happy for them.

I submitted a short story to a competition when I was 26, after years of being too shy to let anyone read my work. I didn't win but I got some great feedback and it encouraged me to keep writing and now I'm part of a vibrant community of writers, I run a small literary journal with my DH who I met on a Creative Writing MA course, and we have a beautiful baby daughter together.

OMG! I can’t imagine the range of emotions you must have gone through dealing with this.