To ask what was your 'sliding doors' moment?

[Fairyicecream]

For those that haven't seen the film Sliding Doors, it basically showed how different her life turned out if she caught the train/didn't catch the train.

What was one decision, one moment that could have changed your whole life?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. A few years ago my marriage went through a bad patch (understatement to say the least). DH talked about leaving. It was the worst time of my life and I honestly don't know how I got through it.

Anyway, i often wonder, what if I had just told him to go? We would now all be living separately and we and our beautiful DC would have a completely different life.

Instead, we are all now happier than we have ever been. But it could have all been so different with that one decision...

A Tuesday evening 4 years ago, I was on my way home from work and decided to go for a quick drink on my own. I was in the process of giving up smoking however had one on me, so I bought my drink then stood outside for a smoke. A guy came out and asked for a lighter. We started chatting .... fast forward to now, neither of us have smoked for 3 years, and we're expecting our first baby in 4 weeks 🥰

Mine was watching the film Sliding Doors. 99 Minutes wasted I can never get back.

I went through with my sliding doors moment and changed my life completely by ending my first marriage.i could have stayed but chose to do the right thing for me/us.Im happily re married with ds 7 years later.

If I had have got home (from abroad) sooner would I have spotted the pharmacist gave my mum the wrong prescription before it was too late to save her?

Years ago I met with my ex, we'd only just split up and it was all amicable.... We met up as he wanted to buy my car. We were leaving the pub and about to go our separate ways when I found £20 on the floor outside so we decided to go and get more drinks. Got tipsy and ended up admitting we were both sorry and we got back together.

Whoever lost that £20 about twenty two years ago probably kicked themselves at the time but they'll never know that caused 2 people to go on and buy a house together, have 2 kids and then get married. Whenever I lose something now I think of the person finding it and it doesn't seem all that bad

Mine was almost not going on a date with my now DH.
I had had a few bad dates and been talking to my now DH for a few weeks he had driven to my City to meet up on the day I decided I couldn't be bothered with another bad date but my best mate said I should go as what did I have to lose.
I was 10-15 mins late on arriving but as soon as I spotted him that was it instant smile on my face been married now for over 4 years and have 2 DCs and I do think if I hadn't shown up I'd have missed out on my wonderful husband and my DCs.

It's fascinating reading all these, and a fascinating subject in general.....

My current DP and I had many mutual friends before we met, and on at least two occasions when we were both in other relationships we were scheduled to attend events where we would have met but fate intervened on either side. We met briefly once at a social gathering and made a vague impression on each other but we were both married to other people, and there was no reason to keep in contact. About six months after that my marriage had dissolved in spectacularly Jeremy Kyle fashion, and as my adultish children had decided to stay with my ex, I was re-building my single life and had gone out to a nightclub I used to visit in my younger years (tbh I was having a bit of a mid-life crisis at 42).

DP was also in the nightclub so I went and said hello. Turns out his wife had that day moved away to London and he was now single, we discovered we had many weird synchronous similarities, both the same age, both only children, both the same family dynamics, even similar wardobes, accessories and a family heirloom clock virtually identical.... as we were both in a bit of a fug he invited me back to his ...... we've been together nearly ten years....... and our meeting happened on April Fools day.

Another fascinating film on this sort of subject is Mr Nobody with Jared Leto. Requires several watches IMHO to really see all the nuance, and some of it is so personally resonant it gives me a little chill......

I was supposed to join the Navy, I had a scholarship to go to the RN College and train as an Officer but while at 6th form I changed my mind and changed all my A-levels.

No idea to this day what made me do it and my parents were pretty upset at the time.

Not long after I met who is now my DH of almost 23 years...... if I hadn't decided not to join the RN I would have still met DH but 12 months later I would've been heading off to the opposite end of the country to train followed by what probably would've been active duty (most likely Afghanistan) so I very much doubt we would still be together and have DS - my life would've been pretty radically different!!!

Friend stood me up for a revision session at university( bus broke down) . Really fed up so popped in the SU for a drink. 10 minutes later someone walks up to me at the bar in a suit. My now Hubbie had finished university but just got on to a graduate scheme so had come to celebrate with some friends. This was the very last time he would ever go in the SU as he was moving out of halls the next day. 25 years and 4 kids later I am still in awe at the simple act of a bus breaking down being the reason I went in to that bar. Since then I am a massive believer in fate

If I hadn’t gone to my friends birthday party I wouldn’t have reconnected with an old friend who became my husband and father of my children. I was about to move abroad aswell so my life would be very very different.

If I hadn't decided to walk home with my friend while she ran an errand for her mum would I have ever met my husband? She had to drop something off at her mums friends house we got invited in where I met their son my now husband

15 years ago I was living in a grotty 4-bed flatshare in South London. Two of our flatmates moved out and the other remaining flatmate and I had to find new tenants. This awesome girl came to look at the flat and we all got on like a house on fire - we offered her one of the rooms right away. Sadly, she decided to take room somewhere else.

So we ended up offering the two empty rooms to these two Aussie guys who had come round the day before. They had barely said anything to us but we figured they would be quiet and unintrusive...

... and one of them is now DH and father to my two beautiful DCs! I am so grateful that the awesome girl didn't take that room!

I sat in an office in London ten years ago, utterly bored, and pondered whether I had the balls to return to the NHS and train in the specialty I loved. I did. I’m a consultant in that specialty now, and although it was absolutely insane at times juggling on call shifts, really tough exams and children, I really love my job and I work and live in a beautiful area of the country. Very lucky

If my car hadn’t got hit by a car; my neighbour 3 floors up wouldn’t have knocked to let me know. I maybe wouldn’t have them become extremely good friends with them and they may not have introduced me to my amazing husband 🙂

*cat 🙄

5 years ago I dipped my toe into internet Dating having come out of a long and destructive relationship. I had a rule not to date anyone more than 2/3 years younger than me. I got a random message from a bloke who was 8 years younger than me and I normally deleted these without even reading them but for some reason I read this one and although his photo didn’t do much for me the message he sent made me laugh. I replied more to get an answer to a question his message had raised rather than because I was interested. He made me laugh with every message. 5 years on we are married and have a little girl age 2. I literally deleted every other message I got from blokes that were his age (and generally outside the age range I decided on) and can’t answer why I decided to read his! Fate?

Met a guy on a night out when i was 17. He gave me his number and i lost it. Kept going to same place but never saw him again.
Started a job when i was 18 and day before i finished my training i was asked to swap location where I’d be working which i did.
18 years later new senior manager starts and i knew it was him straight away. Turns out he had started at the same company a few months before me and used to work at the location i was originally assigned too. We are both married with kids now but just looking at him still gives me butterflies and makes my knees go weak

I had a major sliding doors moment 10 years ago. I was stood at a cash point and I didn't realise that someone I had dated nearly 20 years ago had driven past and recognised me from behind (goodness knows how!). He couldnt stop so drove around the block and came back to the cash point. I had gone into the shop next door. He was just about to drive off when I came out of the shop. I was very surprised to see him! We have been together ever since and are now married. And now my daughter works in the shop we met at!

@SurreyHillsGirl

I was living in Central London and happily dating on Tinder. Living the life of a busy single woman, always out having fun and partying. I had VERY strict rules about only dating within a few miles of where I lived and worked, so I had this criteria set up on my profile. I had no access to anyone who lived outside of this uncompromising radius and vice versa.

Matched with an extremely handsome man who also came across really well, articulate and funny. Tinder told me he was 3 miles away. Perfect.

Except, he was attending a conference. Home was MILES away, in the rural countryside. WAY out of my stringent criteria. He was a London hating country boy.

We are now blissfully married, living the quiet rural life

We would have never have met in the 'real world'. DH hates London and couldn't wait to get out of there that fateful day.

Moral of the story, don't disregard guys who don't fit your criteria, they may be perfect for you!

I’m exactly the same. It was luck that I replied to my hubby’s message as he didn’t fit my criteria at all!

Interesting how many replies are about meeting 'the one'. In reality, if that 'one' hadn't crossed your path, another 'one' would have. But I'm glad so many of us have found contentment!

I’d been dating someone for three months , got on really well and had a lovely few dates. He was open about the fact he had applied for a job in the south (we lived in the north), and I was fine with it, even helped him prep for interview and all sorts- after all; we’d just been casually seeing one another.
He got it, and I burst into tears while trying to insist I was SO HAPPY FOR HIM and that I was SURE IT WOULD BE FINE and we could totally DO LONG DISTANCE (all in between big hiccuping sobs). My reaction took both me and him totally by surprise, and we didn’t see each other for a few days. Next saw him and he’d asked the company to move his job application to a nearby centre which had only just opened up for applications- which was accepted.
Seven years together, it’s our first wedding anniversary in a few days and we’re expecting our first baby, too.
I often think what would have happened if he’d taken the southern posting as I couldn’t have moved south!

When I was younger I was going out with someone I wasn't sure about but didn't have the confidence to break up with. I met a lovely man who showed interest and I wish I'd been brave enough to leave my bf for him. I eventually finished with my bf and have been married to some else for 20 years but I always wonder what if I'd been braver.

Did you not know he worked there?

I came to the UK from Scandinavia to go to uni. No online applications at that time. I had a huge UCAS book and decided on courses in cities I’d never heard of. I only managed to get to B. Five unis on A-B I applied too. Got accepted on all of them and choose the one I did because someone I vaguely knew had been there. Bonkers really. Did really well, met my dh in my final year. Still in the uk, dh and two kids. Often think about how I sat with this huge catalogue of universities and literally went eeny meeny miny moe let’s do this one!

Declined a uni offer and went through clearing to get a place at a uni I didn’t think I was good enough for.
Met my ex there, fell pregnant and he abandoned us when dc was a newborn. Life fell apart and it’s taken me nearly 2 decades to recover- financially and emotionally.

Love my dc to pieces... however I wish I had stuck with my original uni place. Our lives could have been very different.