Seemingly Insignificant Decisions That Changed People's Lives

"Sometimes, it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever."

Those are the words freshman college student Felicity Porter uttered when she recorded her audio diary on cassette tape to her friend and mentor from high school named Sally.

That was the premise of the popular 2000s TV show Felicity that sparked a life-changing trajectory for the titular character based on her impulsive decision to follow her high school crush Ben Covington all the way from Palo Alto, California to New York City.

Like our heroine, every decision we make has a trigger effect that sets something in motion resulting in an outcome that we never see coming.

Curious to hear real life examples, Redditor Wonderful_girl69l_girl69 asked:

"What’s a small, seemingly insignificant decision you made that ended up changing your entire life?

Some people found love based on a quick decision.

Place To Sit

"I randomly sat down next to my future wife and mother of my children on the first day of college. My life may have turned out very differently if I'd sat somewhere else."

– TLMoss

"I love this so much! My dad was supposed to go someplace else the night he met my mom - his car would not start so he went to a friends house instead and she was there with another friend. Crazy that my existence is predicated on the basis of a dead car battery."

– encomlab

Mayhem On The Way To The Concert

"My parents met on a bus when my mom’s friend bailed on her to go to a symphony concert and my dad was an internist percussionist (they met in college), her friend had the directions and so my mom was holding up the bus asking the driver for directions and my dad was like 'I’m running late WHO is holding up the bus??' "

"He intervened and said 'just follow me, I’m performing in the show' and then was like 'wait- how are you getting home after?' She said 'well just go back the way I came' (it was a dangerous neighborhood). He said 'just meet me at the stage door after the show and I’ll make sure you get home safe.' "

"When they met at the door he said 'well do you want to grab a bite I guess?' They went to a diner and had milk and apple pie and talked for hours. My mom said when she got home she said to her roommates 'I just met the man I’m going to marry 🥰' I had something similar with my spouse- on our first date I think we talked for like 2 or 3 hours."

– Pitiful-Cancel-1437

Random Attendee

"Choosing to attend a random community event. I met someone there who became my mentor and helped me shape my career path."

– lavi_t

"Same thing happened to me! Those studies claiming half of everything is luck sure seem right."

– RandomTasking

"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. Someone who never went out or someone who couldn’t capitalize on the mentorship didnt 'get lucky.' ”

– chris_ut

Changing The Setting

"When I went on eHarmony, the default was to search for matches within 25 miles. Even though I lived in a large city, for whatever reason I changed the default to 75 miles."

"The next day I received a message from a woman who lived 70 miles away who turned out to be the most beautiful, most amazing woman on the planet, who had also changed the default to 75 miles. So I married her, which was the greatest thing that has happened to me in a life full of very fortunate things."

– Much-Year-3426

Open To Being Social

"Went out to a 90s themed pub crawl 7 yrs ago with a couple of friends I met through a mutual friend of ours. Our mutual friend wasn't able to go to the pub crawl & I was hesitant on going because I didn't really hang out with the others by myself before. Ended up having such a fun night."

"Also, I met the man that would later become my husband. Together for 7yrs, married for 2. My life would be completely different had I let my anxiety win & stayed home."

– why_r_people_rude

You never know what's ahead until you make choices.

Get Fit

"Coworker asked me to join him in the gym. Never went to the gym before, was ready to laugh in his face."

"Said f'k it, I'll join you for one session for the hell of it. Now I'm there 4 times a week and my self esteem as well as my general mood has skyrocketed. It's my happy place now."

– bermie92

"Same for me! I used to think people were crazy going to the gym… add to that going at 4-5am. This last year that I’ve been attending I’ve lost 15kg, my day starts out amazing and I feel great all day! My sleep is better, my general well-being is absolutely smashing the depressive hopeless state I was always in!"

"Best decision my partner ever encouraged me into!!!"

– Kpool7474

Back To School

"Around 2010, it was the recessions. recent bachelor graduate job hunting but no luck. Went to work retail since student loan payments were coming in."

"One day, got a postcard in the mail regarding going to community college. Old professor and i were talking about it, and i should consider going back to school for a credentialing program. decided to sign up right there. 15 years later, I work for the federal government and saved up enough money to buy my first home."

– nerdyplayer

Serving Good Fortune

"Oh my favorite story. In early 1998 I was a disheartened student in University getting ready to drop out. Truth be told, I was in probably the worst mental state of my life up until that point with no direction and no hope. Anyway. my friend worked for an ISP and his boss asked him to set up an IRC server."

"He didn't know how, but knew I did so asked if I wouldn't mind doing it for him. 15 minutes later he's up and running, and he says 'hey if you wanna hang out on that server go for it'. Ended up hanging out on that server and actually helped run the network for a while, more on that in a minute."

"Fast forward a few months, his boss was impressed I had set that server up and my friend tells him I know Linux administration and they're looking for people who know Linux and are available at short notice. Well, I'm getting kicked out of University by this point so yep, I need a job."

"I get hired, his boss actually pays my moving costs as a gift and I start my first real IT job. That boss is probably the coolest guy I've ever worked for, he basically gave us ideas and let us implement them with minimal oversight, so long as his customer were happy he felt the best thing to do was let us learn and improve our skills as we went along but was always on hand to help out if we had questions."

"I learned a TON off that guy, and my friend who ended up being my manager. He sold that company for millions and retired in his 30s, I guess his philosophy worked."

"1999 I'm on that IRC server and meet my future wife. I ended up moving to the US to marry her a year later and I'm still here to this day. Used the experience gained from that job to kick start my IT career in the USA. 15 minutes of work changed my life."

– zerbey

You can't predict when a good thing is headed your way.

Exit Destiny

"I got off at a the wrong subway stop but realized I was close to an exhibition I'd been invited to so walked a couple blocks to check it out. I was so impressed by the work I dropped out of my graduate program that week and was accepted into the the new program one a few months later."

"That accident completely changed the course of my life for the better."

– nursebad

Mom's Good Advice

"When I was going into the military out of high school, I didn’t think too much about what job I’d like to do. My mom told me to do something you can use when you get out. So, I became a medic."

"This lead to me working in the cardiac cath lab (pacemakers, stents, etc.) after got out (4 years) that then lead to opportunities in cardiac medical device sales for the past 30 years, which has been an amazing ride. I feel very fortunate and blessed."

– tcr317

Playing For Charity

"Going to a charity softball game despite having never played softball in my life. Legitimately can be pointed to as the start of my career."

"Graduated law school 2010, passed bar. In 2011, one in eight of us were unemployed. Not 'don't have a job in the legal industry,' we're talking 'do not have a job period' territory. I'm scraping by doing four part time jobs in three different cities to make ends meet."

"Meanwhile, also shooting the breeze on a college sports message board set up for my alma mater. One guy, who knows my situation above, is a lawyer and knows that I'm looking for work. He mentions that he's going to a charity softball game, one of his teammates backed out at the last second, they need a replacement, and asks if I would be interested."

"Again, never played softball in my life. The last time I picked up a bat was some t-ball games at summer camp in like 1994. But if you know the movie Ghostbusters, you know how I responded: 'Ray. When someone asks if you're a god, you say YES!' So sure, I'll see him tomorrow. 11 o'clock a night, and I'm off to Meijer to buy a glove and a softball."

"I get to the park the following day, which has a bunch of drunk lawyers there. Aboslutely zero business being discussed, I'm basically a warm body in left field and maybe get a single the entire tournament. Nothing comes of the event in the following weeks, so I just write it off."

"December rolls around. I've ended the lease on my apartment and am living in a friend's spare bedroom the past three months, just trying to stretch a buck so I don't have to live across country with my parents. I get a call. It's the guy from the message board. His firm has need of a new associate attorney, and he appreciated my willingness to give softball a shot despite clearly not having any experience. I interview later that month."

"January rolls around. I'm down to $151 in my bank account, just enough for gas money to get to my parents' house. I'm seven days from moving over 1,500 miles when I get a call with a job offer. I'm crying, my friend's crying, I'm moved into an apartment 72 hours later and report to work the following week."

"Twelve and a half years later I'm a military officer, a federal attorney, a homeowner, and financially independent. I could retire today."

"None of that happens without being willing to get out of my comfort zone. Trying things beats not trying things."

– RandomTasking

"I was taking a psychology stats course while I was a music education major (required for the education part). The professor mentioned he was collecting research data on the internet (new idea in the mid 90s) and since I did gig work making websites, I went up to him after class and asked if he needed any help."

"This led to a series of events where I changed my major to psychology, did a PhD with that professor, met my wife in his lab, and he helped get my first job which put me on my current career path."

"All of this from a spur of the moment decision to ask if he needed any help."

– dub5eed

The overall theme of the thread is about the benefit of taking chances.

It's easy to remain in a familiar, comfortable place. However, complacency can hinder personal growth.

Whether or not you're stuck or feel an urgency to get out of a bad situation, make a conscious choice to do something today. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Felicity wouldn't have wound up with Ben if she hadn't taken that leap to change the academic trajectory her overbearing father had for her.

While her relationship took many twists and turns, her life in college at the fictional University of New York led her to some of her closest friends whom she never would've met had she stayed in California.