People don't always make the best decisions, and the impulsive ones can be some of the worst. Impulsive or risky decisions don't always lead to disaster, though.
Positive changes can also come from knowing that something is a risk and deciding to go for it anyway.
Whether it's quitting one job for another or finally working up the nerve to tell someone you like them, some of the best things in life come from taking risks.
Reddit user u/mr_antonius asked:
"What situation were you in where the outcome was questionable/risky, and you just decided and said, "f*ck it" and went with the risky choice? How did that turn out for you?"
10. Unexpected Meetings
I went out for a hike and somehow along the way I had lost the keys to my car, and it had started raining heavily and now I was stranded by my car with no way to get in, and since this was several years ago, I didn't have a cellphone. I was weighing my options, figuring out where I could walk to to find a pay phone, when someone asked if I needed a ride. Every thing about the situation said I should say no, I was alone, no one knew where I was, and hitching a ride with a stranger in an old beat up pick up is a classic way to end up a missing person. But I was cold and wet and not wanting to make a long hike in the hopes of finding a phone. So I hopped in.
Turns out, he was just a nice guy willing to give a ride to my place and then back to my car. And it gets better, along the way he was telling me about the charity group he worked for and it really sparked my interest, and seeing that my construction skills would fit in with what they were doing, I decided to apply.
I ended up moving to southern Africa, where I would spend some of the best years of my life, meeting my future wife, making great friends, etc... The entire path of my life would be completely different if I had never gotten into that truck.
That said, I am not endorsing hitchhiking with random strangers.
9. Honesty Is Usually The Best Policy
I was working through an extremely demanding emergency in a university IT department with a very capable co-worker. We resolved it successfully against many difficulties. The director of the department personally sought me out to offer congratulations and compliments. I decided "f*ck it, I'm going to tell him the truth," which was that I put in a lot of effort, but the real person who deserved credit was my co-worker, not me.
He looked at me for a second and said, "Son, many people wouldn't have said that the way you did. The next time we have a management opening, it's yours if you want."
8. Make Compromises
I found a posting for my dream job, except it only was 20 hours a week rather than 40. I said screw it and applied. I got the job, and I was able to drop down to 20 hours at the old job and 20 hours at the new job. Three months later, they offered me 40 hours at the new job and a sizable pay bump. Ten years later, I've been promoted 5 times, and I'm making more than double my starting wage. I'm so happy I took the risk with the hours.
7. Take The Chance
I was pretty hopelessly in love with my best friend of 5 years. I was so afraid that if I told him he would act awkward or he would leave me. I was also afraid that we might try dating and it wouldn't work out. One day I got the most courage I ever had and I told him. To my surprise, it wasn't awkward at all. And now we're getting married so I guess risking it all does work out sometimes.
6.
I moved to another country to live with my then-girlfriend. It was always going to have risks, and indeed we broke up 9 months after moving in together.
It's now 12 months after the break-up and I have a new job (which happens to be the highest paid job I've ever had, wheyyy), new friends, a new partner, I'm buying my first house, and I'm the happiest I've ever been. That risky choice led me to a dark place for a few months but I came back swinging.
Short story: 200% worth it.
Decided to risk a fart when I wasn't feeling too well at school. I suddenly had to go to the nurse's office and then home for some odd reason...
That really sucks, especially because sometimes a good fart is all you need to make all your gut pain go away, and when it betrays you you just want to die.
Vacationing in DC with some friends last year. Marijuana laws are shady AF out there...it's legal to smoke/have/gift, but not legal to sell it. So we googled around and found an underground "collective." You had to text them, and they would send you back an address. So we get the address, and call an uber.
We are 5 nerdy white guys in town for a Protest the Hero show to help you picture us. Well, we notice we are driving into the rather unsavory portion of DC. Like...boarded up windows and bars over those that aren't boarded and graffitied up. We decide we really don't want to get out here, but our Uber driver essentially kicks us out.
We immediately get swarmed by a group of 5 gangster looking people hitting us up for cigarettes and money...we weasel our way away and start walking towards the address. No car or transportation with pockets full of cash for some weed in the ghetto.
Well, we get to where we were supposed to go...a boarded up shop front with a 6'4 300 lb guy with dreads waves us over. We walk up to him, and he apparently knew why we were there...he takes us inside to a windowless lobby and tells us to get out our wallets...immediately knew we were getting f*cking robbed and possibly worse. I've seen the Wire and knew what Snoop did in buildings like this...I hand him my wallet and he rolls his eyes and says..."get your ID out fool."
He verifies we are all 21 and then opens a solid metal door. It was like a f*cking movie. he opens the door and Snoop dog is playing and there are 10 tables set up in a circle full of high quality bud and edibles and all sorts of things. We make our rounds, buy a bunch of stickers and pens. Got gifted our associated weed gifts for making purchases...got the f*ck out and got an uber back to our AirBnb and proceeded to party till we couldn't move.
That was a rollercoaster of emotions. Going from being so sure i was about to die to my first legal weed experience.
I asked if could go to the bathroom and the teacher said go right ahead
I had a job offer for a relatively safe job in my hometown. I was waiting to do a second interview for a job WAY above my experience level, at twice the salary, but at a city two hours away.
Job offer in my hometown couldn't wait until after I completed the second interview. I went f*ck it, turned it down, went for my other interview.
I now live at that that city two hours away, making more than I ever would as a starting position in my hometown.
Got locked out of house on a snowy night (I was also drunk and in my late teens). Decided to climb to the one window several floors up that I knew was open. While I was successful (and therefore didn't freeze). I think about that moment sometimes and absolutely cringe thinking on how it could have gone terribly wrong. Haven't done anything similar since.
