The Small Decisions People Made That Changed The Course Of Their Lives

There's a ripple effect that can be demonstrated by dropping a pebble into a pond.

Although the pebble is small, its effects extend out in all directions.

Small decisions in life can be much the same.

Taking a left turn instead of a right affects all subsequent events.

Reddit user Whatsmynameuser asked:

"What’s a small decision you made that completely changed the course of your life?"

New Career

"I was a business major when I went to see my sister who was a new grad RN. She had to pick up a shift on a med/surg ward while I was visiting."

"I was 19 in a strange city and went with her because I had nothing else to do. Met a young orthopaedic surgeon who suggested I tag along for something to do at his fracture clinic—this happened in the early 90's and would never fly now."

"I became interested in healthcare. Now, I'm an ER physician, hospitalist x 20 years and love my job...most of the time."

~ IamsomebodyAMA

Future Path

"A math teacher in middle school asked if I wanted to get out of bed an hour early every morning and take a math class I didn’t even need."

"I said yes, learned to write BASIC and went on to a very successful career in Software Engineering."

~ Spicy_Madam

Wife

"One time, I decided to walk 2 hours to the mall on a Sunday because the buses stopped running."

"Two hours later, at a bus stop, I met my future wife who was waiting for a bus that she didn't know wouldn't come."

"We've been married 31 years."

~ vintagegeek

Dream Job

"When I really couldn't afford it, I bought a Rock Band set for the Xbox 360."

"Later I was able to get my first job in the games industry doing QA for Rock Band, and now fifteen years later it's my career."

~ TrustMeImADuckTour

Spouse

"On 1 Jul 1977, I decided to keep to my PT schedule. I was in the Marine Corps where physical fitness and appearance are a big deal."

"On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday , after duty hours, I'd run 3 1/2 miles and hit the weight room for about an hour. The 4th was Monday and we had been given a four day weekend, so I thought about taking a day off."

"I'm glad I didn't."

"As I was warming up, the prettiest woman Marine I had ever seen came up to me and asked if she could run with me. Not being a big dummy, I said yes and off we went."

"On 7 Oct 1978 we were married in the 21 Area chapel. In a little over two months, we're gonna celebrate our 46th wedding anniversary."

~ Poorkiddonegood8541

Best Friend

"Making friends with a kid the first day of kindergarten just because we were the first ones there."

"Met my first girlfriend through his sister, which directly led to meeting my current wonderful partner."

"My taste in music is mostly down to his dad showing us all kinds of awesome older music from his collection and letting me learn guitar on his old guitar that was kept under my friend's bed."

"35 years later, we're still best friends, and we work at the same place."

"My life would be completely different if my mum hadn't been early getting me to kindergarten on the first day."

~ EMI326

New Career

"Back in my 20's I was working as a restaurant manager and hating life. One day an advertisement came on the radio as I was driving to work, it was an ad for a temp agency was hiring for a major tech company near me."

"I thought it would be interesting to see what it was about, so I called them."

"25 years later, I am still working at the same tech company (I was only a temp for a few months) and making way more than I ever would have made in food service."

~ cejiv

Retirement

"To start contributing to a 401k at a cheesy part-time job."

"I kept contributing with each successive job, and now, 25 years later, between that money and my husband’s pension, I am able to retire comfortably."

"When I started, I was only putting in $3 a paycheck, and my husband laughed, but he isn’t laughing now."

~ Naughtyy-Princess

Hobby

"My 7th grade gym teacher said I should stay after school and join the track team after running the gym mile."

"21 years later and it has influenced so many of my decisions and friend groups."

~ caverunner17

Survival

"Flipping a coin and having it land tails."

"When I was in the US Army, I had just gotten back from a deployment in Iraq. Upon our return I was moved to a Brigade that was already deployed to Afghanistan."

"This was because I was infantry deployed in a unit that did not normally have infantry. Since I just got back from Iraq, the only way to go to them in Afghanistan was to wave my dwell time (during that period they could not deploy you unless you were home for at least the amount of time you were previously deployed)."

"This was something I originally had no intention of waving."

"I was then sitting in our battalions command building waiting to get a meal card that would allow me to get food on base. During that time a few of my friends came in who were about to wave their dwell times to deploy."

"One of them saw me and said, 'hey you coming with us?'. I said, 'I don't know. Anyone have a quarter?' One of them actually did and handed it to me."

"I then said, 'heads I stay and tails I go'. I flipped tails. I then got up from my seat and joined them in the area where they were sitting. I would then later on wave my dwell time."

"Then In the next month be sent to Afghanistan where I would join the company I would be with for my rest of my time in the Army."

"I would then deploy with this same company a second time to Afghanistan. During that second deployment, I would save one of my friend's lives after he stepped on an IED."

"I would then extend my time in the Army by a few months so I could finish off the deployment in Afghanistan without being sent home early—my contract was due to expire before the deployment finished."

"This extension would delay me going to college for a semester. I would then meet my wife during the first semester I went to college."

"That was over ten years ago and now me and my friend both just had our first children. He has a daughter and I have a son."

"Without me flipping that coin, he would not be alive, and neither of our children would exist today."

~ weebi298

Wife

"A friend of mine mentioned to his sister that I was an engineering student in college and good with math. She was struggling. She called me and asked if I could teach her precalculus."

"Married for 20+ years, currently teaching our son precalc."

~ BoredBSEE

Promotion

"There is an old saying, 'If you don't ask, you don't get'."

"When my manager quit, I gave the CEO valid reasons why I should replace him and asked for the position. He agreed and I went on to a very successful career."

~ Tempting-Princess

Career Change

"I was having breakfast at a Waffle House on a Sunday morning during Christmas season. I had woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but had a nice conversation with the server as it was only the two of us there."

"In the spirit of the season I left a $20 tip and tried to get out before she noticed, but failed. Her genuine joy and gratitude at the size of the tip made me feel all warm and fuzzy."

"Turned my day around and I realized I needed a career that involved helping others instead of chasing money. That led, ultimately, to nursing school and now I walk in to work every shift feeling like I’m exactly where I belong."

~ Diavolo_Rosso_

Husband

"I was working at a recording studio, working with this really good local rock band. They invited me to attend their CD release party."

"Night of the party I'm driving home from work. It was a rough night and I planned on just going home and skipping the release party."

"As I reach my turn, I notice there's a car with their hazards on stuck in the turn lane I need. So I decided to stay on the highway and just go to the CD release party."

"Ended up meeting my future husband there. Twenty years later, we are still married."

~ DaisyDreamm_

New Job

"I got a job at Google and moved across the country because of a throwaway account I created on Reddit."

"I used to be a game developer at EA. I ended up not doing anything actually very game related but was instead doing data analytics stuff."

"Also, the employment contract basically says that EA owns anything game-related you do in your free time. So here I was in the game industry not able to actually do any game stuff. It sucked."

"So I made a throwaway account to whine about my situation. I honestly don't even know what I was hoping to accomplish."

"A complete stranger replied and said, 'Well, if you know C++, Google is hiring. I can give you a referral'."

"I was already in the process of getting an interview set up for a game company in the same city. I figured that the odds of me getting hired at Google were essentially zero, but I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to check out the Google campus, so I said yes."

"I ended up bombing the interview at the game company—they didn't understand what amortized complexity was at all, and I wasn't able to explain it to them. But somehow I squeaked through the Google interview process. After two rounds, I got an offer."

"That was 15 years ago, and I'm still at Google on my dream project, living in my favorite city in the US. All because of a random comment on Reddit."

~ munificent

What small decision had a major impact on your life?