21 Personal Stories About Life-Changing Moments Only Those Who’ve Lived Through Can Truly Understand

The truth behind life’s biggest surprises, straight from those who’ve lived it.

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• October 12, 2024

Picture this: you're in the middle of a movie, and a major plot twist unfolds. The kind that leaves you stunned, mouth hanging open, as you think, "Whoa, I did not see that coming." 

Now imagine those plot twists happening in your life—but without a script or a warning. That’s what some events in life are like. Moments so profound, so personal, that no amount of advice or foresight can prepare you. 

Sure, you’ve heard of them and even seen them in others’ lives. But when it’s your turn, It's an entirely different story. 

Empathy might give us a sneak peek into someone else’s experience, but until you’ve actually walked through the fire yourself, the reality hits in ways you never expected.

The members of the r/AskReddit community recently shared some of their most unforgettable experiences. They were refreshingly honest about how these events—both big and small—transformed their perspectives and reshaped who they are.

Moments like surviving abuse, losing a loved one, facing a serious illness, or even hitting rock bottom financially. These aren’t just minor hiccups in life’s journey; they’re seismic shifts that change the way you see the world and yourself.

As one licensed professional, Dr. Rodney Luster put it: empathy is a great starting point, but it’s lived experience that really connects the dots. Ready to dive into the AskReddit community’s eye-opening insights? Let’s go.

1. It’s more than losing a pet—it’s losing a piece of your soul you never knew you needed.

Losing a beloved pet. 

It's one of those weird things where you can absolutely understand why they don't get it. Because it doesn't make much sense why it hurts so much. 

They're not blood related. Not even the same species. They're so far removed from us, that from the outside, it probably just looks like losing a favourite item that has sentimental value. 

But let me tell you: I've lost a lot of family members in my life. But *none* of those deaths compared to the sheer utter soul rending pain as losing my Dog was. 

It is the only time in my life where I did not have a say, did not have any control, in my reaction.

2. No parent should ever know this pain.

Death of a child, f**k cancer.

3. You might understand sadness, but when your own mind turns against you? That’s a battle you can’t imagine

Anything mental health related. You can sympathise but until you've felt the crushing lows and your own brain turning against you...

4. Blood may be thicker than water, but it doesn’t justify walking through life with scars

You dont have to love and respect your parents after abuse because “thats STILL your dad(or mom)”.

5. Living in a body that just won’t cooperate is exhausting

Chronic illness / pain / fatigue, also anxiety.

6. Depression isn’t a mood; it’s an uninvited guest that overstays its welcome and drains out all the light

Depression.

7. Surviving is only half the battle—the fight to reclaim your identity is where the real war begins

S*xual Assault. It's a different whole beast that you have to experience it before you just spout off on what you think, and you have to really understand what's going on and what to do to deal with the aftermath. 

And the trauma and recovery of regaining your identity as a person and not as a victim and the fact that we still don't think about it or work with it with any gender is appalling.

8. Hear that? OCD isn’t just ‘liking things clean.’ it’s a never-ending mental maze with no exit in sight.

OCD.

I always roll my eyes when people simply pass off a casual thing as OCD.

"Oh I'm so OCD about this cabinet!"

You don't have OCD. OCD is an actual disorder.

OCD is when your mind is overthinking like crazy. Every interaction with someone, no matter how big or small, gets blown completely out of proportion in your head; and you might have what I have in which I need to reflect and use this weird face ritual to clear the thought from my head, where any other noise in the room can throw me off and force me to restart the process.

If I touch something with my left hand, I have to touch it with my right hand. I find myself getting flashes of anger towards myself and other people when something isn't happening the way I think it should be. Intrusive thoughts are in my head far, far too often.

It's a hell of a lot more than just wanting your rooms clean, or making sure your feet are walking in the squares on a tile floor.

I really hate that OCD is sort of trivialized by the majority of people.

9. They say it’s common, but when it happens to you, the grief is anything but.

Miscarriage. 

I birthed a grapefruit-sized water bubble into my underwear and when it popped, I saw the giant eyes and tiny fingers before I couldn’t take it anymore and had to flush it. Then I bled for a month. 

Everyone I talked to said it was a very common thing. 

“Oh so you had one?”

“No but I know someone who did”.

10. In the land of the free, why is survival such an expensive privilege?

How easy it is for medical costs to completely ruin you (in the USA, obviously).

I was diagnosed with leukemia when I was 13. My initial stay in the hospital (so from diagnosis to the first time I was able to go back home) was 50 days. The bill for that alone was $1.5M. 

I was very lucky. We were upper middle class. My dad had very good health insurance through his employer, so it did not ruin us. But it doesn’t take a genius to imagine what would happen if that hadn’t been the case.

Think about that next time you want to call anyone in favor of healthcare reform a socialist/marxist/etc. Imagine busting your a*s for decades, being responsible, and saving as much money as you can. Then you’re told you will have to go broke to save your child’s life. Now imagine that the sick child is not your only child. You have three others. Not only are you and your spouse going broke, but those children now have parents unable to support them so that they can live their lives to the fullest.

People’s ability to just ignore how f****d up that is will never cease to amaze me. I was 13 f*****g years old, and I was able to empathize with people who were not as lucky as me. It’s not that f*****g difficult. And if you think it’s acceptable that a family in the richest nation in the world could go broke just because a child gets sick, you’re a heartless, cynical a*****e.

11. When the person you trusted with your heart drops it—sometimes it feels like you’ll never pick up the pieces

Divorce. Being cheated on. Having your heart broken. Being a single parent.

12. It’s like trying to organize a tornado—except it’s your brain

Being stalked. It's a horror that rips your life apart.

13. A quiet walk should never feel like running for your life

ADHD. I think it's really hard for someone with normal executive function to understand what it's like to not.

14. War strips away everything, leaving behind nothing but destruction and broken souls.

War. Seeing exactly what evil a human being is capable of inflicting on another.

15. It’s not laziness—it’s needing to refuel a tank that always seems to be on empty

Chronic fatigue, everybody thinks im just lazy because i need SO much sleep. I hibernate on the weekends.

16. Climbing out of poverty takes more than effort—it takes a mindset shift from survival to hope

Poverty. People who grew up having money often think that poverty is a result of lazyness. And if you do eventually become financially stable, you still have habits and a different mindset because you grew up poor. It takes a lot of time to change that and realise that you dont have to save money all the time and you have enough for everything you need. Its difficult not to feel guilty when you buy something for yourself and buying something thats not on sale always feels illegal...

17. Watching someone you love slowly disappear piece by piece is a heartache words can’t ever fully capture.

Someone put debilitating disease-but for me, to specify, dementia/alzheimers of a family member. Seeing someone who raised you (in my case a grandparent, right as I got out of high-school) in that condition is devastating. There's the things you know you'll have to deal with, them not knowing the date, forgetting what your name is. Not recognizing someone. 

It's when they can't remember/put something together and they know they can't. That fear in their eyes, the realization of just not knowing something they knew. The fear, and helplessness on their face. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's a terrible thing. 

Then the anger and fights when they dont know who you are and why youre there. Worst years of my life was seeing her mind just vanish. You can see it in movies, hear stories about it, but until it's in front of you, you just don't know. I applaud anyone who cares for the elderly with those issues.

18. You don’t really understand lower back pain until you realize sneezing can become a full-body workout

Chronic lower back pain.

19. Abuse is always silent until it screams

Abusive relationship. It’s so easy to ask “why didn’t you just leave if he was hitting you?” It’s not an easy question to answer. The abuse doesn’t start with a knock out punch on the first date. Abuse starts with arguments usually after the honeymoon stage. Maybe he pushed you, snatched your phone out of your hand, or slammed the door in your face. 

By the time you’re getting your a*s whooped- walking away with black eyes and broken ribs, that’s when you start to realize it’s abuse. It’s not just a fight that went too far like you’ve conditioned yourself to believe. At that point you probably live together, share bills together, own things together and you start to question would it be easier if I just stay? What will he do to me if I leave? Is it really my fault like he says?

20. Fitting in is hard when the mold wasn’t made for you in the first place

Being autistic in a society that doesn't understand you.

21. The fog of mental illness clouds everything—even the brightest moments

Mental illness.

In the end, these events, as shared by Reddit’s thoughtful users, prove that some things are simply never truly understood from the bleachers. So, whether you're ready or not, buckle up and get ready for those unexpected twists and turns—because, trust me, sooner or later, they’re coming.

Jesse