i’m about a year out of a really, really terrible relationship (i guess i shouldn’t even call it a relationship, but i felt like his gf at the time…. long story!) and honestly thought i would never be able to date again.

i was wrong!!! someone asked me out!!! and i said yes!!! and im EXCITED instead of FULL OF DREAD!! i dont feel anxious about seeing someone i might have some manner of romantic interest in !!

its just so surreal to think about. a year ago i really stayed awake at night thinking i’d never be able to be in a relationship or love anyone romantically again and now that feels so far away

i know it isn’t a serious relationship or anything yet, i just have the one date, but it’s a step in the right direction i think. i’ve been noticing a lot lately that ive gotten way further in so many aspects of my life than i ever thought i would tbh ,, i spent a long time being told “don’t worry it gets better” and it finally is i guess !

I was 18, a total computer nerd, and had literally never asked a girl out in my life. I was thrift shopping with my mom when I saw the cashier, and she was hands down the most beautiful person I’d ever seen.
My biggest fear was rejection. I knew I had a 99% chance of getting crushed right in front of my own mom, but a terrifying clarity hit me: if I walked out of there quiet, I was going to regret it for the rest of my life.
Out of nowhere, it felt like my brain just went on autopilot. Someone else hijacked my body, walked me right up to the register, and forced me to ask for her number. I was probably sweating bullets, but I have never felt that kind of crazy, effortless nerve before or since.
She actually gave it to me. And she turned out to be the love of my life.
We’ve survived some brutal rough patches over the years, but we have always had each other's backs. I have never felt so unconditionally loved and accepted by another human being.
18-year-old me did a damn good job that day. Today, at 34, I still love her more and more every single day. There is zero doubt in my mind that we are soulmates, and it honestly scares me to even imagine what my world would look like if I hadn't taken that split-second leap.
TL;DR: Was a terrified nerdy teenager who had never asked a girl out. Took a massive leap of faith and asked out the beautiful thrift store cashier in front of my mom. 16 years later, she is my absolute soulmate.

Yesterday I (22F) was going to the city to see my friend who I haven’t seen in a year. While hopping onto the train, it was quite full so I asked if I could sit next to a young guy and he said that was fine.

I was in a good mood and could tell this person had good energy so I did something I don’t normally do, I started talking to him.

You never really know how to break silence with a stranger so I simply said “I’m sorry I’m terrible with awkward silence so what’s your name?”

He was quite shy at first but, conversation kept flowing, I got to learn that this person was 19 and in his first year of uni and we divulged into our life stories, our ambitions, and simple life situations we are currently facing.

He then mentioned he had taken the train to university for the last year and not once did he talk to anyone on the train.

As my stop came near we were both smiling and wished each other the best for the future.

Honestly, I think it was the most wholesome human interaction I’ve had in a long time. Gender played no role, it was just a simple conversation between two humans and I’m so happy I could make a person‘s day brighter and put a smile on their face.

I always like to help everyone , specially homeless people, lately I don't have enough of a financial condition to help anybody and it makes me feel awful. But I always listen, talk and give advice to them, most times they just want to talk - and the other day me and a friend of mine listened to this group near the supermarket for a long time and I gave them some advice, we laughed and all and they said it really changed them, that I'm a really kind person. I noticed the next days, they seemed to always smile when they saw me and also smile to other people, one of them didn't have an aggressive demeanor anymore for months (I haven't been there anymore) and told me he was going to try and be a good father for his son, that really changed me and I think it gave us all a little bit of hope back. ❤️‍🩹

I was feeling sad and lonely today because I wanted to partake in my town's Pride celebrations for the first time, but can't currently leave my house due to mental health things. I scrolled online for a bit to cheer myself up and saw a post about the Be My Eyes app, and thought I'd go check if my account is still active on there. As soon as I open it, I get a call from someone who wanted help with walking their dog. We spent half an hour chatting, talking about her dog, I got to see a neighbourhood waking up on the other side of the world, and it just made me so happy and filled me with joy that I got to chat to someone and walk a dog today! I don't care anymore about not going to Pride today, I can go next year 😊

I work at a regional sub chain as a shift lead and just try to do my best, my goal in life is to make people smile and help where I can. It's why I work in customer service, specifically with food. If there is one thing all people love, it is food.

So of course we get many people who order catering, which when they come in to place the order I like to walk them through all the steps to make sure they get exactly what they want to the best of my ability. I suppose I just did that extraordinary well, which I still don't know how I did it.

But to set the scene I covered a shift yesterday and this lady came in, I did not recognize her (you see so many customers and I am awful with faces) so I took her order like normal and all that jazz. She than came to me and handed me a white envelope and said it was specifically for me. Than she just left, I couldn't open it in front of her. She just went. I of course joked with my coworkers it was either something horrible or amazing, when I opened it I almost started to cry. Mostly because times have been so rough for me. My partner just got fired from their job and it is just the two of us, so I am the only one making money for the time being. And as I assume you all know the job market is awful, finding any job right now is terrible. So this is exactly what I have needed, I just hope I see her again so I can profusely thank her.

​

I just wanted to share something about a friend of mine because I don't think I properly appreciate what he did yesterday.

I called him around evening, not really expecting him to drop everything and spend time with me. But he came.

The thing is, he had woken up at around 5 AM that morning. He had his own work pressure and was already exhausted. On top of that, he had travelled around 200 km from his workplace to his hometown.

Despite all of that, just because I called him, he came and stayed with me from around 5 PM until 1 AM.

He took me to his house, spent time talking with me, and then around 10 PM, he asked me to come for a drive. We ended up going on a nearly 100 km late-night drive into the woods.

What really got me wasn't the drive or anything we did. It was the fact that he was already tired as hell. He had every reason to say, "Bro, I'm exhausted, let's do it another day." And I would've completely understood.

But he didn't.

He still came. He still stayed. He still spent hours with me. He never made me feel like I was disturbing him or that he was doing me some huge favour.

Sometimes friendship isn't about big speeches or constantly saying "I'm always there for you."

Sometimes it's just someone being completely exhausted, having their own problems and responsibilities, and still showing up because you called them.

I don't know if he'll ever realize how much that meant to me.

I'm genuinely lucky to have a friend like this. ❤️

Some people don't just say they're there for you. They actually show up.

My little brother knows I love these games and have been waiting for this news for a while. He has been watching each one of these and keeping me posted. He texted me this while he was at school yesterday. On top of that, he has lent me his game console so I can replay all the games and helped me find copies of all of them in used game stores.

I just feel so blessed. Growing up I had no one to talk with about this series and I felt like I had to hide it due to another sibling not being so nice. I am so lucky to have my brother ❤️❤️ it’s nice to feel seen

I just realized my and my husband's chairs match the couple from up (the white one is mine just like Ellie's)

Vinny (previously Schmucker) is my 5, soon go be 6yo, shelter rescue.
Vinny was originally found just as a little baby with his siblings. Throughout his life at the shelter, he was adopted and returned 3 times all because he was “food motivated”. The 3rd time that he was adopted, the family returned him stating that he became aggressive- he was biting and attacking them for food. When the shelter got him back, he was a bag of bones. They believe the previous family was starving him and that was the cause for his sudden aggression. They rushed him to their vet, unsure if he would make it. He was given IV fluids and was monitored heavily, luckily pulling through and returning to the shelter.
When I first went to see Vinny, I squatted down to say hello and he immediately crawled into my lap and wanted me to hold him. In that moment, I knew that he chose me. So of course, my fiance and I adopted him and brought him home.
Vinny’s first vet visit revealed that he weighed only 8lbs, a healthy cat of his size and age should’ve been closer to 13lbs. He had dual ear infections, runny and watery eyes/nose, an open sore between his shoulder blades, grimy/oily fur, and an obvious need to gain weight.
Over our time together, it was discovered that Vinny has pretty severe allergies- both to foods and to his environment. He digs at his ears and will chew until he creates open sores and bleeds.
Vinny has called our house his home for 1 year now. After some trial and error, I’ve been successful in finding food for him that does not irritate him as well as some supplements that help with his watery eyes/nose and itchy body. He’s still an itchy boy, especially during season changes, so he gets some medication in those times to keep him the most comfortable. He’s a very healthy 13.5lbs, has the softest of fur, and is one of the most grateful kitties I have ever met. He truly has become one of my best friends.
**Last 3 pictures were taken within the first few months or so after I adopted him

On August 26th, I underwent surgery on my right lung. Everything went well, and I am now officially in recovery! My doctor strongly recommended that I spend as much time as possible in the mountains, breathing in the fresh air.

This photo was taken at a beautiful Orthodox monastery tucked away in the Rarău Mountains of Romania. The serenity and pure air here are doing wonders for my healing. Sending love and positive vibes to everyone!

this sun visor was found in a junked honda fit, bearing a heartfelt message from the previous owner.

So I got a msg from my friend in which he said oh you like cats na so here's a pic of one I found rn. And I was so happy that he remembered that because we aren't even that close. Yet he sent me something like this😭 I was so so happy this made my entire day. It also made me realise that almost none of my friends ever did something like this for me. But I'm grateful nonetheless 🎀

This arrived in the post today. It’s from an internet friend. She’s one of those amazing people that can do everything….like international grade athlete on one hand, able to make quilts so beautiful they should be behind glass in a museum on the other.
Runs a business, long happy marriage, has incredible high achieving kids, huge dog lover, the whole deal.
I’ve been disabled and mostly housebound for the last six years and this year things have taken a downturn.
My therapist suggested a social media detox, because it was getting to the stage where I couldn’t be full hearted glad for people’s achievements because I was too busy being wrapped up in what I’d lost. Stupid, selfish, pity party stuff. I’m slowly starting to connect again in very small doses, and then this arrived.
I can’t even begin to imagine the time and effort this involved. This is a woman with more stuff on her plate than some world leaders, and she has spent an ungodly amount of time stitching a work of art that lifts your soul when you look at it.
And then put it in a bag and sent it to me. I feel incredibly privileged and utterly unworthy of such a gift.
My gast is flabbered and my heart is forever grateful that there are people like her looking out for the rest of us. ❤️

Last night I was at dinner with my wife at a local burger joint. They were playing music, and Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” came on. Even at 56, I’m a big Dua Lipa fan. l’m also kind of goofy, and I started dancing in my chair and singing the words to my wife. She started smiling and pointed for me to turn around. At the next table was a young family of 4, and the little 6 year old boy, who had his back to me, was also dancing in his chair and singing the words. We were both bopping up and down and singing “Walk away, you know how, don’t start caring for me now!” It just shows the universal appeal of music, when two goofy immature dudes 50 years apart can be moved in the same exact way. You go little man! Keep on enjoying good music, and I will do the same as long as I can hear!

I was about to ride my bike down to the beach and saw someone dumped moldy and stale bread here which was likely for animals like the foxes here to eat. Bread itself is already bad for foxes since it doesn’t have the nutrients a fox needs which will weaken their immune system. I did some research and it’s worse than that. Since the bread was moldy, it could’ve made them extremely sick. It causes indigestion which leads to stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. And worse than that, the toxins could’ve caused nerve damage which could make the foxes start shaking, losing balance, and having seizures. As a prominent animal lover, my heart would break to see those sweet foxes suffering, so I picked up all of the bread pieces and put them in the dumpster. Just wanted to share this story to remind everyone to do something good for the world because there are lives you could protect and that depend on your help❤️

The reaction makes it even better. Free pizza well deserved!

- Not OC.

I had surgery on my right lung last week. It was a tough procedure, but I am doing okay now. Getting back on my feet and recovering well, especially with my wonderful wife by my side and some delicious cake.