Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
Most of us would agree that the beauty of life lies in the unknown. Every day is full of uncertainty and even though sometimes it surprises you with the best things, life can also hit you with something you would never have thought could happen to you.
Recently, one Reddit user asked people to name something 'Nobody is ever prepared for' and the answers are well... something you are definitely not prepared for. From childbirth to sharts, these answers prove that life is full of experiences nobody can prepare you for.
Scroll down to read some unexpected responses! (Facebook cover image: Officer Bimblebury)
This post may include affiliate links.
RELATED:
#2
Being raped.
Sure, you know it as a concept, a horrible concept that happens to other people. And then it happens to you, and there is no way to be ready for how it will make you feel like you are nothing more than an orifice. Like you are worthless and disgusting. How you will be terrified of men for years and not let anyone touch you. How you will try to date and eventually give up because you can't feel anything.
How your heart will start to race anytime you see a car that looks like his, or walk past someone on the street who vaguely looks like him. You could be thousands of miles away, but that fear is still there.
#3
Living with chronic pain. It's not something you can understand unless you deal with it yourself. And it's not just the pain that wears you down. It's the isolation, losing the ability to do things you love, and watching your life slip through your fingers like sand.
Zori the degu 6 years ago (edited)
It was around the time I became good enough to crawl on the ceiling at the climbing hall that I started feeling pain in my back. Now, it's common in this sport to overwork yourself, but this pain didn't go away as all the others preceding it. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and I grew very worried indeed. After long hours at different medical buildings, I got a permission for NMR and was diagnosed with a slipped disk. I can still climb, fortunately, but I'd likely never be as good as I would've been if I didn't have slipped disk and climbing upside down like I used to is out of the question. And it's not just climbing, while the doctor was very happy with my level of activity and encouraged it, he reminded me that every sport now carried a risk. It doesn't seem like a big deal compared to all the sufferings other people with chronic pain have to tolerate daily, but it really hurt me that just when I found my sport, this sh*t happened. Destiny seems to love pranking me. :(
#4
Tyranny of the majority.
In school, if you got a question right that most of the other people got wrong, you were praised for being smart.
In real life, if everyone else around you believes something wrong, it simply becomes right.
#5
When you don't see your parents often anymore and they get noticeably older each visit
#6
Realizing that making and keeping friends is extremely hard. People drift apart pretty easy.
#7
Burying their child. I have a few stories, but any way you cut it, some of the most rational people I know have buried their own kids and I don't think anything before or after, no level of therapy can make you the same again. A family friend's son was basically executed because his roommate was selling weed and some assholes decided to kill them for all of a couple ounces of fucking marijuana. A decade later, they put on a face, but you can tell they're still just going through the motions. It's heartbreaking, there's nothing you can say that I'm sure they haven't already heard a thousand times from well wishing friends/family, it'll just never be the same.
#8
The first time you go to jail. Aside from the 'oh shit' feeling you have about whatever landed you there, there's the realization that you can't leave. It sounds really obvious, but think about it: in the vast majority of places and situations you find yourself in, you can leave. It might not be wise, it might not be right, and it might have consequences, but you have that option. You're used to having so many possibilities in your day to day that you don't really think about it. Until it gets taken away. You mostly get used to it with time, but nobody is prepared the first time.
sosunlight 6 years ago
Also, having someone you know go to jail for the first time - nothing prepares you for the feeling of loss, having to meet with a wall of glass between you, the reality life will never be the same again. And it's not your fault, but somehow you've been swept into the uncontrollable, unfathomable machine of the justice system. Thinking of anyone who is facing that today <3
#9
Watching a parent slowly slip away. I'm currently holding the hand of my dying mother. Two weeks ago she had a massive stroke. She is currently in a coma like state in a hospice facility. She will never recover, just slowly slip away a little more every day. It pains me to see her in this current state. I talk to her as if she was normal, as they say hearing is the last sense you loose. I reassure her everything is ok and there is nothing to worry about, but I leave the room sometimes just to cry.
#10
Alzheimer’s and Demetria. Now imagine that you didn’t know anything that you knew before. It all suddenly is just so far away for you to remember. What if your mother, someone who gave birth to and raised you suddenly forgot who you are or confused you for someone else. That honestly scares me more than death. The sum of everything that people did with their lives is really on held in your memory, material is temporary and can easily be destroyed or taken. But imagine your on your death bed and you die only knowing a few of any details of your life. Imagine if your child came up to say hi and you couldn’t recognize who they were and you thought they were a stranger. Imagine the hurt they would feel. Alzheimer’s is one of those things that really hurts everyone around you. It’s like your body is their but a whole bother person is occupying it and your not their anymore. You're not you anymore.
Zori the degu 6 years ago
The worst part is that people with Alzheimer's often fully realise what's happening to them. Imagine starting to forget everything, first your freshest memories disappear, then you are slowly robbed off your fondest, most special memories and finally even the oldest ones are gone. As a person, who deeply values the power of the mind and is disappointed by it's lack of importance to today's society ideals, one of my greatest fears is precisely this: diseases that affect your mental abilities. If this ever happens to me, I would likely jump off somewhere at it's very beginning, because the misery would likely kill me before the disease does. I'm a loser, much like any average person alone and without my imagination, memories, crazy ideas and following of the road less travelled, I would be no one.
#11
Googling an old ex to see how she's doing these days since you haven't spoken to her in over 7 years, and finding her obituary online.
It took my brain a good 5 minutes to actually process and acknowledge that the picture of her that came up was from a funeral home website.
#12
Finding out your SO is cheating on you.
That sort of betrayal of trust is brutal and even if you suspect something, you still want to believe it's not true.
#13
Unexpected layoffs. You'll never feel safe at work ever again! :)
#14
"We need to talk"
#15
The loss of a sibling.
I lost my brother a couple months ago and while he was sick we never saw his passing as a reality. It hit the whole family like a truck. None of us are the same and likely will never be the same.
The family dynamic has completely changed, the roles we had filled for the past 30 years all shifted. We're all adrift. We're all flailing. We're all seeking to fill the void of his presence.
No amount of accepting it will change these things. There is a void in our family that only he could fill. We were not, are not, and will not be prepared for dealing with it without him.
Natasha Forchione 6 years ago
This hit me really hard... same thing happened in our family and we have never been the same. It sucks and there is not one day that I don't think of him, the moments that will never be.
#16
Come home, Wife is gone. Kids gone. She took them and left the state.
Jaguarundi 6 years ago
I've known folks that had come home from deployment and were completely wiped out, bank account, possessions, kids, even their off-base apartment was gone. These had been women as well as men. The SO had power of attorney and ran with it.
#17
Sudden disability. Its been almost a decade and I still don’t feel like I fully grasp it and how it changes everything lol...
Carol Emory 6 years ago
I just talked to a classmate that's in a wheelchair. He told me stories about when he worked with the police. I asked him how he ended up in the wheelchair. It was a swimming accident where his head hit the bottom of the pool. He likes the fact that I treat him like any other person. I don't automatically do everything for him..I wait until he asks..that way he holds onto some independence. He's a cool guy. He would've made a great police officer.
#18
Childbirth. I just had my daughter five days ago. I thought I was prepared for labor, but holy s*it, back labor is the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. No amount of mental preparation would have made me ready for that. On the plus, my husband finally won the argument of two kids (our daughter is his second) vs. three kids. Because I’m never doing that shit again.
Also, the never ending anxiety of “can I keep a completely vulnerable and fragile human alive today”?
#19
Coming to grips with your own mortality. It just hits you some day that you're going to die, and eventually will be forgotten.
Aint nobody ready for that.
MetalHeadWhoLovesAnimals 6 years ago
For a lot of people, me included, death isn't a scary thing, its one of the only guarantees in life, doesn't scare me or freak me out whatsoever. Bring it on.
#20
The feelings of your first true heartbreak. That felt like nothing I've ever felt before. Couldn't eat or sleep for a week and the effects have lasted months after. I've had love before but it took me til 28 to truly feel heartbreak like this.
MetalHeadWhoLovesAnimals 6 years ago
Yep agree, i was 20 when it happened, didn't think it would hurt so much.
#22
A shart.
Sean Forrester 6 years ago
Thankyou for some excellent comedic relief in an otherwise morbid column. I laughed so hard.
#23
Breezing through high school with high grades without even trying then getting to university and realizing you can't do that anymore but you literally have no idea how not to. You don't have the discipline to study properly let alone know how to study properly.
Rafaella Bueno 6 years ago
I'm like this with jobs to an extent... I have no idea how to look for a job. Most jobs I had people came for me. I don't know how do you even figure out whether they need anyone in my profession since ads aren't too common.
#24
Somebody oversharing their life details in the first 5 minutes of meeting you
Ivana 6 years ago
I am the queen of oversharing. Not sure why I do it. I guess I just like to get everything out there from the start so we can all quickly determine if we want to continue being around each other. Or I just don't care what people know about me because I don't care what the reaction will be. If you don't like what I say in the first five minutes then there isn't much chance of us seeing each other again.
#25
Toast popping up from a toaster when it's done. S*it gets me every time.
Cristian's GeneralBuilding 6 years ago
Or when you open the camera on your phone and it's set on the front camera and you see your face.
#27
Honestly probably another large recession. Most people don't have very much money saved...so I can't even imagine how badly that would devastate the country.
#28
The lifestyle change from becoming a full time student to full time worker. It's been a year, i feel as if i'm still adjusting.
HoffLensMetalHeadLovesAnimals 6 years ago
It will take longer than that my friend, work life sucks, its the least fun part of life.
#29
The first time your toddler drops an F*bomb. You don't know whether to laugh, scold them or pretend it didn't happen and hope it never does again.
#30
Winning the mega-millions/billions lottery. I've read many stories about how it ruined people's lives.
#31
First apartment. Not that it's a bad thing, but all the reading in the world, and you'll still forget to buy one random item that'll f**k your night up.
For me, a can opener. Didn't have a goddamn can opener!
#33
Winter. It happens every year and people always forget how to deal with it. I live in Alaska and people have been here for years and don't even have winter costs or boots. Don't even get me started on driving when it snows that's a whole different can of worms.
Parmeisan 6 years ago
What? I live in Saskatchewan and people here do forget how to drive every year - it takes about a week to re-familiarize yourself with braking and the shifted lanes - but we don't have any other issues with winter. I mean, people wear their fall coats a little longer than they probably should because we're hoping it'll warm up again (the weather often shifts around a lot in September to mid November) but that's about it.
#34
Turning the lights on after waking up in the middle of the night.
#36
Getting caught lying. Most people only lie cause they think they are good at it and that the truth won’t come out.
#37
When you cheat in your girlfriends dreams.
Hard 2 Guess 6 years ago
RUN! BUY FLOWERS! BUY CHOCOLATES! BUY GIFTS! Apologize profusely for something you did in her dreams. You MAY ... I emphasize MAY get some mercy.
What do you think ?
HoffLensMetalHeadLovesAnimals 6 years ago
The death of the first dog you own as an adult, it was the most profound sadness i ever felt and it was a bummer, i had him for 15 years and loved him more than anything, when he died of cancer it surprised me how immensely heartbroken i was, i was even signed off of work for 2 weeks, it was so horrible.
Emory Griffis 6 years ago
You have just posted my number one fear; I cannot even momentarily consider losing my American Bulldog, a rescue that I didn't even want and now love more than anything in the world.
Load More Replies...
sunnyrei82 6 years ago (edited)
Bullying. You think you have it figured out, you think it will never happen to you. You're just there... doing your thing, living life, being yourself... and suddenly, just because of ONE bored person, you become a target to make fun of. And it turns into this wave and chain reaction of insults, rejection, and laughs, and more and more people take part of it. And you don't understand why. If you didn't do ANYTHING to them, why do they pick on you? Why do they show you so much hate? Why you? And nothing seems to please them: you being you, you trying to be someone else... doesn't matter: you're a joke to them. And it's like you're haunted, because no matter where you go or hide... you're being chased by the people and what they said to you. Stucked in your head.
BusLady 6 years ago
Bullies like that control. You can't control their behavior, you can only control how you react. Of course, that's easier said than done. I was bullied (verbally and physically) in middle school.
Load More Replies... HoffLensMetalHeadLovesAnimals 6 years ago
The death of the first dog you own as an adult, it was the most profound sadness i ever felt and it was a bummer, i had him for 15 years and loved him more than anything, when he died of cancer it surprised me how immensely heartbroken i was, i was even signed off of work for 2 weeks, it was so horrible.
Emory Griffis 6 years ago
You have just posted my number one fear; I cannot even momentarily consider losing my American Bulldog, a rescue that I didn't even want and now love more than anything in the world.
Load More Replies... sunnyrei82 6 years ago (edited)
Bullying. You think you have it figured out, you think it will never happen to you. You're just there... doing your thing, living life, being yourself... and suddenly, just because of ONE bored person, you become a target to make fun of. And it turns into this wave and chain reaction of insults, rejection, and laughs, and more and more people take part of it. And you don't understand why. If you didn't do ANYTHING to them, why do they pick on you? Why do they show you so much hate? Why you? And nothing seems to please them: you being you, you trying to be someone else... doesn't matter: you're a joke to them. And it's like you're haunted, because no matter where you go or hide... you're being chased by the people and what they said to you. Stucked in your head.
BusLady 6 years ago
Bullies like that control. You can't control their behavior, you can only control how you react. Of course, that's easier said than done. I was bullied (verbally and physically) in middle school.
Load More Replies... Related on Bored Panda
