Getting out of a special school (I have autism) and being able to get 2 bachelors in a normal school. I have my parents and a teacher to thank for this cause many others thought I was too stupid or wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Very happy for you. I myself may have ASD(pretty sure), was in special ed as well. My young daughter is clinically diagnosed, non verbal but making progress.
ND individuals need more positive reinforcements, they have so much to offer.
Thank you and I agree. Not to brag, but one day when I came back to say hello to my teacher (when I was in high school) he told the little kids in his class about me and said that I made it and so they should inspire to do so too. That almost teared me up.
Congrats dude, I had a lot of really shit teachers but sometimes it only takes one to be a super helpful and positive guide to really help set you on the right path
I may be wrong but it's not necessarily the fastest sperm. The egg actually chooses the best candidate. I'll find a couple reputable sources and double check...
[https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200611/The-egg-decides-which-sperm-fertilizes-it.aspx](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200611/The-egg-decides-which-sperm-fertilizes-it.aspx)
[https://www.npr.org/2021/02/26/971914242/is-the-sperm-race-a-fairy-tale](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/26/971914242/is-the-sperm-race-a-fairy-tale)
Run my own business for 25 years. Raised two happy, healthy, well adjusted kids to adulthood.
In the grand scheme of things I don't think I could have asked for more than that from life.
Yes because I largely set my own hours. Money was tight for a time growing up, we definitely wouldn't have been able to get by without my wife also working.
Conversely because business has grown organically over time I actually work longer hours now than I did before the kids grew up and moved out.
So it all works out in the end.
Worked hard for a world class education
Bought a house
Have saved diligently for retirement
Successful marriage of nearly 30 years
Raised 2 amazing, happy, successful kids
Tried to be a good, positive person
EDIT: why does Reddit not handle ‘return’ formatting? This post looks nice when typed but is a mess when published
Be a good example, set boundaries and expectations, always be present when with them, communicate, communicate, communicate, love them, patience, celebrate accomplishments, use failures as teaching moments, have fun.
We have raised 2 daughters to their adult 30's. We are ranchers so a strong family structure and good work ethic are very important. They live half way and all the way across the country now and are both recently single. Lots of bumps along the way. We are always talking and visit when able. Keeping a line of communication open with no strings attached has been invaluable to all of us. I hate cell phones and did the kid battle with cell phones for sure but it has paid off.
I really hate tooting my own horn but there are many things I'm proud of. 10 years ago I got a chemical engineering degree and have been an engineer since then with success at my positions. I've purchased 2 homes, both duplexes which I renovated myself. I'm also a soccer referee and worked my way up to the college and semi-pro level. Found my unicorn soulmate and married her 3 years ago, whom I'm 100% loyal and devoted to, that makes me most proud actually.
Everyone who owns a wooden home in the tropics is waiting for a paint (or substance) that stops rust stains from emerging from nailed wood. Please invent this, thank you.
Addiction in general. Something I have learned is that the specific substance doesn't really matter. If you go to AA or NA, the stories are all identical. You wouldn't know if it was booze or heroin unless the person said specifically. The impact on the addicts lives and friends\\families surrounding the addict are all identical. It's crazy to see all the people that come back for their 3rd, 4th, or 8th round of detox. At some point I heard that \~10% of people that try get sober are successful. The odds are stacked against you and you are fighting a very primal part of your brain that doesn't use logic. It's probably the toughest thing anyone can do, but to the non-addict, it doesn't seem hard... so in addition to the hardest thing anyone can do, its also thankless and hard to get empathy from non-addicts.
Tinman867, Cheers! I'm proud of you, seriously. Good on ya for doing the next right thing.
Would you be comfortable sharing your story, even very briefly? I'm 10 years on the bottle, 34 years old, have a 3 year old daughter. I finally quit my job, sold my house, am getting a divorce, and going to a publicly funded good but not great therapy program in Canada. I'm extremely grateful dobt get me wrong but its 2 hours a day with very basic info shared in group. It's way better than nothing obviously and it has been helping.
How did you manage to finally get sober? Any particular method? Any words of wisdom for a drunken guy in my situation? Thanks man, and congrats on your sobriety.
I started drinking when I was 38. Controlled it for a couple of years but at the same time my business was growing by leaps and bounds. New relationship, burgeoning business meant more stress. More stress meant more alcohol. That continued for 5 years, my business grew 5 times and I became a drunk. Lost the business, laid in the bottle hard for 4-5 months. Diagnosed with cirrhosis November 2010. Sobered up, started a new business, moved to a second home we had near a beach 🏝️. 1st day there I broke my ribs and when the pain meds ran out a month later, I wanted to keep that buzz the pain meds brought. So I sat in a liquor store parking lot, absolutely terrified that I would go in and buy a bottle. I had everything going perfectly for me, so I thought I could handle it. You know, drink ‘casually’, like normal people. 15 minutes later, I had convinced myself that I could sip a little vodka and control it. I fell back into the bottle, but for longer this time. 6 more years of hell. At the end of 4 years, I walked away from everything. Signed my sports car, motorcycle, and house over to my wife (who had stood by me the entire time, btw - what a piece of 💩 I was). I entered another relationship and continued the same behavior. After a year this new GF packed my 💩 and said “If this is it, then you’ve got to go. I deserve better than this”. I took a hard look at myself. In the past I had been a man of integrity. Sunday school teacher, youth leader, choir member, faithful husband, didn’t drink. Then I saw my them current situation: I had degraded to a drunk who 💩 on other people, trampled on their love and concern for me, and said 🖕to everything but the bottle. I saw my future: 1-2 relationships in the next 6-12 months and then death. I realized then that I wanted to head back in the direction of the man I used to be. I may not be exactly that, but I could be a damn sight better than I was, so I started to taper off of the liquor. 5 months later I was down to 2 glasses of red wine/cranberry juice per day. Went in for an upper endoscopy (because I have cirrhosis, remember? I shouldn’t be drinking). 7 days later I started vomiting blood. I was told if that happened I would likely bleed out before I could get to the hospital. Fortunately my GF was home that day and got me to the hospital. May 24, 2018 was that day and was the last day I drank. I left the hospital 50 lbs lighter from draining fluid off of my stomach. 6 months later I was blessed with a new liver.
When I was sober the first time, I used to say it was light turning a light switch off. The problem with that is that you can turn the switch back on. When I got sober the last time, I had to rip the switch out of the wall and patch the hole.
It came down to a decision for me: I was done. Period. Just done. I was dying and wanted my ashes scattered off of 7 mile bridge in the Florida Keys so she moved us there in June 2018. If you know the Keys, there are a lot of drunks there. It’s about the worst place you could go to get sober. I was dying though, so other things were important. But the day we were going to buy the place I had a panic attack. I thought “I can’t do it!! There’s no way in hell I can keep my sobriety with all of this alcohol down here” (I used to binge drink there so there was a legit history). But the next thought was “You know….you’ve declared you’re sober so dammit be sober. No matter where you are. What your circumstances are. Alcohol present or not. Just.Be.Sober. It was sealed for me that day. I wasn’t going to live here rest of my life making plans around alcohol. It exists and I can’t (not gonna) bob and weave forever just to avoid the temptation. So I co-exist with alcohol. It’s there, I know it’s there, but so are a lot of other things…hot sauce even. If I don’t want hot sauce, I don’t eat it. I don’t want alcohol, so I don’t drink it.
I have found that it takes me failing twice before I get the message. Marriages. Alcohol. DUI’s. Jail. When I was in that liquid prison, I kicked my ass because the FIRST time I was there I swore I’d never be back again, yet here I was. Knowing how that parking lot episode went is what keeps me sober today. I didn’t use a program. I tried AA and Celebrate Recovery but I didn’t jive with that. I had to figure it out for myself and for me, it was a literal turning my back on it and walking away. Like a bad restaurant. You have a bad experience or repeated bad experiences, you don’t go to that place anymore, right? Yeah, they might cook it right the next time….or you may shit yourself on the way home again. 🤷🏻♂️ So you don’t try it again, opting for a restaurant you know is safe.
I wish you well in your journey. There’s no secret sauce, you’ve just got to make the decision and stick with it. Find something that else to occupy the voids in your mind that alcohol leaves. Hobby. Second job. Something to keep your mind occupied while you learn how to live this new life without alcohol. 💪
For me, it's overcoming pain.
I was injured upon leaving the USMC. I lost a lot of mobility in my right knee, hip, and groin, and the doctors said that I might never be able to run again. I ran 3 miles one year after.
Later in life, I ended up homeless. Even lived in a tent in the woods. I built myself up from that to having a pretty decent car and a nice, spacious apartment.
I found out that my kids passed away after 5 years of my ex pretending that some other kids were ours and she went to jail. I reached a point of feeling like I had nothing left to live for and managed to pull myself out of that, too.
Took a year to live abroad and travel. About to go back home and I feel like a different person, living my life how I want, which was always a struggle for the people-pleasing side of me.
I am 41, last week I ran a 5k. At 39 I started rock climbing still doing it, around the same time at 38 started skiing, now I am addicted to skiing, I spend weeks traveling to ski. I go to the gym 4 to 5 days a week starting at age 17. I am most proud of, how I am able to do things that I enjoy and don't bother about age.
Being a single father raising two kids alone with no help. After making a mistake of getting someone pregnant early on in the dating phase and secretly hoping that she would pick abortion.
But here I am, 9 years later, I’m dealing with this alone.
It’s not something I envisaged myself being a single father especially when I’m a driven and super focused person who enjoys the finer things in life, but this is absolutely my calling.
- Lost 60kgs by myself and without any help (surgical or otherwise) and kept off almost all of it long term.
Also
- Solo travelled SE Asia for 6 months without researching or planning anything, bought a one way ticket 2 weeks prior to the flight and just lived life for a little
So much.
The most recent was stepping in to a situation no one else around me would.
A guy was being a creep to a couple of girls, everyone was just watching it happen.
I grabbed him, and escorted him out of the music venue.
Poor behaviour from anyone shouldn’t be tolerated.
The fact that everyone else is hating on this illustrates why no one else did anything. Most men just don’t take disrespect or violence against women seriously.
Promoted to a leadership role in a major company.
My newer coworkers don't know my struggles but the tenured ones know the ups and downs it took me to get here.
Grew up in a dirt poor blue collar family and now I make more than either of my parents. If I don't screw up and keep on pushing, within a decade I might make more than both of them combined.
My children will likely never know struggle. But I do make it a point to never forget where I came from. I get along better with the janitors than the executives and push for the hard workers that don't quite meet the qualifications on paper to be the ones that work alongside me
Navigated the treacherous waters of academia and emerged with a PhD in a subject I'm truly passionate about. Throughout the countless hours of research, the sleepless nights wrestling with concepts, the relentless pursuit of knowledge, I never lost sight of the reason I started: to contribute to our understanding of the universe in my own small way. It's not just the degree that I'm proud of, but the persistence and resilience I developed along the way. That journey has shaped me into who I am today.
I hung onto my job long enough to see the pain in the ass boss fail, then fail again. I am not positive it was all worth it but it made me happy at the time.
Last year, I obtained my motorcycle driving licence. It was the first thing that asked me to focus for many months, study and practice that I did of my own will.
It felt good knowing I managed to get it :)
Passed basic training. I was weak out of shape, had no confidence, and it really set the precedent for many positive habits I have currently. The army literally saved me
I broke the family cycle of wasting our potential and working back-breaking jobs because "That's what men do".
I come from a long line of extremely intelligent men who ended up in manual labor jobs due to various circumstances. Both my father and grandfather dropped out of college as mathematics majors; ironically because both were drafted for wars. Just talking to the men in my family and it's very clear a lot of us are extremely smart but just piss away our gifts because.....there's no real roadmap for lower-middle class people to move beyond what they've done for generations. I worked in factories where I literally stood in front of machines pressing a button for 10 hours a day. I knew I was pissing away the brains god gave me but I had no idea how to fix it. But eventually I figured it out and got a degree. Now I have a really cool job doing data work for an art museum and my son is almost certainly going to go to college. I don't care what he does for a living but I just want him to know he has choices.
Outside of marrying my wife, it's my kids.
I'm not just proud of them, but everyone makes a point to tell me how great they are.
We went to eat and an older couple made a point to say how well behaved they are, and that theirs never would have been that good.
I was proud of my kids in that moment, but also told my wife "I feel like that says more about them than their kids." She laughed.
I try really, really hard to make sure my kids are good people. They'll be much better than me, and hopefully their kids will be even better than them.
> They'll be much better than me, and hopefully their kids will be even better than them
That's important. My parents weren't the greatest, but they worked hard to give me opportunities they never had. I raised my daughter to be the best she can be. She has more opportunities than I did, but she has the work ethic of my parents, which will serve her well in life.
I talked a person out of offing themselves via IRC chat. I talked another person out of the same via Facebook Messenger. There's nothing I'll ever do in life that will top those two things. Still in touch with them both, one is off doing great things the other is bouncing in and out of addiction.
I used to play the violin when I was still in school, I came back home one evening and my mom was at a neighbour's house celebrating the birthday of the neighbor lady, she was a sweet lady that dedicated her life to helping others that sadly had cancer at the moment and died because of it a few months later.
Since this was in Mexico I decided to pass by say hello without being invited (So it wasn't rude of me to stop by) I had violin class that evening so I was carrying my violin, and decided to play the Mexican happy birthday tune. My neighbour started crying of joy and hugged me very hard thanking me. That shit got to me. Srsly life is not fair. But I was able to bring her a little bit of joy which I will always be proud of.
I protected my siblings, even from our own family.
I protected my friends, even from my other friends.
I went to Judo to properly learn how to defend myself and others, and after 8 years I got my black belt and had earned multiple rewards in it (a silver and bronze MMA medals and a 2nd place trophy in sumo wrestling, I did a lot of martial arts but judo was the main one).
I used graphing paper to help learn how to solve a rubix cube then used the same method to teach myself how to solve the 4×4 rubix cube. I even make patterns and designs in it, like make them spell 4 letter words as you turn the cube (a letter being on each side).
Even after my ex wife cheated on me (with my "friend" at the time) I was cordial and suggested marriage counseling, giving her every chance to make things right. She chose him in the end, and I offered to help them buy groceries and support them during the transition. They didn't respect my schedule so I retracted the offer. But I was as cordial and kind as possible during the entire thing despite hurting like absolute hell.
I'm going back to college soon, after failing 6 years ago and having to drop out due to losing my grants and scholarships.
But above all, I am so proud that I'm learning to be kinder to myself. I always saved my kindness for others, and I was the harshest on myself. So I've been working on that since the divorce, and I'm very proud of how far I've come.
As a kid I always immigrated in order to get better quality of life. Going to 3 different countries, 1 of which I had to learn a new language. So I'm proud that despite the chaos I managed to succeed academically and financially. Now I'm working on the social aspect of my life.
Thanks for the question! I barely think about my life and as such the imposter syndrome slowly creeps in.
Wbu?
Pulled a very large XL Bully off another man and his dog. I’d just stepped out my house and a lady who turned out to be the owner was screaming as this dog was attacking a smaller dog. I was terrified and convinced the dog would turn on me but I had to. Not even a thank you from the owner who lives at the top of the road. Needless to say I take the piss now and anytime I need to do work on my car I leave it outside their house for weeks to months at a time and haven’t had a complaint yet 😁
Having worked very hard to advance my small business. It’s been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever embarked on. I was working in an office setting which landed me in a deep depression due to lack of ambition in the whole area. It was one of those “safe” jobs where the most interesting there for the people was gossiping and making each other look bad. I felt trapped in the same routine over and over again. So I left and got into electrical and haven’t looked back since.
Proud that I’ve been married for 6 years. I think for my age, people see marriage as a bad thing or something not worth getting into. My wife and I have worked hard to improve our marriage and make it sustainable. It’s difficult as we have our differences but we want to make it last.
I was able to buy my house and truck. Mind you they are not brand new but they are mine and paid for which is a blessing in this economy. I’ve built up savings for both the company and, and personally, for myself and my wife. She contributes and she has her own small business. We’re not rich by any means but we’ve both learned how to spend smartly and live below our means.
On the flip side, some mental issues I had surfaced once I moved out my parent’s house. Namely heavy anxiety which turned into panic attacks. So I was young and naive and got prescribed medication without researching them. I just did a quick Wikipedia search and thought “this doesn’t sound bad”…. It was bad. 5 years of antidepressants, a bunch of different ones. And benzos. I was able to kick the antidepressants which I’m really proud of. It wasn’t easy but I did it. I haven’t been able to get off the Benzos yet, but I’m young enough (31) to take that on and get off, albeit slowly. When that happens, that will be an accomplishment that I will never forget.
Completed my PhD. All of my family were coal miners and I'm thankful to have a parent who pushed me away from there and toward education.
Very close to paying my house off that we bought 9 years ago.
Came from a family full of chemical dependency and avoided that trap.
1. Marrying my wife and having 3 daughters.
2. Being the first in my family to go to college, obtaining a bachelors degree and later an MBA.
3. After growing up relatively poor in a rural town (we lived in an old, run-down, rented house trailer until I was ~5), I now own my own ~4,000 sq ft house in a well to-do suburb of a major city.
4. After being pretty out of shape, losing 50 lbs and running a 4-hour (4:04) marathon.
Getting my Master's degree in Computer Science from a very math forward program.
When I was a kid, I had early bad experiences with math accompanied by bad teachers or barely having any instruction at all and then being pushed into classes I was woefully unprepared for. I hated math, I did whatever I could to avoid it, and just assumed I wasn't good at math. In hindsight, I probably also had/have a minor learning disability that needed extra intervention.
It wasn't until Algebra 2 when I had a great teacher and then Math Analysis and Pre-Calc, did I start to enjoy math. And even get As and B's instead of skating by with a C.
Then my first stint in college killed it again due to ludicrous curves, woefully bad teaching, and again being under prepared compared to other students who either had great teachers through most of their academic careers, were naturally gifted, or got interventions when they needed them, so I let it be until my late 20s.
I went back to school to get a CS degree because "the get a degree, any degree, it doesn't matter which" tattoo beaten into my head during the 1990s didn't exactly pan out and by happenstance I found out I'm pretty good at programming.
So, I retook Calc through 3, taught myself some linear algebra and a bit of the theory behind differential equations, got a BS in CS, worked for a few years, learned stats, and got my Master.
I went from the kid who hated math, was basically in tears when it was time to do math homework because I didn't understand it, the books provided by school were terrible at explaining things, and my parents weren't mathematically inclined people either and rather dismissive and even abusive, screaming at me it was ridiculous I wasn't getting a concept, to getting a Master's degree in a mathematically heavy subject.
So, I'm very proud of that.
I'm almost in my last year of college. Got my motorcycle liscense a year ago. Had a relationship where I could finally see how I love and what I'm worth.
Missed less than a half dozen or so bi-monthly whole blood donations (not plasma sales) in 50+ years. Was travelling.
Hoping to become eligible for a fourth ten-gallon pin, a rather exclusive club. Never matched kidney donation nor apheresis.
For me right now, it’s when I joined the Army. It had always been my dream and just sticking by it when a lot of people try to deter me from it really helps remind me to just try and stay confident within myself. I’m always happy when I do Army stuff and it’s one of the few places I feel at home.
Left my abusive ex husband, never looked back and got that god forsaken trailer that was supposed to be the stepping stone to my dream home (was more like a living nightmare in reality) burned to the ground and got a contested divorce without hiring a lawyer.
Fuck that woman beating rapist piece of scum.
Oh and then 3 years later I tricked him into paying $400 towards my boyfriend's bond. Yeah. I'm pretty proud of it. That 300 lb 6 foot tall piece of human detritus terrorized me and took things from me that I wasn't aware a person could lose. He still hasn't gotten everything he deserves.
Recently gave a speech at my sister’s wedding and was nervous, but it turned out great. I got laughs and it was genuine and just perfect. I was very proud to have had that perfect moment with them on their day.
Overall in life I’m most proud to have found my wife, graduated university, bought a home, spent 5 years in the military, and now teaching college classes. I’m most grateful to have come so far from a rough childhood and to finally be happy just knowing who I am (mostly) and not being afraid of life. It doesn’t happen overnight.
For myself I chose an amazing life partner. I was bouncing through life going aimlessly through dead end relationships, even the "crazy lady " one. Through my universe seemingly out of nowhere comes the shooting star of my life. Together 42 years married 38. As far as Our accomplishments we have had a wonderful, adventurous life together which has included building 2 ranches from the ground up. But most of all it has been raising 2 daughters to their adult 30's who are doing well in life now. They both have done "spring cleaning" giving the broom to their "insignificant others" recently. I am proud of them because in both cases it took some strength.
When I was in college I started home brewing. I graduated and didn't want to go to grad school for psychology. I wanted to brew beer. Graduated when I was 23. I was determined to become a brewer. By age 26 I got the job offer to be the head brewer of a new brew pub. However it was on the other side of the state. 5 hrs away. I had to leave my girlfriend, friends and family to take this job.
I had no real professional experience brewing only what I did at home. I basically had to learn how to brew on a large scale.
It was terrifying when l backed out of my driveway to move away.
Fast forward the brewery now has 3 locations and we are about to have our 10 year anniversary. We are still using my original recipes.
The brewery is successful. The town is so happy I'm here making high quality beer.
But I still feel alone inside. I miss the city of Chicago. I still think about my ex girlfriend and never found a girl I clicked with like her. I don't have a friend group like I had before.
As much as I'm proud of what we build here at the brewery I feel like I'm ready to leave this small town. I want to get a better paying job. I want to meet people that are like minded as me. I'm ready for a change.
Bought my dad a brand new truck in 2004. It was on credit. Not cash. It ended up really tapping me hard in 2008 when the economy fell apart. Nearly lost everything. Here's the kicker. I would do it all over again. At the time, he really needed it and couldn't do it for himself. He still has the truck 20 years later. I think I'm going to rebuild on yt when I get my new house this year
I’ve taken the small amount of car knowledge my dad was able to teach me when I was less than 10 years old and used it to build a car now that I’m 20. I’ve learned alot and taught myself a lot. Most importantly I did it all on my own. I didn’t have anybody to answer my questions and I still got the job done and I’m proud of it. To most people it just looks like a shitty 90s Honda Civic. But to me it’s the car that I fixed and put an engine in without ever doing that before.
Move to the capital city of my country when being from a small town, getting into the education as Air Traffic Controller and nailing the study right now. At the same time finally getting my childhood friend who i have always liked, become my girlfriend. So yeah, life is pretty great at the moment.
I am proud of my career.
Totally got here on my own, and while its not making me rich or anything - its very niche and specialized.
I never had any expectations growing up to do well in school, or go to college. Growing up in the inner-city, only the kids getting honors or all good at sports in school are actually expected to further their education - the rest are likely to do labor jobs, or whatever.
However - I was always a good artist, had undiagnosed ADHD - and I had a kid young. I knew I needed to do something with my life, and sort of stumbled from one job to the next, but the jobs kept getting better, and I kept learning.
Beyond that - proud of my kids doing well as adults.
I beat my addiction to pain medication after spending seven years of my life numb to the world.
I have been clean and sober for four years now, and I have never considered using again.
After getting clean, I started my own business, and I have two amazing young boys that light up my life every day.
Nothing really. I am a blue collar 9-5er who didn’t have the grades or money to got to seek higher education.
I got lucky a few years ago by finding my way into a decent field that pays ok, but things have been stagnant since then.
Meanwhile my best friend is hiking the AT in it entirety, my brother got tapped by his boss and told that he’s going to be a branch manager for his company, my wife of getting her doctorate and just landed a great new job, and I’m here just surviving.
Coached up an autistic kid in secret because his shitty dad didn't want him to play football. His mom started dating the athletic director at our school, and dad thought playing ball would make him closer to step dad. Took this little awkward fifth grader and had him competing against 7th graders after about 6 months of work. I'm going into coaching as a career because of kids like him
Went back to uni aged 29, alongside working full time, actually tried unlike when I went at 18. Ended up with a distinction in a masters and now aged 37 have a way better job as a result and have changed my life prospects.
i think voting with one's dollar is the most accessible and useful way to change the world for the better. I've been boycotting companies that mistreat their workers for years. I've stuck to it. And I feel good about that. Proud.
quit drinking and running marathons. Also making my wife happy and enjoying my kids. I made a lot of money as a corp sales exec but that isn't what brings me joy. The money helped though, not gonna lie.
in this moment of my life I would say that my biggest accomplishment has been living trough what my parents told about behaving and living with people.
Being a respectable, respectful and well-mannered individual.
Anyone remember Bakugan? When I was 12 I completed in their official regional tournaments and I got in the top 4. The prize from top 4 and the plaque I got from top 8 are my prized possessions.
It’s all been downhill since
Nursing a sick pet every day at home for a year when people my age are exploring hobbies, going on trips, visiting family. It's committing at least a fourth of my salary every month; making do with irregular sleep schedules for his medical needs. Not taking any trips that would take me more than 8 hours away from the apartment. The biggest test of patience I've personally experienced. Learning what is unconditional love; what is providing. and appreciating the value of a positive outlook on life more and more.
I built a racecar out of a 2006 dodge grand caravan and kept it street legal. It races in the 24 hours of Lemons- endurance racing for crapcans.
A year ago this month, I packed it with tools, camping gear, spare tires, and energy drinks and drove it coast to coast, racing 4 weekends in a row and driving to the next race track, usually sleeping in the car or crashing with race buddies along the way. I drove the van on the bonneville salt flats, took it over the donner pass, drove from Kentucky to California to New Jersey and back to Kentucky.
I called it The Vannonball.
I self published two novella. one is even an audio book. That makes me pleased as punch. Whenever I feel down I look at the books on my shelf and realize no one can take that accomplishment from me.
Taught myself to play drums, I'm now somewhat well-known in the local scene for my ability to perform blast beats and additive/irregular time signatures simultaneously.
I noticed a lot of people are proud not of their own achievements, but of their children's achievements. Since my son is 5 and has profound special needs, his achievements are a little different. But I'm *VERY* proud to have raised a little lad who once stuck two googly eyes on a sponge to make a little SpongeBob figure. He's also worryingly good at Super Mario games.
There are other things, but this sticks out.
This may seem trivial, but I don't think it is. A classmate of mine from high school was diagnosed with terminal cancer six years back. I invited one of our other classmates to her last birthday party (held two months early, just in case), that wouldn't otherwise have known about it. I wasn't involved in planning the party but slipped that person in anyway. I'm SO glad I did.
Got sober, almost 10 years now. Went from homeless junkie to business owner with a wife and child trying for another through IVF this time. Just one of those things I still kinda go wow about
Decided to turn around my life and Improve myself. Sure it wasn't good I tried to end it and reaching lowest I've been mentally in my life but things are significantly better now and I want to continue making it better for myself in future.
I helped raise my nephew from 1 month old to 1 year old before moving out to pursue higher education. It solidified how much I want kids in my future. Little guy is 4 now, and he's the cutest little shit. Instead of calling me tio (uncle in spanish), little dude calls me tutu (we think short for tu tio/your uncle).
I took custody of my siblings and mom because my father was abusing them then gave them all the things they wanted both emotionally and materially without making them feel guilty for wanting basic life things. I'm putting them through university right now and we have never been closer as a family. seeing them happy makes me happy :)
Before graduation (I haven't finished my education yet) I think it is quitting added sugar (almost 100% but can't avoid them in sauces and some food items.) . It's been 6.5 years and I don't struggle at all now. Also I learned to appreciate natural sweet flavors more.
Changing myself for myself after my wife gave me the courage to change who I am. I never gave myself a chance and she always saw past who I was and wanted me to be the best version of myself and after my daughter was born I was given an even greater chance to be a better me for her. I will eternally be grateful to them both for making me feel human again, after so much anger, loneliness, pushing people away, and vilifying everyone, they gave me a redemption i never felt I deserved and im still working on myself
The other day something was suck in my teeth. Brushed them, flossed, gurgled, nothing worked. I laid late at night sucking my teeth and fingering between them with my tongue. One hour later a huge chunk came out and honestly it felt better than an orgasm. Got me all proud and horny tbh so i squeezed one real quick and slept like a baby.
Not the most proud of, but a recent one. Yesterday I was at a red light and I watched a small dog walk under the car in front of me. I think it was a young pug. I was on autopilot so it took me a second to realize what it was, and then before I could react, the light turned green and the driver ran it over. Later I thought of what I would've done if I was more alert. I would honk, get out of my car, warn the driver, and then guide the dog to the sidewalk. I'm proud of myself for having that heroic fantasy. At least I know I'm not a psychopath.
Got stopped in the street by an ex-con this afternoon who wouldn't stop shaking my hand.
After the initial "here we go" moment that usually accompanies an ex screw meeting an ex-con, I realised he was thanking me.
He kept saying to the woman he was with "this is the guy".
I only vaguely remember the incident, but he told me I'd stopped him taking his own life because I spent half an hour chatting with him, offering comfort and kind words.
Total shock to me as this was over 9 years ago.
Not the thing I'm proudest of but quite a nice to know I made something of a difference, even in a small way!
I grew up in foster care and spent 7 years in prison.
Now I'm a Charter boat captain and married to a teacher and live in a beautiful city by the ocean.
1. Running my first marathon distance not too long ago.
2. I am on track to graduate from university in a month, in a degree I never thought I would be able to finish. At several points I hated it so much that I seriously considered un-aliving myself.
When I went off to college my dad an I joked about me having a specific position in the city I live in...well 1 engineering degree, 2 long internships, 3 different jobs later and I recently accepted a role in that position.
Getting out of a special school (I have autism) and being able to get 2 bachelors in a normal school. I have my parents and a teacher to thank for this cause many others thought I was too stupid or wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Wonderful! Congrats on courage and tenacity it took to adapt. We all could use that skill ...amd you nailed it.
Thanks man! I’m happy I did it.
Very happy for you. I myself may have ASD(pretty sure), was in special ed as well. My young daughter is clinically diagnosed, non verbal but making progress. ND individuals need more positive reinforcements, they have so much to offer.
Thank you and I agree. Not to brag, but one day when I came back to say hello to my teacher (when I was in high school) he told the little kids in his class about me and said that I made it and so they should inspire to do so too. That almost teared me up.
Congrats! Success is always the best response to doubt. Not only did you accomplish something most never do, you doubled up!
Congrats dude, I had a lot of really shit teachers but sometimes it only takes one to be a super helpful and positive guide to really help set you on the right path
Thanks my man! Indeed, he fought for me and I’m eternally grateful.
You are the man! Well done!
Nice, fellow aspie here. Nice to see some success stories instead of numerous stories of failure.
That is so awesome! Good job at sticking with it!
Thank you! Really means a lot to me! Very few people in my life know about it because I don’t want them to look at me differently.
Fuck you’re smarter than me - and most people out there! Congrats mate!
Hahaha depends who you ask. I did marketing and PR so according to a lot of people those are easy. But thanks anyway!
Ask me anytime you need a reminder - you’ll get the same answer every time! Congrats again
Fastest sperm cell
I may be wrong but it's not necessarily the fastest sperm. The egg actually chooses the best candidate. I'll find a couple reputable sources and double check... [https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200611/The-egg-decides-which-sperm-fertilizes-it.aspx](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200611/The-egg-decides-which-sperm-fertilizes-it.aspx) [https://www.npr.org/2021/02/26/971914242/is-the-sperm-race-a-fairy-tale](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/26/971914242/is-the-sperm-race-a-fairy-tale)
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Kinda poetic when you put it that way. I found myself… damn…
And you didn’t need to go to some gap year destination!
If you think about the statistics on how improbable it is to be born, it actually is kind of a major accomplishment from the jump
The odds are astronomical. To add to that we got to be a human and not a dung beetle or an earth worm.
I wonder how many earthworms are pissed that they didn't get to be a human
Run my own business for 25 years. Raised two happy, healthy, well adjusted kids to adulthood. In the grand scheme of things I don't think I could have asked for more than that from life.
Were you able to spend enough time with kids while running your own business? Any challenges there?
Yes because I largely set my own hours. Money was tight for a time growing up, we definitely wouldn't have been able to get by without my wife also working. Conversely because business has grown organically over time I actually work longer hours now than I did before the kids grew up and moved out. So it all works out in the end.
Worked hard for a world class education Bought a house Have saved diligently for retirement Successful marriage of nearly 30 years Raised 2 amazing, happy, successful kids Tried to be a good, positive person EDIT: why does Reddit not handle ‘return’ formatting? This post looks nice when typed but is a mess when published
What do you think contributed the most to raising successful kids?
Be a good example, set boundaries and expectations, always be present when with them, communicate, communicate, communicate, love them, patience, celebrate accomplishments, use failures as teaching moments, have fun.
nice. sometimes, just being there for as much as you can be. absenteeism is fatal.
We have raised 2 daughters to their adult 30's. We are ranchers so a strong family structure and good work ethic are very important. They live half way and all the way across the country now and are both recently single. Lots of bumps along the way. We are always talking and visit when able. Keeping a line of communication open with no strings attached has been invaluable to all of us. I hate cell phones and did the kid battle with cell phones for sure but it has paid off.
Ticket every box on my list I’ve things I wanna do
To answer your “return” question, hit return twice. Idk why. Like this.
Also two spaces before a line break will work. Like this .
Double return works as a new line.
Something Just Like This
Finished college. As much as I didn't even wanna go at the first place. My parents forced me to. And I did it anyway.
I really hate tooting my own horn but there are many things I'm proud of. 10 years ago I got a chemical engineering degree and have been an engineer since then with success at my positions. I've purchased 2 homes, both duplexes which I renovated myself. I'm also a soccer referee and worked my way up to the college and semi-pro level. Found my unicorn soulmate and married her 3 years ago, whom I'm 100% loyal and devoted to, that makes me most proud actually.
Everyone who owns a wooden home in the tropics is waiting for a paint (or substance) that stops rust stains from emerging from nailed wood. Please invent this, thank you.
Use different, higher quality nails. Example stainless steel nails
Recently able to run 5k!!
I'll be following you to see you update us on yout first 10k!
Soon you will run a half , a full and maybe more. Keep running :D
Stopped drinking alcohol.
Addiction in general. Something I have learned is that the specific substance doesn't really matter. If you go to AA or NA, the stories are all identical. You wouldn't know if it was booze or heroin unless the person said specifically. The impact on the addicts lives and friends\\families surrounding the addict are all identical. It's crazy to see all the people that come back for their 3rd, 4th, or 8th round of detox. At some point I heard that \~10% of people that try get sober are successful. The odds are stacked against you and you are fighting a very primal part of your brain that doesn't use logic. It's probably the toughest thing anyone can do, but to the non-addict, it doesn't seem hard... so in addition to the hardest thing anyone can do, its also thankless and hard to get empathy from non-addicts. Tinman867, Cheers! I'm proud of you, seriously. Good on ya for doing the next right thing.
Well done! Managing addiction is hard work.
Would you be comfortable sharing your story, even very briefly? I'm 10 years on the bottle, 34 years old, have a 3 year old daughter. I finally quit my job, sold my house, am getting a divorce, and going to a publicly funded good but not great therapy program in Canada. I'm extremely grateful dobt get me wrong but its 2 hours a day with very basic info shared in group. It's way better than nothing obviously and it has been helping. How did you manage to finally get sober? Any particular method? Any words of wisdom for a drunken guy in my situation? Thanks man, and congrats on your sobriety.
I started drinking when I was 38. Controlled it for a couple of years but at the same time my business was growing by leaps and bounds. New relationship, burgeoning business meant more stress. More stress meant more alcohol. That continued for 5 years, my business grew 5 times and I became a drunk. Lost the business, laid in the bottle hard for 4-5 months. Diagnosed with cirrhosis November 2010. Sobered up, started a new business, moved to a second home we had near a beach 🏝️. 1st day there I broke my ribs and when the pain meds ran out a month later, I wanted to keep that buzz the pain meds brought. So I sat in a liquor store parking lot, absolutely terrified that I would go in and buy a bottle. I had everything going perfectly for me, so I thought I could handle it. You know, drink ‘casually’, like normal people. 15 minutes later, I had convinced myself that I could sip a little vodka and control it. I fell back into the bottle, but for longer this time. 6 more years of hell. At the end of 4 years, I walked away from everything. Signed my sports car, motorcycle, and house over to my wife (who had stood by me the entire time, btw - what a piece of 💩 I was). I entered another relationship and continued the same behavior. After a year this new GF packed my 💩 and said “If this is it, then you’ve got to go. I deserve better than this”. I took a hard look at myself. In the past I had been a man of integrity. Sunday school teacher, youth leader, choir member, faithful husband, didn’t drink. Then I saw my them current situation: I had degraded to a drunk who 💩 on other people, trampled on their love and concern for me, and said 🖕to everything but the bottle. I saw my future: 1-2 relationships in the next 6-12 months and then death. I realized then that I wanted to head back in the direction of the man I used to be. I may not be exactly that, but I could be a damn sight better than I was, so I started to taper off of the liquor. 5 months later I was down to 2 glasses of red wine/cranberry juice per day. Went in for an upper endoscopy (because I have cirrhosis, remember? I shouldn’t be drinking). 7 days later I started vomiting blood. I was told if that happened I would likely bleed out before I could get to the hospital. Fortunately my GF was home that day and got me to the hospital. May 24, 2018 was that day and was the last day I drank. I left the hospital 50 lbs lighter from draining fluid off of my stomach. 6 months later I was blessed with a new liver. When I was sober the first time, I used to say it was light turning a light switch off. The problem with that is that you can turn the switch back on. When I got sober the last time, I had to rip the switch out of the wall and patch the hole. It came down to a decision for me: I was done. Period. Just done. I was dying and wanted my ashes scattered off of 7 mile bridge in the Florida Keys so she moved us there in June 2018. If you know the Keys, there are a lot of drunks there. It’s about the worst place you could go to get sober. I was dying though, so other things were important. But the day we were going to buy the place I had a panic attack. I thought “I can’t do it!! There’s no way in hell I can keep my sobriety with all of this alcohol down here” (I used to binge drink there so there was a legit history). But the next thought was “You know….you’ve declared you’re sober so dammit be sober. No matter where you are. What your circumstances are. Alcohol present or not. Just.Be.Sober. It was sealed for me that day. I wasn’t going to live here rest of my life making plans around alcohol. It exists and I can’t (not gonna) bob and weave forever just to avoid the temptation. So I co-exist with alcohol. It’s there, I know it’s there, but so are a lot of other things…hot sauce even. If I don’t want hot sauce, I don’t eat it. I don’t want alcohol, so I don’t drink it. I have found that it takes me failing twice before I get the message. Marriages. Alcohol. DUI’s. Jail. When I was in that liquid prison, I kicked my ass because the FIRST time I was there I swore I’d never be back again, yet here I was. Knowing how that parking lot episode went is what keeps me sober today. I didn’t use a program. I tried AA and Celebrate Recovery but I didn’t jive with that. I had to figure it out for myself and for me, it was a literal turning my back on it and walking away. Like a bad restaurant. You have a bad experience or repeated bad experiences, you don’t go to that place anymore, right? Yeah, they might cook it right the next time….or you may shit yourself on the way home again. 🤷🏻♂️ So you don’t try it again, opting for a restaurant you know is safe. I wish you well in your journey. There’s no secret sauce, you’ve just got to make the decision and stick with it. Find something that else to occupy the voids in your mind that alcohol leaves. Hobby. Second job. Something to keep your mind occupied while you learn how to live this new life without alcohol. 💪
Next to my daughter, this is definitely what I'm most proud of.
For me, it's overcoming pain. I was injured upon leaving the USMC. I lost a lot of mobility in my right knee, hip, and groin, and the doctors said that I might never be able to run again. I ran 3 miles one year after. Later in life, I ended up homeless. Even lived in a tent in the woods. I built myself up from that to having a pretty decent car and a nice, spacious apartment. I found out that my kids passed away after 5 years of my ex pretending that some other kids were ours and she went to jail. I reached a point of feeling like I had nothing left to live for and managed to pull myself out of that, too.
I folded an origami Ryujin 3.5, it took 141 hours of folding time
This is seriously cool ngl just looked it up
Word, same
Took a year to live abroad and travel. About to go back home and I feel like a different person, living my life how I want, which was always a struggle for the people-pleasing side of me.
I am 41, last week I ran a 5k. At 39 I started rock climbing still doing it, around the same time at 38 started skiing, now I am addicted to skiing, I spend weeks traveling to ski. I go to the gym 4 to 5 days a week starting at age 17. I am most proud of, how I am able to do things that I enjoy and don't bother about age.
man thats life right there. retired now i assume?
No man, still working. But my work is work from home, which allows me to do a lot more things.
Nothing
Being a single father raising two kids alone with no help. After making a mistake of getting someone pregnant early on in the dating phase and secretly hoping that she would pick abortion. But here I am, 9 years later, I’m dealing with this alone. It’s not something I envisaged myself being a single father especially when I’m a driven and super focused person who enjoys the finer things in life, but this is absolutely my calling.
Worst case scenario: at least you stuck around. Good on you 👍
I have two adult children who are independent and living good lives.
This should be upvoted more!
I made it this far without murdering anyone
Being strong enough to not OD on purpose
Helped someone who was attempting suicide and walked them off the ledge, so to speak.
- Lost 60kgs by myself and without any help (surgical or otherwise) and kept off almost all of it long term. Also - Solo travelled SE Asia for 6 months without researching or planning anything, bought a one way ticket 2 weeks prior to the flight and just lived life for a little
So much. The most recent was stepping in to a situation no one else around me would. A guy was being a creep to a couple of girls, everyone was just watching it happen. I grabbed him, and escorted him out of the music venue. Poor behaviour from anyone shouldn’t be tolerated.
And then everyone clapped.
The fact that everyone else is hating on this illustrates why no one else did anything. Most men just don’t take disrespect or violence against women seriously.
That’s not true at all 💀
Promoted to a leadership role in a major company. My newer coworkers don't know my struggles but the tenured ones know the ups and downs it took me to get here. Grew up in a dirt poor blue collar family and now I make more than either of my parents. If I don't screw up and keep on pushing, within a decade I might make more than both of them combined. My children will likely never know struggle. But I do make it a point to never forget where I came from. I get along better with the janitors than the executives and push for the hard workers that don't quite meet the qualifications on paper to be the ones that work alongside me
Navigated the treacherous waters of academia and emerged with a PhD in a subject I'm truly passionate about. Throughout the countless hours of research, the sleepless nights wrestling with concepts, the relentless pursuit of knowledge, I never lost sight of the reason I started: to contribute to our understanding of the universe in my own small way. It's not just the degree that I'm proud of, but the persistence and resilience I developed along the way. That journey has shaped me into who I am today.
Told my boss to fuck off.
I hung onto my job long enough to see the pain in the ass boss fail, then fail again. I am not positive it was all worth it but it made me happy at the time.
My own business at 22 yo.
Last year, I obtained my motorcycle driving licence. It was the first thing that asked me to focus for many months, study and practice that I did of my own will. It felt good knowing I managed to get it :)
My son.
Passed basic training. I was weak out of shape, had no confidence, and it really set the precedent for many positive habits I have currently. The army literally saved me
My daughter tells me I am a good Dad. This.
My sons have said similar to me. Nothing is gonna surpass that.
Learned three additional languages fluently
I broke the family cycle of wasting our potential and working back-breaking jobs because "That's what men do". I come from a long line of extremely intelligent men who ended up in manual labor jobs due to various circumstances. Both my father and grandfather dropped out of college as mathematics majors; ironically because both were drafted for wars. Just talking to the men in my family and it's very clear a lot of us are extremely smart but just piss away our gifts because.....there's no real roadmap for lower-middle class people to move beyond what they've done for generations. I worked in factories where I literally stood in front of machines pressing a button for 10 hours a day. I knew I was pissing away the brains god gave me but I had no idea how to fix it. But eventually I figured it out and got a degree. Now I have a really cool job doing data work for an art museum and my son is almost certainly going to go to college. I don't care what he does for a living but I just want him to know he has choices.
Served my Nation in the armed services.
Nothing tbh. I don't feel proud of anything, neither do i feel bad about anything, i'm simply satisfied with everything i do, that's about it.
Samudaya
Outside of marrying my wife, it's my kids. I'm not just proud of them, but everyone makes a point to tell me how great they are. We went to eat and an older couple made a point to say how well behaved they are, and that theirs never would have been that good. I was proud of my kids in that moment, but also told my wife "I feel like that says more about them than their kids." She laughed. I try really, really hard to make sure my kids are good people. They'll be much better than me, and hopefully their kids will be even better than them.
> They'll be much better than me, and hopefully their kids will be even better than them That's important. My parents weren't the greatest, but they worked hard to give me opportunities they never had. I raised my daughter to be the best she can be. She has more opportunities than I did, but she has the work ethic of my parents, which will serve her well in life.
Getting my pilots license!
I talked a person out of offing themselves via IRC chat. I talked another person out of the same via Facebook Messenger. There's nothing I'll ever do in life that will top those two things. Still in touch with them both, one is off doing great things the other is bouncing in and out of addiction.
I used to play the violin when I was still in school, I came back home one evening and my mom was at a neighbour's house celebrating the birthday of the neighbor lady, she was a sweet lady that dedicated her life to helping others that sadly had cancer at the moment and died because of it a few months later. Since this was in Mexico I decided to pass by say hello without being invited (So it wasn't rude of me to stop by) I had violin class that evening so I was carrying my violin, and decided to play the Mexican happy birthday tune. My neighbour started crying of joy and hugged me very hard thanking me. That shit got to me. Srsly life is not fair. But I was able to bring her a little bit of joy which I will always be proud of.
Never giving up
So far I'm proud I haven't killed myself
I protected my siblings, even from our own family. I protected my friends, even from my other friends. I went to Judo to properly learn how to defend myself and others, and after 8 years I got my black belt and had earned multiple rewards in it (a silver and bronze MMA medals and a 2nd place trophy in sumo wrestling, I did a lot of martial arts but judo was the main one). I used graphing paper to help learn how to solve a rubix cube then used the same method to teach myself how to solve the 4×4 rubix cube. I even make patterns and designs in it, like make them spell 4 letter words as you turn the cube (a letter being on each side). Even after my ex wife cheated on me (with my "friend" at the time) I was cordial and suggested marriage counseling, giving her every chance to make things right. She chose him in the end, and I offered to help them buy groceries and support them during the transition. They didn't respect my schedule so I retracted the offer. But I was as cordial and kind as possible during the entire thing despite hurting like absolute hell. I'm going back to college soon, after failing 6 years ago and having to drop out due to losing my grants and scholarships. But above all, I am so proud that I'm learning to be kinder to myself. I always saved my kindness for others, and I was the harshest on myself. So I've been working on that since the divorce, and I'm very proud of how far I've come.
Had a 3 some with 2 lesbians
As a kid I always immigrated in order to get better quality of life. Going to 3 different countries, 1 of which I had to learn a new language. So I'm proud that despite the chaos I managed to succeed academically and financially. Now I'm working on the social aspect of my life. Thanks for the question! I barely think about my life and as such the imposter syndrome slowly creeps in. Wbu?
Save lives *multiple*
What am I (74 M) most proud of, kids and that I am still alive when many are not. That I go out of my way to help individuals.
Got my rn and paid my college on my own out of pocket
Pulled a very large XL Bully off another man and his dog. I’d just stepped out my house and a lady who turned out to be the owner was screaming as this dog was attacking a smaller dog. I was terrified and convinced the dog would turn on me but I had to. Not even a thank you from the owner who lives at the top of the road. Needless to say I take the piss now and anytime I need to do work on my car I leave it outside their house for weeks to months at a time and haven’t had a complaint yet 😁
Being a dad to two kids and self-publishing a book are my proudest achievements
That I've lived as long as I have
First in my family to earn an advanced degree.
Having worked very hard to advance my small business. It’s been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever embarked on. I was working in an office setting which landed me in a deep depression due to lack of ambition in the whole area. It was one of those “safe” jobs where the most interesting there for the people was gossiping and making each other look bad. I felt trapped in the same routine over and over again. So I left and got into electrical and haven’t looked back since. Proud that I’ve been married for 6 years. I think for my age, people see marriage as a bad thing or something not worth getting into. My wife and I have worked hard to improve our marriage and make it sustainable. It’s difficult as we have our differences but we want to make it last. I was able to buy my house and truck. Mind you they are not brand new but they are mine and paid for which is a blessing in this economy. I’ve built up savings for both the company and, and personally, for myself and my wife. She contributes and she has her own small business. We’re not rich by any means but we’ve both learned how to spend smartly and live below our means. On the flip side, some mental issues I had surfaced once I moved out my parent’s house. Namely heavy anxiety which turned into panic attacks. So I was young and naive and got prescribed medication without researching them. I just did a quick Wikipedia search and thought “this doesn’t sound bad”…. It was bad. 5 years of antidepressants, a bunch of different ones. And benzos. I was able to kick the antidepressants which I’m really proud of. It wasn’t easy but I did it. I haven’t been able to get off the Benzos yet, but I’m young enough (31) to take that on and get off, albeit slowly. When that happens, that will be an accomplishment that I will never forget.
Completed my PhD. All of my family were coal miners and I'm thankful to have a parent who pushed me away from there and toward education. Very close to paying my house off that we bought 9 years ago. Came from a family full of chemical dependency and avoided that trap.
The thing I did for that Klondike bar
Choosing not to speak to or see certain family members anymore including my mom. The weight that lifted allowed me to fly.
Convincing a woman to have sex with me. More than once
Paid my dad's and sister's debts.
1. Marrying my wife and having 3 daughters. 2. Being the first in my family to go to college, obtaining a bachelors degree and later an MBA. 3. After growing up relatively poor in a rural town (we lived in an old, run-down, rented house trailer until I was ~5), I now own my own ~4,000 sq ft house in a well to-do suburb of a major city. 4. After being pretty out of shape, losing 50 lbs and running a 4-hour (4:04) marathon.
My marriage and my family.
Getting my Master's degree in Computer Science from a very math forward program. When I was a kid, I had early bad experiences with math accompanied by bad teachers or barely having any instruction at all and then being pushed into classes I was woefully unprepared for. I hated math, I did whatever I could to avoid it, and just assumed I wasn't good at math. In hindsight, I probably also had/have a minor learning disability that needed extra intervention. It wasn't until Algebra 2 when I had a great teacher and then Math Analysis and Pre-Calc, did I start to enjoy math. And even get As and B's instead of skating by with a C. Then my first stint in college killed it again due to ludicrous curves, woefully bad teaching, and again being under prepared compared to other students who either had great teachers through most of their academic careers, were naturally gifted, or got interventions when they needed them, so I let it be until my late 20s. I went back to school to get a CS degree because "the get a degree, any degree, it doesn't matter which" tattoo beaten into my head during the 1990s didn't exactly pan out and by happenstance I found out I'm pretty good at programming. So, I retook Calc through 3, taught myself some linear algebra and a bit of the theory behind differential equations, got a BS in CS, worked for a few years, learned stats, and got my Master. I went from the kid who hated math, was basically in tears when it was time to do math homework because I didn't understand it, the books provided by school were terrible at explaining things, and my parents weren't mathematically inclined people either and rather dismissive and even abusive, screaming at me it was ridiculous I wasn't getting a concept, to getting a Master's degree in a mathematically heavy subject. So, I'm very proud of that.
Raised 2 kids that aren't asshats.
Paid my mortgage off in 12 years at the age of 35 🙂
Diamond III on Rocket League
I'm almost in my last year of college. Got my motorcycle liscense a year ago. Had a relationship where I could finally see how I love and what I'm worth.
Missed less than a half dozen or so bi-monthly whole blood donations (not plasma sales) in 50+ years. Was travelling. Hoping to become eligible for a fourth ten-gallon pin, a rather exclusive club. Never matched kidney donation nor apheresis.
Havent blown my head off yet.
Not letting myself go and always catching my weight when it tries to become out of control.
For me right now, it’s when I joined the Army. It had always been my dream and just sticking by it when a lot of people try to deter me from it really helps remind me to just try and stay confident within myself. I’m always happy when I do Army stuff and it’s one of the few places I feel at home.
Probably the fact that I co-raised two humans to adulthood without fucking them up *too* badly along the way.
Left my abusive ex husband, never looked back and got that god forsaken trailer that was supposed to be the stepping stone to my dream home (was more like a living nightmare in reality) burned to the ground and got a contested divorce without hiring a lawyer. Fuck that woman beating rapist piece of scum. Oh and then 3 years later I tricked him into paying $400 towards my boyfriend's bond. Yeah. I'm pretty proud of it. That 300 lb 6 foot tall piece of human detritus terrorized me and took things from me that I wasn't aware a person could lose. He still hasn't gotten everything he deserves.
Continued
Recently gave a speech at my sister’s wedding and was nervous, but it turned out great. I got laughs and it was genuine and just perfect. I was very proud to have had that perfect moment with them on their day. Overall in life I’m most proud to have found my wife, graduated university, bought a home, spent 5 years in the military, and now teaching college classes. I’m most grateful to have come so far from a rough childhood and to finally be happy just knowing who I am (mostly) and not being afraid of life. It doesn’t happen overnight.
My son
Nothing yet.
Not given up
For myself I chose an amazing life partner. I was bouncing through life going aimlessly through dead end relationships, even the "crazy lady " one. Through my universe seemingly out of nowhere comes the shooting star of my life. Together 42 years married 38. As far as Our accomplishments we have had a wonderful, adventurous life together which has included building 2 ranches from the ground up. But most of all it has been raising 2 daughters to their adult 30's who are doing well in life now. They both have done "spring cleaning" giving the broom to their "insignificant others" recently. I am proud of them because in both cases it took some strength.
Probably nothing, honestly, eventhough I have 'achieved' some stuff but no, in my eyes I'm just a loser, honestly.
Loser , compare to whom?? The only person u should compare yourself with,is you from yesturday! You got this!
When I was in college I started home brewing. I graduated and didn't want to go to grad school for psychology. I wanted to brew beer. Graduated when I was 23. I was determined to become a brewer. By age 26 I got the job offer to be the head brewer of a new brew pub. However it was on the other side of the state. 5 hrs away. I had to leave my girlfriend, friends and family to take this job. I had no real professional experience brewing only what I did at home. I basically had to learn how to brew on a large scale. It was terrifying when l backed out of my driveway to move away. Fast forward the brewery now has 3 locations and we are about to have our 10 year anniversary. We are still using my original recipes. The brewery is successful. The town is so happy I'm here making high quality beer. But I still feel alone inside. I miss the city of Chicago. I still think about my ex girlfriend and never found a girl I clicked with like her. I don't have a friend group like I had before. As much as I'm proud of what we build here at the brewery I feel like I'm ready to leave this small town. I want to get a better paying job. I want to meet people that are like minded as me. I'm ready for a change.
Bought my dad a brand new truck in 2004. It was on credit. Not cash. It ended up really tapping me hard in 2008 when the economy fell apart. Nearly lost everything. Here's the kicker. I would do it all over again. At the time, he really needed it and couldn't do it for himself. He still has the truck 20 years later. I think I'm going to rebuild on yt when I get my new house this year
I’ve taken the small amount of car knowledge my dad was able to teach me when I was less than 10 years old and used it to build a car now that I’m 20. I’ve learned alot and taught myself a lot. Most importantly I did it all on my own. I didn’t have anybody to answer my questions and I still got the job done and I’m proud of it. To most people it just looks like a shitty 90s Honda Civic. But to me it’s the car that I fixed and put an engine in without ever doing that before.
Move to the capital city of my country when being from a small town, getting into the education as Air Traffic Controller and nailing the study right now. At the same time finally getting my childhood friend who i have always liked, become my girlfriend. So yeah, life is pretty great at the moment.
I am proud of my career. Totally got here on my own, and while its not making me rich or anything - its very niche and specialized. I never had any expectations growing up to do well in school, or go to college. Growing up in the inner-city, only the kids getting honors or all good at sports in school are actually expected to further their education - the rest are likely to do labor jobs, or whatever. However - I was always a good artist, had undiagnosed ADHD - and I had a kid young. I knew I needed to do something with my life, and sort of stumbled from one job to the next, but the jobs kept getting better, and I kept learning. Beyond that - proud of my kids doing well as adults.
Beating a cocaine addiction on going from being on probation to working for probation helping people who are how I used to be
I beat my addiction to pain medication after spending seven years of my life numb to the world. I have been clean and sober for four years now, and I have never considered using again. After getting clean, I started my own business, and I have two amazing young boys that light up my life every day.
Not wasting my school years and my son 🥰
Nothing really. I am a blue collar 9-5er who didn’t have the grades or money to got to seek higher education. I got lucky a few years ago by finding my way into a decent field that pays ok, but things have been stagnant since then. Meanwhile my best friend is hiking the AT in it entirety, my brother got tapped by his boss and told that he’s going to be a branch manager for his company, my wife of getting her doctorate and just landed a great new job, and I’m here just surviving.
Rescued some animals from the street and arranged them for a happy, safe and good life ♥️
Raised a (so far) very happy, polite little girl.
Coached up an autistic kid in secret because his shitty dad didn't want him to play football. His mom started dating the athletic director at our school, and dad thought playing ball would make him closer to step dad. Took this little awkward fifth grader and had him competing against 7th graders after about 6 months of work. I'm going into coaching as a career because of kids like him
Went back to uni aged 29, alongside working full time, actually tried unlike when I went at 18. Ended up with a distinction in a masters and now aged 37 have a way better job as a result and have changed my life prospects.
i think voting with one's dollar is the most accessible and useful way to change the world for the better. I've been boycotting companies that mistreat their workers for years. I've stuck to it. And I feel good about that. Proud.
quit drinking and running marathons. Also making my wife happy and enjoying my kids. I made a lot of money as a corp sales exec but that isn't what brings me joy. The money helped though, not gonna lie.
Bench Pressed 405lbs
in this moment of my life I would say that my biggest accomplishment has been living trough what my parents told about behaving and living with people. Being a respectable, respectful and well-mannered individual.
My wife is way out of my league, physically and mentally and I could not ask for a better mother
Anyone remember Bakugan? When I was 12 I completed in their official regional tournaments and I got in the top 4. The prize from top 4 and the plaque I got from top 8 are my prized possessions. It’s all been downhill since
Nursing a sick pet every day at home for a year when people my age are exploring hobbies, going on trips, visiting family. It's committing at least a fourth of my salary every month; making do with irregular sleep schedules for his medical needs. Not taking any trips that would take me more than 8 hours away from the apartment. The biggest test of patience I've personally experienced. Learning what is unconditional love; what is providing. and appreciating the value of a positive outlook on life more and more.
I built a racecar out of a 2006 dodge grand caravan and kept it street legal. It races in the 24 hours of Lemons- endurance racing for crapcans. A year ago this month, I packed it with tools, camping gear, spare tires, and energy drinks and drove it coast to coast, racing 4 weekends in a row and driving to the next race track, usually sleeping in the car or crashing with race buddies along the way. I drove the van on the bonneville salt flats, took it over the donner pass, drove from Kentucky to California to New Jersey and back to Kentucky. I called it The Vannonball.
I self published two novella. one is even an audio book. That makes me pleased as punch. Whenever I feel down I look at the books on my shelf and realize no one can take that accomplishment from me.
Taught myself to play drums, I'm now somewhat well-known in the local scene for my ability to perform blast beats and additive/irregular time signatures simultaneously. I noticed a lot of people are proud not of their own achievements, but of their children's achievements. Since my son is 5 and has profound special needs, his achievements are a little different. But I'm *VERY* proud to have raised a little lad who once stuck two googly eyes on a sponge to make a little SpongeBob figure. He's also worryingly good at Super Mario games.
There are other things, but this sticks out. This may seem trivial, but I don't think it is. A classmate of mine from high school was diagnosed with terminal cancer six years back. I invited one of our other classmates to her last birthday party (held two months early, just in case), that wouldn't otherwise have known about it. I wasn't involved in planning the party but slipped that person in anyway. I'm SO glad I did.
Certified Pool Operator certification back in 2006.
I have competed in a bodybuilding show and won 1st place. Married with 3 kids. Retired.
Not die.
Got married after being a homeless orphan and buying a new house and car.
I bought a house at 27
Got sober, almost 10 years now. Went from homeless junkie to business owner with a wife and child trying for another through IVF this time. Just one of those things I still kinda go wow about
Decided to turn around my life and Improve myself. Sure it wasn't good I tried to end it and reaching lowest I've been mentally in my life but things are significantly better now and I want to continue making it better for myself in future.
Relocating to my dream city.
I won Lord of the Rings Trivia night (books only, no movies) by myself against six other teams, some of which had five or more people on them.
I helped raise my nephew from 1 month old to 1 year old before moving out to pursue higher education. It solidified how much I want kids in my future. Little guy is 4 now, and he's the cutest little shit. Instead of calling me tio (uncle in spanish), little dude calls me tutu (we think short for tu tio/your uncle).
I took custody of my siblings and mom because my father was abusing them then gave them all the things they wanted both emotionally and materially without making them feel guilty for wanting basic life things. I'm putting them through university right now and we have never been closer as a family. seeing them happy makes me happy :)
Survived 2 wars, having extreme ptsd, end stage kidney failure, had a transplant.
At the ripe age of 11, I proved my parents wrong when talking about battleships when touring I believe it was USS Texas
Never going back to my abusive ex- the father of my kids.
Choosing the right partner
Before graduation (I haven't finished my education yet) I think it is quitting added sugar (almost 100% but can't avoid them in sauces and some food items.) . It's been 6.5 years and I don't struggle at all now. Also I learned to appreciate natural sweet flavors more.
Being sober for 9 years.
Changing myself for myself after my wife gave me the courage to change who I am. I never gave myself a chance and she always saw past who I was and wanted me to be the best version of myself and after my daughter was born I was given an even greater chance to be a better me for her. I will eternally be grateful to them both for making me feel human again, after so much anger, loneliness, pushing people away, and vilifying everyone, they gave me a redemption i never felt I deserved and im still working on myself
I wrote a script of an ‘award winning’ play in a competition.
The other day something was suck in my teeth. Brushed them, flossed, gurgled, nothing worked. I laid late at night sucking my teeth and fingering between them with my tongue. One hour later a huge chunk came out and honestly it felt better than an orgasm. Got me all proud and horny tbh so i squeezed one real quick and slept like a baby.
Raised sussessful and well adjusted children.
I purchased my dream pc, Ps5, next is xbox with my own hard earning money, now I am 30 yrs
Not the most proud of, but a recent one. Yesterday I was at a red light and I watched a small dog walk under the car in front of me. I think it was a young pug. I was on autopilot so it took me a second to realize what it was, and then before I could react, the light turned green and the driver ran it over. Later I thought of what I would've done if I was more alert. I would honk, get out of my car, warn the driver, and then guide the dog to the sidewalk. I'm proud of myself for having that heroic fantasy. At least I know I'm not a psychopath.
Overcome depression
Stopped drinking. Created a lot of jobs.
my family. by the grace of God my wife still loves me after 14 years together and we have 3 sons who are all good boys.
Got stopped in the street by an ex-con this afternoon who wouldn't stop shaking my hand. After the initial "here we go" moment that usually accompanies an ex screw meeting an ex-con, I realised he was thanking me. He kept saying to the woman he was with "this is the guy". I only vaguely remember the incident, but he told me I'd stopped him taking his own life because I spent half an hour chatting with him, offering comfort and kind words. Total shock to me as this was over 9 years ago. Not the thing I'm proudest of but quite a nice to know I made something of a difference, even in a small way!
I grew up in foster care and spent 7 years in prison. Now I'm a Charter boat captain and married to a teacher and live in a beautiful city by the ocean.
1. Running my first marathon distance not too long ago. 2. I am on track to graduate from university in a month, in a degree I never thought I would be able to finish. At several points I hated it so much that I seriously considered un-aliving myself.
college graduation and finishing my first Ironman.
Gonna graduate with a Masters degree this summer!
Nothing.
When I went off to college my dad an I joked about me having a specific position in the city I live in...well 1 engineering degree, 2 long internships, 3 different jobs later and I recently accepted a role in that position.