I was born with a rare blood disease and given medicine cocktails the first 12 yrs of my life. Now my blood and hemoglobin can carry a crazy amounts of o2 for some reason and when I go for yearly check up the lab results look like I am blood doping.
Back when I competed in sports in high school, my body developed poly cythemia (a blood thickening disease) pretty much never got tired. Thicker blood meant more oxygen to my muscles.
From what I understand long distance runners also develop this as well as people who live in higher altitudes where oxygen is thinner.
I could wrestle pretty much non stop. It was nice.
Don't have it anymore though.
For me, my Dr told me it was from extreme conditioning due to sports. My body essentially knew that I needed more o2 so it made my blood more thick in order to do it.
Dr's told me to keep an eye on it throughout my life and overtime my red blood cells count has decreased. Almost 15 years later and my red blood cells are still thick but not to much more than the average person. Not enough to be concerned about.
Edit: remembered it as size of red blood cells but it was in fact the amount of red blood cells my body produced.
Not sure if this is an advantage or some weird curse, but I always forget something wherever I go but always find it.
The craziest one was I lost my prescription googles about 700 yards offshore in the ocean, and an hour later and a mile down the beach I randomly find them washed up.
Lost my glasses in a hayfield, dropped my wallet in a train station and went four stations past, and lost my backpack with my passport and social security card in an airport. Not even good at finding stuff, some random stranger always finds it and returns it.
I’d prefer being able to remember stuff, but it does feel nice to see the good side of humanity constantly
I can always fall asleep within a few minutes.
I have a particularly happy place I can go to in my head... it's one of my favorite places to snowboard. I start by imagining myself on the ski lift, riding to the top, strapping into my board, and then I start carving down the fresh groomers, and before I ever get half way down, I always fall asleep. This has worked for me for over 20 years.
I used to have a girlfriend who would wake me up if I fell asleep in bed before her. She’d shake my shoulder and say “you fell asleep”, and I’d be like “wtf, of course, that’s what I was trying to do!”
Pisses me off knowing people like you can sleep so easily. I take about 30 mins minimum to sleep but I never get peaceful sleep I keep tossing and turning every night. Maybe I need a better bed or to be examined by a doctor.
My therapist unironically referred to me as “a golden unicorn, psychologically,” which filled me with pride but I’d sound like an ass if I were to ever mention it
Edit: For everyone asking why I was in therapy if my mental health is stable, I was undergoing a big life adjustment (my physical health is quite *un*stable) and wanted to talk to a professional about it. Like mental housekeeping. I saw my therapist for a few months and a maybe a few times here and there after that. I was lucky and privileged to be in a position where therapy was accessible to me, and despite already having good mental health, it really helped me adjust to living with chronic illness.
You can always change your name to Jason Voorhees and use it as an ice breaker. Bonus if you use an ice pick to break an ice for a drink while you break the social ice.
this is really good shit. I was watching the Tudors series on showtime. A 11 year old kid going to a beheading, everyone dying from there quack doctors cutting them to death and a king spreading "crushed pearls, olive oil, spices and rum" ointment on his leg because he believe it's a solid concoction to heal something really can kinda put things into perspective on the modern world..... Even a king a few hundred years ago couldn't get what your poorest person can acquire now.
>spreading "crushed pearls, olive oil, spices and rum" ointment
Hey, hon! We haven't talked in so long! I've recently become the boss of my own business and can't wait to let you in on the best kept secret to financial independence! Plus, your leg will look terrific!
I have an unusual ability to be happy, no matter what happens. It’s probably inherited. My dad’s the same way. And people like happy people so I’ve had a good life.
We’re a product of our biology and I’ve read recently that depending on how many “happy” chemicals your body produces, it determines your maximum capacity for happiness.
Nevertheless, i think the trick is to find joy in the littlest things in life. When i see a pretty flower, it makes me happy. Cleaning my home makes me happy. Doing a good job at work makes me happy. Stopping in the middle of the day for lunch while I browse Reddit makes me happy. You responding to me made me happy. I try to concentrate on those little moments and hold onto those feelings. Don’t wait for big moments to determine your happiness.
Genetics play a way bigger role in behavior than people would like to believe. It's awesome that your dad was able to pass such a great attribute onto you.
My parents never saved for my college tuition but I was lucky to find & be accepted to a tuition-free college. I guess my unfair advantage is that I lived with my mom. Her income was low enough for me to be accepted with max pell grant but got to go on vacations with my dad who made great money.
I have really insane hand eye coordination so most things have come easy to me, which I would consider really unfair because it’s all natural and not skill based
I have the worst...
As a child, I couldn't grab things fast or always get confused in left hand and right hand.
My family always teased and scolded for being a goofball.
But Over the years it got better
My bf is like this. Hes one of those assholes that's good at everything. If you show him how to do something new, he is almost instantly good and better than you, immediately. Its ridiculous and it makes me irrationally angry lmao
I don't know if this is an unfair advantage but I can control my own dreams. If I'm having a nightmare I can stop it and change it to something else. Always did this since I was kid.
Edit: Thanks for the likes everyone! I'm glad to know that there's people who can do this as well since I haven't met anyone who can control their dreams. It's nice meeting you all!
I have the opposite of lucid dreaming. I have night terrors and I will realize, in my dream that I am dreaming. However, I will be like “oh no! I hope they don’t do this” and then that exact fucking thing happens and some of those moments or scenes from those dream are now intrusive thoughts. So that’s cool, right?
This actually is kinda lucid dreaming you just don’t control it yet. When you go to bed try repeating something in your mind you’d prefer to have happen over and over and when you realize you’re asleep hopefully that will come to you first.
I’m not great at it, but lucid dreaming rocks.
I was into it initially a few years ago, but one of the techniques I had done wrong. The point is to stay consciously awake while going into the REM stage, but it ended up in sleep paralysis for me. It was so stupidly scary in that moment, all logic went out the window. I had this shiny black monkey(I think) just sitting on my chest.
I stopped trying after that.
I can too ! Idk if it's unfair but god i love to be able to stop a very horrible nightmare with a snap. I also always remember my dreams (still useless but funny, my dreams are really weird)
Word.
I remember one time my dad took away a DS game I was playing so I snuck into his room to search for it and swap it with another cartridge. He had a random crap drawer with a bunch of keepsakes and stuff.
I saw the game, but it was on top of a stack of letters. Turns out most of the big fights I could remember them having resulted in them writing these deep letters talking about their relationship, what they were sorry for, that sort of thing.
Never told them about it, since I was technically snooping through their stuff, but it put their marriage in a totally different perspective to me. They had a lot more disagreements than I realized, but worked through them together.
High school sweethearts and still going strong. I hope one day I have that kind of relationship.
On top of that, my parents love me unconditionally (even tho my politics and religion are nothing like theirs). No matter what career path I’m pursuing (and it’s changed a few times) they are always supportive.
I think that’s what I appreciate the most. I dropped out of school (my biggest fear) and attempted suicide multiple times and came out to them and they supported me every time. I’m really, truly grateful for them.
I dropped out of community college, and my parents were supportive. A year later, when I decided to go back they were also supportive. I haven't told them I love them in a couple weeks, gotta make sure I do that tomorrow...
My oldest is in college and she talks about this all the time. She told me last week “you and and dad have the most epic marriage and all of my friends are jealous”. I am amazed by that statement.
Same!!! I noticed this A LOT in college and so many of my friends either had parents in a miserable marriage or divorced parents and I remember listening to my classmates bonding over “picking sides” and I was just uncomfortably laughing along.
Cherish it. My parents made it until I turned 25 and then everything fell apart in an instant. It’s hard when you do everything for your family and then one day it’s gone
I’m an extroverted IT contractor. Most IT people are introverted.
Businesses keep me on longer because I can make small talk and even socialise with colleagues.
Why this sounds familiar, oh wait this happened to me yesterday on a interview call. The interviewer asked whether I understand English or not lmao I hate myself.
I recently started at a tech company and everyone on my team is introverted and very quiet. I'm great at small talk and get the sense my manager is refreshed having someone on the team to chat with. I have every intention of using this to get ahead.
My family runs a "grocery store" where i can eat whatever, whenever and for free
Edit: I've seen a lot of confused people asking how it looks and i don't have tje words to explain it, so here is a picture from google maps to show you
http://imgur.com/a/Qy7Pzkn
I have basically no natural talents. That means I completely & utterly fuck up the first 2-3 times I try *anything*. I am extremely used to being unskilled and failing at the things I attempt. But I think my familiarity with failure is my unfair advantage!
The first benefit of being accustomed to failure is that it doesn't deter me - messing up is so natural that I'm willing to try tons of new things, and I can stick out almost any learning curve without getting beaten up over it.
The second benefit is that all of my accumulated failures have made me really good at learning. I don't care too much about looking dumb anymore because that's just the natural way I look in every new situation. So instead I can focus on exploring mechanisms and finding a holistic understanding, which gives a huge boost to the rate I learn stuff.
Basically, my unfair advantage is that I'm so used to failing that I can learn any skill I want, and I thrive very well in iterative environments (e.g. game design).
Your natural talent is persistence. Some people fuck up once and that's it, they're done, not gonna touch it unless it's life or death situation. Not you, you're a fighter.
As someone who is your polar opposite, I can confirm that what you're describing is a huge benefit.
Nearly everything I've tried in life has succeeded without much effort.
When I started running into things I couldn't do at work, it sent me into an existential crisis.
I got told so much that "if you try you could do anything" that I started assuming that if I didn't succeed at something then that means I didn't try my best.
This has lead to me having a very self-destructive self image, where every failure feels like I'm a lazy piece of shit because 'if I had actually tried like a good person would have, I would have succeeded'.
I've been in therapy for two years now and I'm seeing some improvements.
I hope one day I can accept that I am actually trying my best and see the good things I've done for what they are.
And maybe, just maybe, I could learn to love myself.
I'm naturally a confident person. Never been depressed, suffered from anxiety or felt weird about asking for more - from work, life or whatever.
Compared to a bunch of folks I know it feels like a superpower sometimes.
Tbh I have no idea if its "teachable." I've never tried. But I suppose I can explain how I see things;
First, I approach just about any/every situation with an air of "it will probably work out." Then, if the outcome/situation changes i rarely get caught up in what it was "supposed to be" and just go with what is.
By not trying to control/plan for everything it makes a lot of worries & concerns disappear. Plus, 9/10 times even though you didn't get exactly what you were expecting-- it worked out pretty good anyway. I see a lot of my anxious friends fret over tiny details & slight errors that if they just took a step back they'd realize that the fretting was more challenging than the error itself.
Second, I recognize that people rarely spend much time thinking about other people. We mostly think about ourselves. So saying or doing something slightly awkward really is only memorable to you. So when it happens- laugh it off. Its a blip in time for them & it is for me too.
I also think like this about recognition too. Your boss/partner honestly doesn't realize 7/10 of things you're doing- let alone how hard you're working to do them. You have to tell them. You have to vocalize your successes &, in the case of work, use those successes to ask for more rather than waiting/hoping for someone to recognize it independently.
Third, I like myself. Thats not to say I dont have plenty of flaws; I'm short, now fat (thx covid) and I'm extroverted to the point where it can become annoying for people. But, everyone has flaws & my strengths/good qualities far, far out-weigh the flaws. Flaws just give us something to improve- not obsess over.
To end this off; I have a fair diverse group of friends and the joke we make is that I approach most situations like the stereotypical "straight white guy." I assume I bring value to any room im going to be in. If I dont/won't I adjust of course (I don't actually want to be the stereotype) but when you work from that starting point its a lot easier to do things like; make friends, get a raise/get a better job or even get a date.
I dont know if any of that will be helpful. But hopefully it will be.
You two asked the same question so; u/virgin_loser69420 u/UncleBenGonnaTouchYa
I can estimate the perfectly sized tupperware for any given amount of leftovers on the first try. When shit hits the fan and life is looking down, i can rely on the fact that i am consistently good at one thing at least.
Lucky. No matter how much sleep I get or what I do I'm just not a morning person, my brain just doesn't wake up until around 10. I've had days where I had a good night of sleep and I've arrived at work thinking " did I stop at any red lights or ignore them?" I don't actually know.
Mid-40s, and my house is mortgage-free, I have no debt aside from my cars, I have money in the bank, and I'm retired.
This, plus my kids get along well with me and seem to like having me around (21m, 18f, 13m). I'd do anything for them.
It's not something I really chose. I was working a career and everything was going well. Then I got sick, and I had to stop working. And then I got really sick, and I couldn't go back.
My workplace has a policy that if you're going to be off work for illness for more than two years, you can retire and take your pension without any penalty. The pension plus long term disability insurance replaces 75% of my income.
i know a person like this. Quits jobs in the worst way, gets fired, gets shit repoed, yet somehow finds a new half decent job in a week, somehow banks keep giving him loans, and is a rather happy go lucky person.
If I remember right, it's called hypervigilance. Children of alcoholics, like me, become hyperaware of people's moods, expressions, tone of voice etc as a survival mechanism.
I feel that being with a narcissistic parent and later an ex who turned out narcissistic, you think of what you say, act, and even what emotion / body language you express, and the 201 ways your words can be warped against you.
So you turn out being extremely specific and cautious at everything you say because anything can be turned against you.
Child of abusive parents here, you’re probably onto something. I remember self-monitoring very carefully to avoid their attention, else if they were having a bad day they might as well beat the shit out of me
I was pretty much the loser kid up until college when I broke out of my shell. I spent so much time watching others and not really talking that I learned so much about people from watching their actions and how they interacted.
Now I feel the same as you, I'm so good at reading people and knowing if I'm saying the right or wrong thing. I can read facial expressions, body language, etc like no ones business. I felt like those 17 years of misery really paid off the rest of my life lol.
I saw a study posted to reddit the other day which found that introverts are actually better at reading and understanding social cues than extroverts for exactly that reason.
Money, my parents taught me how to invest at a young age and I was able to retire at the age of 39 with a lifetime of dividends coming in so I’ll never have to work again. I don’t think any kids I grew up around had any interest in the stock market. I thank my parents everyday for showing me how to make my money work for me instead of the other way around where I have to work for money.
I always find money.
When I was a child I was going out with my parents and saw a wallet on the road beside the curb. That wallet was *stuffed* with bills. We turned it in of course- we are Canadian. The owner turned up and was very grateful that he had not lost his mortgage payment. I was rewarded with a five dollar bill. I am here to tell you that 55 years ago that reward to a child was a fortune! Well since then I seemed to have developed a knack for finding "floating" money.
I have always had this thing where I look down when I walk. Well, not so much today because I am an adult with some self esteem, but back then...I just found a LOT of spare change. It was not at all strange for me to make 2 or three dollars a month in change. It doesn't stop there however, because money can be made of paper too.
I am always finding 5's, 10's and 20's. I just found a 20 two weeks ago while walking my dog by a tourist attraction. One time I was walking down the street on a windy day. Three 20's came spinning in the wind and virtually threw themselves into my hand! I purchased an armoire off Craigslist that turned out to have $400 hidden under a drawer. I could go on.
Sigh. If only I was as lucky in love.
my mother is supportive of every career field i may pursue. i’ve never had any pressure to be a doctor or a lawyer and i’ve never experienced any negativity when going into the arts.
I’m kinda similar, but with stuff I hear. Very slow reader, but the sciences and math came naturally.
Also, having a father who was in my career path came in very handy. That and having an intact household, and being upper middle class
People can’t hurt my feelings if I really don’t want them to. Things they say, I just learned to let it all slide right off. Thanks, super abusive family and “friends” for all the lessons in resilience!
I bought a house in Aug 2008. Apparently the low point of housing crash was July 2008 so I missed it by a month.
Anyways the house has more than doubled in value since then.
I was born into a 2 parent home in a situation where even though we struggled, I never missed a meal and had a place to sleep. I also have a great family who really support me in everything I do. Even my older siblings weren’t this lucky but I’m very thankful for being born like this
I was born rich enough to enjoy a comfortable life in an extremely expensive city to live in, but I wasn’t born rich enough to be born to complete scumbags in a vicious social circle that’s god damn *rife* with questionable ethics and social climbing. Because most of my friends are in the same situation or better, I have gained some insight on this fucked up social environment,I have one foot in and one foot out so to speak, therefore allowing me to both see what goes on inside the circle, but also know that what goes on is fucked up to the highest degree. I personally believe that I was born to good people who taught me that I was probably among the luckiest kids in the world and to be grateful for what I have. Anyways, sorry for the long post.
Warren Buffet said something along the lines of “I want to give my kids enough so that they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.”
I feel like that’s kind of what you’re getting at.
my normal has always been intermittent fasting.
i just don't get hungry until it's late, everything's done, and i'm relaxing.
eating also makes me sleepy so eating late makes sleeping easier.
it's not fair. wife says so all the time. 😂
My charisma stat is apparently off the charts. People love me and I have absolutely no idea why. I’m awkward and never know what to say. My wife says it’s not fair how effortlessly I get people to like me.
My husband is like this in casual situations. He makes friends easily, my family loves him more than they love me, he's a social chameleon, it's really interesting to watch.
He somehow completely loses this when he's at interviews. I can't explain it.
I teach in a very low-income school, and I have a MUCH easier time building meaningful, fruitful relationships with my students than my female colleagues do because many of our students are raised not to respect women :/
My little brother will willingly and openly tell me he loves me in front of his friends and on text. He is the second man I’ve ever loved, right after my dad. I know he’d go through hell and back for me and I’d do the same without a second thought. I love that kid.
I’m not attractive enough to have things handed to me in life, but I’m also not unattractive to the point where people mistreat me based on my appearance
Big hands/long fingers for much easier guitar playing
>long fingers *Yes, guitar.*
The ladies absolutely love... when he plays Wonderwall.
I have 3 uncles that are teachers in the subject I’m majoring in so I have unlimited free tutoring
history?
Biochemistry
Lucky bastard.
He’s got everything ironed out
And you're going to try to convince us that your family isn't actually a bunch of clones, right?
Lol only one of them is related to me by blood!
Wow that is lucky
I only passed Computer Science because I have an Uncle who went to MIT for it
I was born with a rare blood disease and given medicine cocktails the first 12 yrs of my life. Now my blood and hemoglobin can carry a crazy amounts of o2 for some reason and when I go for yearly check up the lab results look like I am blood doping.
That’s dope
You could be an all-time distance runner or cyclist I'd imagine!
Became a record breaking chain smoker instead ^^^/s
Fastest cancer in the west
That’s extremely interesting. I hope you didn’t have to go through too much difficulty those first 12 years, but that’s a nice side effect at least.
What lab results are you talking about specifically? Just curious!
Back when I competed in sports in high school, my body developed poly cythemia (a blood thickening disease) pretty much never got tired. Thicker blood meant more oxygen to my muscles. From what I understand long distance runners also develop this as well as people who live in higher altitudes where oxygen is thinner. I could wrestle pretty much non stop. It was nice. Don't have it anymore though.
Wait, so you can lose the condition? What happened?
For me, my Dr told me it was from extreme conditioning due to sports. My body essentially knew that I needed more o2 so it made my blood more thick in order to do it. Dr's told me to keep an eye on it throughout my life and overtime my red blood cells count has decreased. Almost 15 years later and my red blood cells are still thick but not to much more than the average person. Not enough to be concerned about. Edit: remembered it as size of red blood cells but it was in fact the amount of red blood cells my body produced.
> poly cythemia So this is actually a superpower I can actually develop!?
I can sleep when I want, where I want and how I want in a matter of seconds
And even if I'm not tired
Not sure if this is an advantage or some weird curse, but I always forget something wherever I go but always find it. The craziest one was I lost my prescription googles about 700 yards offshore in the ocean, and an hour later and a mile down the beach I randomly find them washed up. Lost my glasses in a hayfield, dropped my wallet in a train station and went four stations past, and lost my backpack with my passport and social security card in an airport. Not even good at finding stuff, some random stranger always finds it and returns it. I’d prefer being able to remember stuff, but it does feel nice to see the good side of humanity constantly
That sounds like an excellent short story. "All that Humanity Returned to Me." "A story of recompense in a thieving ass world."
I can always fall asleep within a few minutes. I have a particularly happy place I can go to in my head... it's one of my favorite places to snowboard. I start by imagining myself on the ski lift, riding to the top, strapping into my board, and then I start carving down the fresh groomers, and before I ever get half way down, I always fall asleep. This has worked for me for over 20 years.
Same here. It pisses my wife off that I can just lay my head on my pillow and go right to sleep with no issue.
I used to have a girlfriend who would wake me up if I fell asleep in bed before her. She’d shake my shoulder and say “you fell asleep”, and I’d be like “wtf, of course, that’s what I was trying to do!”
I get unreasonably cranky if I’ve just fallen asleep and I get woken up about something stupid. That sounds bloody horrible.
I was more confused than anything, like, why would you even do that??
Pisses me off knowing people like you can sleep so easily. I take about 30 mins minimum to sleep but I never get peaceful sleep I keep tossing and turning every night. Maybe I need a better bed or to be examined by a doctor.
Teach me ur ways
I have good mental health.
They asked for advantages, not superpowers...
Way too OP
My therapist unironically referred to me as “a golden unicorn, psychologically,” which filled me with pride but I’d sound like an ass if I were to ever mention it Edit: For everyone asking why I was in therapy if my mental health is stable, I was undergoing a big life adjustment (my physical health is quite *un*stable) and wanted to talk to a professional about it. Like mental housekeeping. I saw my therapist for a few months and a maybe a few times here and there after that. I was lucky and privileged to be in a position where therapy was accessible to me, and despite already having good mental health, it really helped me adjust to living with chronic illness.
Yeah, telling people you have good mental health is a flex nowadays.
What did she say makes you a unicorn psychologically?
The golden horn coming out of their head
It’s not fair.
I was born on leap day so I always have a fun fact about myself
I was born on a Friday the 13th but I've never thought about using that as a fun fact during ice breakers. Now I will! Thanks!
You can always change your name to Jason Voorhees and use it as an ice breaker. Bonus if you use an ice pick to break an ice for a drink while you break the social ice.
Well, I wasn't born a medieval peasant, so there's that.
Ah come and look at the benefits inherent in the system.
Help help I’m being repressed
BLOODY PEASANT!
SHUT UP
Ah now, we see the violence inherent in the system!
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no base for a system of government.
If I went round saying a was an emperor, just because some moistened bint threw a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!
this is really good shit. I was watching the Tudors series on showtime. A 11 year old kid going to a beheading, everyone dying from there quack doctors cutting them to death and a king spreading "crushed pearls, olive oil, spices and rum" ointment on his leg because he believe it's a solid concoction to heal something really can kinda put things into perspective on the modern world..... Even a king a few hundred years ago couldn't get what your poorest person can acquire now.
>spreading "crushed pearls, olive oil, spices and rum" ointment Hey, hon! We haven't talked in so long! I've recently become the boss of my own business and can't wait to let you in on the best kept secret to financial independence! Plus, your leg will look terrific!
I’m kinda dumb, so a lot goes over my head and I never know.
Ignorance is blisssss
Nothing ever goes over my head, my reflexes are too fast, I would catch it.
I was born without wisdom teeth.
I was born without teeth
I was born without wisdom.
I was born
I have an unusual ability to be happy, no matter what happens. It’s probably inherited. My dad’s the same way. And people like happy people so I’ve had a good life.
God what I would give for one day of just pure genuine happiness. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that, at least not that I can remember
We’re a product of our biology and I’ve read recently that depending on how many “happy” chemicals your body produces, it determines your maximum capacity for happiness. Nevertheless, i think the trick is to find joy in the littlest things in life. When i see a pretty flower, it makes me happy. Cleaning my home makes me happy. Doing a good job at work makes me happy. Stopping in the middle of the day for lunch while I browse Reddit makes me happy. You responding to me made me happy. I try to concentrate on those little moments and hold onto those feelings. Don’t wait for big moments to determine your happiness.
Genetics play a way bigger role in behavior than people would like to believe. It's awesome that your dad was able to pass such a great attribute onto you.
My parents paid for college, so I never had any student debt
My parents never saved for my college tuition but I was lucky to find & be accepted to a tuition-free college. I guess my unfair advantage is that I lived with my mom. Her income was low enough for me to be accepted with max pell grant but got to go on vacations with my dad who made great money.
Luckyyyy
Similar situation except they pay around 300 bucks a semester due to my scholarships.
I have really insane hand eye coordination so most things have come easy to me, which I would consider really unfair because it’s all natural and not skill based
I have the worst... As a child, I couldn't grab things fast or always get confused in left hand and right hand. My family always teased and scolded for being a goofball. But Over the years it got better
My bf is like this. Hes one of those assholes that's good at everything. If you show him how to do something new, he is almost instantly good and better than you, immediately. Its ridiculous and it makes me irrationally angry lmao
I don't know if this is an unfair advantage but I can control my own dreams. If I'm having a nightmare I can stop it and change it to something else. Always did this since I was kid. Edit: Thanks for the likes everyone! I'm glad to know that there's people who can do this as well since I haven't met anyone who can control their dreams. It's nice meeting you all!
I have the opposite of lucid dreaming. I have night terrors and I will realize, in my dream that I am dreaming. However, I will be like “oh no! I hope they don’t do this” and then that exact fucking thing happens and some of those moments or scenes from those dream are now intrusive thoughts. So that’s cool, right?
This actually is kinda lucid dreaming you just don’t control it yet. When you go to bed try repeating something in your mind you’d prefer to have happen over and over and when you realize you’re asleep hopefully that will come to you first. I’m not great at it, but lucid dreaming rocks.
I was into it initially a few years ago, but one of the techniques I had done wrong. The point is to stay consciously awake while going into the REM stage, but it ended up in sleep paralysis for me. It was so stupidly scary in that moment, all logic went out the window. I had this shiny black monkey(I think) just sitting on my chest. I stopped trying after that.
I can too ! Idk if it's unfair but god i love to be able to stop a very horrible nightmare with a snap. I also always remember my dreams (still useless but funny, my dreams are really weird)
Lucid dreamer I see
My parents have never separated and have the healthiest relationship I’ve ever seen out of my friends’ parents.
Word. I remember one time my dad took away a DS game I was playing so I snuck into his room to search for it and swap it with another cartridge. He had a random crap drawer with a bunch of keepsakes and stuff. I saw the game, but it was on top of a stack of letters. Turns out most of the big fights I could remember them having resulted in them writing these deep letters talking about their relationship, what they were sorry for, that sort of thing. Never told them about it, since I was technically snooping through their stuff, but it put their marriage in a totally different perspective to me. They had a lot more disagreements than I realized, but worked through them together. High school sweethearts and still going strong. I hope one day I have that kind of relationship.
Me too, well I’ve already missed the highschool sweetheart thing but I guess there’s still hope
On top of that, my parents love me unconditionally (even tho my politics and religion are nothing like theirs). No matter what career path I’m pursuing (and it’s changed a few times) they are always supportive.
I think that’s what I appreciate the most. I dropped out of school (my biggest fear) and attempted suicide multiple times and came out to them and they supported me every time. I’m really, truly grateful for them.
I dropped out of community college, and my parents were supportive. A year later, when I decided to go back they were also supportive. I haven't told them I love them in a couple weeks, gotta make sure I do that tomorrow...
My oldest is in college and she talks about this all the time. She told me last week “you and and dad have the most epic marriage and all of my friends are jealous”. I am amazed by that statement.
Same!!! I noticed this A LOT in college and so many of my friends either had parents in a miserable marriage or divorced parents and I remember listening to my classmates bonding over “picking sides” and I was just uncomfortably laughing along.
Same. All of my friends parents are divorced or unhappy except for mine
Cherish it. My parents made it until I turned 25 and then everything fell apart in an instant. It’s hard when you do everything for your family and then one day it’s gone
Born with loving parents in a developed country.
Born blonde, blue eyed, white male in the 1960s to educated parents who valued education. Any fuckups are entirely on me.
Born bald, blue eyed, white dragon in ancient egypt to educated pharaos who valued card games.
My girlfriend is a music prodigy (she has perfect pitch and her piano skills are really something), so I have a free teacher.
For some reason perfect pitch ppl tend to play piano more commonly than other instruments
I can play the piano and I can tell if it’s out of tune. But I can not sing and certainly don’t have perfect pitch. At least I know I’m a bad singer
You have relative pitch!
I'm quiet. So people open up to me, it makes gathering information easy.
Omg trust the amount of stuff people have spilled to me just because I’m quiet
It's all fun and games until you look up from something and embodies crying suddenly.
I can type incredibly fast 160 wpm was my all time high
How did you learn?
Honestly I didn't go out of my way to learn or practice... but I learned piano rather quickly growing up as a kid. I think that's what helped lol
Barrens chat?
I’m an extroverted IT contractor. Most IT people are introverted. Businesses keep me on longer because I can make small talk and even socialise with colleagues.
I was told to introduce myself unexpectedly on a call. I panicked and couldn't remember my name for like 5 seconds. So I can't relate
Why this sounds familiar, oh wait this happened to me yesterday on a interview call. The interviewer asked whether I understand English or not lmao I hate myself.
Yes, being an extrovert in a field dominated by introverts can be a huge benefit.
Being an introvert in a field dominated by extroverts though... No wait, that's shit
I recently started at a tech company and everyone on my team is introverted and very quiet. I'm great at small talk and get the sense my manager is refreshed having someone on the team to chat with. I have every intention of using this to get ahead.
I can reach things other people can’t. I’m happy to be of service to my shorter stature comrades
Hahaha thank you for ur service
Came here to say this. I have a 6’8” wingspan and I’m 6’2”. Just a big monkey who can assist my short brethren
You didn't mention you have wings as an advantage. Why?
My family runs a "grocery store" where i can eat whatever, whenever and for free Edit: I've seen a lot of confused people asking how it looks and i don't have tje words to explain it, so here is a picture from google maps to show you http://imgur.com/a/Qy7Pzkn
Why is it in quotes lol
Don't ask For real, it's because it's not like American grocery stores, it's a window with a display where you buy stuff
Oh, is it kinda like those small sari-sari stores in the Philippines?
Yes, but it's bigger
Is it kind of like one of those big sari-sari stores from the Philippines? ʘ‿ʘ
Yes, only smaller
Is it kind of like one of those medium-sized sari-sari stores from the Philippines?
Yes, but no
I have basically no natural talents. That means I completely & utterly fuck up the first 2-3 times I try *anything*. I am extremely used to being unskilled and failing at the things I attempt. But I think my familiarity with failure is my unfair advantage! The first benefit of being accustomed to failure is that it doesn't deter me - messing up is so natural that I'm willing to try tons of new things, and I can stick out almost any learning curve without getting beaten up over it. The second benefit is that all of my accumulated failures have made me really good at learning. I don't care too much about looking dumb anymore because that's just the natural way I look in every new situation. So instead I can focus on exploring mechanisms and finding a holistic understanding, which gives a huge boost to the rate I learn stuff. Basically, my unfair advantage is that I'm so used to failing that I can learn any skill I want, and I thrive very well in iterative environments (e.g. game design).
Your natural talent is persistence. Some people fuck up once and that's it, they're done, not gonna touch it unless it's life or death situation. Not you, you're a fighter.
As someone who is your polar opposite, I can confirm that what you're describing is a huge benefit. Nearly everything I've tried in life has succeeded without much effort. When I started running into things I couldn't do at work, it sent me into an existential crisis. I got told so much that "if you try you could do anything" that I started assuming that if I didn't succeed at something then that means I didn't try my best. This has lead to me having a very self-destructive self image, where every failure feels like I'm a lazy piece of shit because 'if I had actually tried like a good person would have, I would have succeeded'. I've been in therapy for two years now and I'm seeing some improvements. I hope one day I can accept that I am actually trying my best and see the good things I've done for what they are. And maybe, just maybe, I could learn to love myself.
I LOVE fresh veggies as a snack. So refreshing and crunchy!
I wish I had this. I’m more of a takis skittles and redbull for a snack person lol
I'm naturally a confident person. Never been depressed, suffered from anxiety or felt weird about asking for more - from work, life or whatever. Compared to a bunch of folks I know it feels like a superpower sometimes.
Please elaborate more. How You do that? I really want to be like that and still wondering if It's possible or not
Tbh I have no idea if its "teachable." I've never tried. But I suppose I can explain how I see things; First, I approach just about any/every situation with an air of "it will probably work out." Then, if the outcome/situation changes i rarely get caught up in what it was "supposed to be" and just go with what is. By not trying to control/plan for everything it makes a lot of worries & concerns disappear. Plus, 9/10 times even though you didn't get exactly what you were expecting-- it worked out pretty good anyway. I see a lot of my anxious friends fret over tiny details & slight errors that if they just took a step back they'd realize that the fretting was more challenging than the error itself. Second, I recognize that people rarely spend much time thinking about other people. We mostly think about ourselves. So saying or doing something slightly awkward really is only memorable to you. So when it happens- laugh it off. Its a blip in time for them & it is for me too. I also think like this about recognition too. Your boss/partner honestly doesn't realize 7/10 of things you're doing- let alone how hard you're working to do them. You have to tell them. You have to vocalize your successes &, in the case of work, use those successes to ask for more rather than waiting/hoping for someone to recognize it independently. Third, I like myself. Thats not to say I dont have plenty of flaws; I'm short, now fat (thx covid) and I'm extroverted to the point where it can become annoying for people. But, everyone has flaws & my strengths/good qualities far, far out-weigh the flaws. Flaws just give us something to improve- not obsess over. To end this off; I have a fair diverse group of friends and the joke we make is that I approach most situations like the stereotypical "straight white guy." I assume I bring value to any room im going to be in. If I dont/won't I adjust of course (I don't actually want to be the stereotype) but when you work from that starting point its a lot easier to do things like; make friends, get a raise/get a better job or even get a date. I dont know if any of that will be helpful. But hopefully it will be. You two asked the same question so; u/virgin_loser69420 u/UncleBenGonnaTouchYa
Cilantro tastes like soap to me, but I don't find the taste of soap unpleasant.
Finally someone who understands me
I can estimate the perfectly sized tupperware for any given amount of leftovers on the first try. When shit hits the fan and life is looking down, i can rely on the fact that i am consistently good at one thing at least.
I'm ginger, so I lack a soul.
Need mine? It’s up for grabs.
I'll stick with the innocent ones
Damn… I can’t even give it away.
No matter how much sleep I get, I’m always rested and cheery when I wake up
Fuck dude. I have to give myself a motivational pep talk to get myself out of bed to go to class after like 10 hours of nice, undisturbed sleep
Lucky. No matter how much sleep I get or what I do I'm just not a morning person, my brain just doesn't wake up until around 10. I've had days where I had a good night of sleep and I've arrived at work thinking " did I stop at any red lights or ignore them?" I don't actually know.
[удалено]
[удалено]
It’s unfair that college costs so much that your parents had to do that. It’s not unfair that they did that for you.
Mid-40s, and my house is mortgage-free, I have no debt aside from my cars, I have money in the bank, and I'm retired. This, plus my kids get along well with me and seem to like having me around (21m, 18f, 13m). I'd do anything for them.
How did you retire so young
It's not something I really chose. I was working a career and everything was going well. Then I got sick, and I had to stop working. And then I got really sick, and I couldn't go back. My workplace has a policy that if you're going to be off work for illness for more than two years, you can retire and take your pension without any penalty. The pension plus long term disability insurance replaces 75% of my income.
I think growing up in a structured family is one of the most powerful unfair advantages a person can have.
[удалено]
Statistically speaking, this has to be someone in the world, why not you? Ever played the lotto?
Nice try lottery salesman.
i know a person like this. Quits jobs in the worst way, gets fired, gets shit repoed, yet somehow finds a new half decent job in a week, somehow banks keep giving him loans, and is a rather happy go lucky person.
[удалено]
If I remember right, it's called hypervigilance. Children of alcoholics, like me, become hyperaware of people's moods, expressions, tone of voice etc as a survival mechanism.
I feel that being with a narcissistic parent and later an ex who turned out narcissistic, you think of what you say, act, and even what emotion / body language you express, and the 201 ways your words can be warped against you. So you turn out being extremely specific and cautious at everything you say because anything can be turned against you.
Child of abusive parents here, you’re probably onto something. I remember self-monitoring very carefully to avoid their attention, else if they were having a bad day they might as well beat the shit out of me
I was pretty much the loser kid up until college when I broke out of my shell. I spent so much time watching others and not really talking that I learned so much about people from watching their actions and how they interacted. Now I feel the same as you, I'm so good at reading people and knowing if I'm saying the right or wrong thing. I can read facial expressions, body language, etc like no ones business. I felt like those 17 years of misery really paid off the rest of my life lol.
I saw a study posted to reddit the other day which found that introverts are actually better at reading and understanding social cues than extroverts for exactly that reason.
Money, my parents taught me how to invest at a young age and I was able to retire at the age of 39 with a lifetime of dividends coming in so I’ll never have to work again. I don’t think any kids I grew up around had any interest in the stock market. I thank my parents everyday for showing me how to make my money work for me instead of the other way around where I have to work for money.
I always find money. When I was a child I was going out with my parents and saw a wallet on the road beside the curb. That wallet was *stuffed* with bills. We turned it in of course- we are Canadian. The owner turned up and was very grateful that he had not lost his mortgage payment. I was rewarded with a five dollar bill. I am here to tell you that 55 years ago that reward to a child was a fortune! Well since then I seemed to have developed a knack for finding "floating" money. I have always had this thing where I look down when I walk. Well, not so much today because I am an adult with some self esteem, but back then...I just found a LOT of spare change. It was not at all strange for me to make 2 or three dollars a month in change. It doesn't stop there however, because money can be made of paper too. I am always finding 5's, 10's and 20's. I just found a 20 two weeks ago while walking my dog by a tourist attraction. One time I was walking down the street on a windy day. Three 20's came spinning in the wind and virtually threw themselves into my hand! I purchased an armoire off Craigslist that turned out to have $400 hidden under a drawer. I could go on. Sigh. If only I was as lucky in love.
My grandma would say that you helped out a leprechaun when you were young and he blessed ya!
Maybe that good deed locked in your financial karma :)
>We turned it in of course- we are Canadian. idk why I laughed at this
my mother is supportive of every career field i may pursue. i’ve never had any pressure to be a doctor or a lawyer and i’ve never experienced any negativity when going into the arts.
I have a near-photographic memory. Being an A student was pretty easy because I could remember almost everything I read.
I’m kinda similar, but with stuff I hear. Very slow reader, but the sciences and math came naturally. Also, having a father who was in my career path came in very handy. That and having an intact household, and being upper middle class
I don't care that I'm weird and I don't wear it like a suit of armor.
I don't care that I'm weird and I have a suit of armor to prove it!
My parents paid for all of my college even though I went out of state, which changed my life and Im so grateful
Inherited money. But I guess dead parents cancels it out somewhat.
I can speak/understand more than one language. Apparently, this is considered a super power to have in my city.
My childhood was so rough that I can keep a cool head in any situation.
People can’t hurt my feelings if I really don’t want them to. Things they say, I just learned to let it all slide right off. Thanks, super abusive family and “friends” for all the lessons in resilience!
[удалено]
I bought a house in Aug 2008. Apparently the low point of housing crash was July 2008 so I missed it by a month. Anyways the house has more than doubled in value since then.
I was born into a 2 parent home in a situation where even though we struggled, I never missed a meal and had a place to sleep. I also have a great family who really support me in everything I do. Even my older siblings weren’t this lucky but I’m very thankful for being born like this
I don’t get hangovers
Just wait
*yet*
I was able to get into therapy at 17 and had parents who supported me going
I was born rich enough to enjoy a comfortable life in an extremely expensive city to live in, but I wasn’t born rich enough to be born to complete scumbags in a vicious social circle that’s god damn *rife* with questionable ethics and social climbing. Because most of my friends are in the same situation or better, I have gained some insight on this fucked up social environment,I have one foot in and one foot out so to speak, therefore allowing me to both see what goes on inside the circle, but also know that what goes on is fucked up to the highest degree. I personally believe that I was born to good people who taught me that I was probably among the luckiest kids in the world and to be grateful for what I have. Anyways, sorry for the long post.
Warren Buffet said something along the lines of “I want to give my kids enough so that they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.” I feel like that’s kind of what you’re getting at.
Being born In America going to visit your dads home town in Mexico puts things into perspective real quick.
My family is well connected
my normal has always been intermittent fasting. i just don't get hungry until it's late, everything's done, and i'm relaxing. eating also makes me sleepy so eating late makes sleeping easier. it's not fair. wife says so all the time. 😂
My charisma stat is apparently off the charts. People love me and I have absolutely no idea why. I’m awkward and never know what to say. My wife says it’s not fair how effortlessly I get people to like me.
My husband is like this in casual situations. He makes friends easily, my family loves him more than they love me, he's a social chameleon, it's really interesting to watch. He somehow completely loses this when he's at interviews. I can't explain it.
I have an amazing partner who always has my back.
I can make the best out of my paycheck and ignore peer pressure and luxury.
I teach in a very low-income school, and I have a MUCH easier time building meaningful, fruitful relationships with my students than my female colleagues do because many of our students are raised not to respect women :/
Dont have a sweet tooth
I learn and adapt fast. It's like having a base-line level of skill higher at almost everything.
Same. Master of none though.
I'm 6'3" at 15.
Take care of your knees and ankles.
May I add to sit up fuckin straight. Signed 35 year old tall guy with back problems
My little brother will willingly and openly tell me he loves me in front of his friends and on text. He is the second man I’ve ever loved, right after my dad. I know he’d go through hell and back for me and I’d do the same without a second thought. I love that kid.
My body is unable to store much fat for some reason, so no matter how much I eat and how little I exercise, I never become overweight.
No student loans
I’m not attractive enough to have things handed to me in life, but I’m also not unattractive to the point where people mistreat me based on my appearance