What unexpected thing has happened to you that changed the course of your life?

My brother told me he was gay. This freaking scared me. Im not a homophobe or anything but, gah! That was new!

Getting pregnant at the age of 20 was the best thing to ever happen to me.

I was failing at college, moved back home with my parents and not taking life very seriously. Then I became pregnant. Getting pregnant woke me up and helped me to be responsible. I’m still with the same man, 20 years later, and we added two more children to our happy family.

My best ladyfriend who I hadn’t seen or heard from for 5 years came tumbling back into my life, and I couldn’t be more happy. I feel like a missing piece of myself has been restored.

A phone call. An old co-worker tracked me down and called to tell me about a job opening in Memphis. I applied, got the job, and it led to a wonderful career with all kinds of unexpected adventures that probably never would have happened.

Being infertile. I had to do a helluva song and dance to get preggers, it taught me a lot about patience, perseverance, persistence and personal power…all those things that start with “p”. Which helped a lot with…parenting.
OK. I’m done, now.

A little over a decade ago (seems longer), to get away from a psychopath, I left my job, my home, my friends and my longest time ever county of residence. With no direction known, I took a job selling cars, something I’d never considered and my life changed after that, quickly.

The minute I was born my brain and legs picked up the passion for football (soccer). Time passed by and in order for me to chase and pursue my dream of being a player I had to leave my country. Not to show off or something but god knows how much I do know how to play this shit. That moment in the field when i get passed everyone in a blink of an eye, those seconds where I handle the ball perfectly with no one to stop me, for those split seconds I’m free.
So after high school I was about to leave this country until my mom stopped me. She wouldn’t let me go because she couldn’t accept the fact that i wouldn’t be here anymore! Literally she begged me to stay and I did. I never got my chance to prove myself out there..

Not a day passes by or a morning I wake up without thinking of “What if…” That changed my whole life. I’m not unhappy, just sayin’ that sometimes things are never meant to be, even though it could have easily been.

My Mother died two years ago two days after she dropped me off at a cruise terminal, after we flew back from Bermuda my whole life changed, as she left behind a 14 year old who I take care of. She was not even sick at the time. I went through a lot of stress and developed panic disorder. On top of that the next year would be would be a roller coaster ride with extreme ups and downs finally culminating in the proposal to my fiance. So this chain of events took me on a path that I might not have been down If she was still alive. I would have helped with my brother and would have proposed to my girlfriend but probably not as soon. The death of mom really made me realize ho precious life is. So it definitely kicked me into a more responsible lifestyle as opposed to the relaxed one I was used to living.

I had a son. Made me grow up.

@Unclepepsi Wow, that is a total upheaval of your life. You seem to be handling it with grace. I’m very sorry for your loss.

For me, it really was this trivial: I stumbled on to Fluther. When I found this site quite by accident a little over three years ago, I had never even heard of a question and answer site. At the time, I was a stay at home mom with little in the way of intellectual stimulation in my life. Participating here reawakened some long dormant brain cells and passions for me, and introduced me to some fabulous people, so that alone was pretty big. Fast forward three years, and now I work for Fluther. Being the community manager here truly changed my life for the better. Managing the site on my own (after the founders were hired by Twitter) changed it further still. All because I happened upon a website.

@augustlan I try some days are better than worse and I am a bundle of nerves, I have panic disorder so it’s really not as graceful as you would think. But I try to be strong for my family. Thanks for the comment.

@Unclepepsi I have chronic anxiety and panic attacks, too. Feel free to PM me if you need to chat. :)

Being selected for counterinsurgency operations. Not only did it change my life, but it changed the lives of several others.

Moving to Minnesota. It has been a horrible 5 years on many fronts, but I’ve come out stronger and more self-assured than I ever would have been. I love the support systems I had in other states, but oddly enough, my support systems were keeping me in bad habits. By finding myself with no support system whatsoever, not at work or at home, and being targeted everyday by the ‘desperate housewives/teacher’ types… I had a choice between RIP or finding strength.

Somehow I found strength when I was at my most alone. I’m still learning how to use the strength and be comfortable with it, but I’m hoping I’ll never lose it!

Yay me. Ptooey on them. :P

Developing Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 31, to say it has changed my life is an understatement of immeasurable proportion.

@Adagio

[ HUGGGGGGGGGGS ]

I had an affair. Whilst I don’t regret the relationship it definitely changed the course of my life in some scary ways.