Recently, Reddit user Southern-Penalty posed the question, "What’s a reassuring fact that not many people know?" to the people of r/AskReddit. Here were their uplifting responses:
1."A cat's purr releases oxytocin and has a naturally calming effect."
2."Heart attacks seldom come out of the blue and strike without prior notice. There are almost always tellable signs in advance; listen to your body and get checked out in doubt."
3."Your brain is constantly rewiring itself, so even if you're stuck in a bad habit or mindset, you can always change it with enough effort, no matter how old you are."
4."A trick I learned lately that's been saving my ass (I've had a stressful three months) is that if your brain is ever stuck in What if happens? you can easily fix it by thinking, What if happens? Instant rewire. Lasts long enough to get to sleep. For example, I was stressing about failing an entrance exam and thinking. What if I got an F? Fixed by thinking, what if I got an A? My Brain immediately switched to, Wow, that'd be so cool!"I got a B, which was enough."
5."You never feel like a grown-up. You mostly just fake it and assume everyone else is an actual adult. My data is only valid from ages 0 to 46 years of age."
6."Regarding microplastics: this is not the first time this has happened. We have coal deep below the ground today because nothing existed to decompose trees for millions of years. They just built up and up and up in ever-deeper layers. Eventually, something evolved to fill that niche, and today, we have termites, fungi, wood-eating bacteria, and dozens of ways the natural world can break down trees. The same will happen with plastics. It will go away in time."
7."The only 'normal' people are the ones you don’t know very well. Everyone is weird in their own unique way."
8."There’s a lot of good government agencies trying to make things better. I work for a wastewater treatment plant that aims to do better than current guidelines and has been an industry leader in reducing emissions and protecting the environment. We’re among 60 of 20,000 agencies who have had 26 perfect years of protections. A lot of us want to make this world better and got into government to make things better."
9."Actions have consequences, which usually refers to negative things when people say it, but if actions have consequences, then positive actions can have positive consequences. This was a big realization for me to find hope and motivation in the depths of depression."
11."Crime rates have continuously gone down year after year after year; objectively, the world is a safer place than it was (for crime anyways) years ago. The news just talks about it more now."
12."Something like 130,000 people escape from extreme poverty every single day."
13."You are a mosaic of everything and everyone you've ever loved."
14."Sharks were swimming around before TREES were alive on Earth. They’ll probably still be here when we are gone. Extra super sharky resilience!!! 💖"
15."When I lose something, I find it comforting to know that it is somewhere. Sounds silly, but it makes me feel better."
16."You're currently on your personal best for most consecutive days alive, and tomorrow you're going to break your current personal best for most consecutive days alive."
17."Centralia, PA — the site of the long-burning underground fire — has been reclaimed by nature. I was there several years ago as a last-minute decision on the way to somewhere else, and I was interested in seeing the Silent-Hill-style landscape and the big stretches of graffiti. It’s not there anymore. It’s big, beautiful plants and trees. If you know what you’re looking for, you can figure out where parts of individual houses are based on the pipes that remain, but that’s largely it. It was so comforting to be there, in a weird way. "
18."Dogs think we’re cute as well, like we see them 😂 and cats think we’re weird cats."
19."Humans have a natural ability to adapt to almost any situation, so no matter what happens, you’ll find a way to cope."
20."If Mr. Rogers met you there's a strong chance he'd be very proud of how far you've come."
21.And finally, "Smiling, even if you don't feel like it, can actually improve your mood."
