Raising two kids with my wife and being a very supportive friend to someone who is raising their first child on their own.
Small thing, but I pride myself on it.
my mom started teaching deaf kids at a school in my hometown. this school is mostly attended by kids from poor families and some from nearby villages. the funding of this school is very small, and not much is provided to help prepare classes. note that my mom never knew how to speak sign language but she was very determined to learn to to.
my mom also wasn’t pc-literate and was previously not keen on learning to use it but in order to excel (pun not intended) at her position she was required to learn to use word and other teaching tools on the computer.
so i helped her get started and showed her how to prepare her classes using images and she was quite a fast learner and resources online to learn sign language, but i was especially happy to find some amazing tools that had kid friendly animations which helped her teach them to write and speak sign language
something that really touched me is that one day, her work computer was malfunctioning so i had to visit her and fix it for her. when i walked in, her students didn’t recognize me so they asked her who i was, and when she told them i was her son who got her those learning tools they became ecstatic and signed how grateful they were to be able to meet me in real life
they’re mostly 8-14yo and were marginalized especially since the class they attended was previously discontinued and they had no other way to become literate and integrate a bit more into society. ive sat through some of her sessions and ill never forget the look in their eyes and how happy and excited to learn they all were
they went on to get their 6th grade diploma and some of them even continued their studies beyond that, im also proud of my mom who helped save them and at least be more literate, even though its not much to a full education but its about as good as it gets given the circumstances
In 2007, I, a non-white non-Korean, took a job in South Korea. Then, I took another. Then, at the third job, I was hired, but the owner’s brother was amenable to some of the more racist thoughts that guided the approach to business in SK. He thought I would hurt the business. He resisted hiring another non-white, non-Korean.
The owner asked me to write a letter. Instead of saying, “that’s not my job”, I wrote the letter. I made the case. They hired another non-white, non-Korean after me.
I’m still pretty proud of that letter.
Going to talk therapy. Getting married and having kids really pushed me and helps me keep going on the hardest days. I cannot have mental illness affect their lives like it did mine growing up.
Brushing my teeth. I’ve been through progressive hard depression from an early age. Yeah. It’s not much
You’re wrong friend.
Even for people that are not depressed, brushing their teeth is almost a chore.
You brushing your teeth, not only shows great resilience, but also improvement
Any self improvement, as small as it may seam, creates a momentum to change other things.
Celebrate that change and use it to make other positive changes.
Small improvements are still improvements, my friend - good on ya!
I’m trying to build a flossing habit, myself
An acquaintance who’s pregnant is having a hard time, including being evicted. I told her she can stay with me for a while while she saves money. Hey boyfriend was trying to step out at first, and she wanted to let him at first. I encouraged her not to do so, not to let him go, not to try and pretend it didn’t matter. It totally matters.
Suddenly this guy’s done a 180, and he’s now unlocking parts of himself he didn’t know existed. I feel like I played a small role in that too, by encouraging her to not play nihilistic chicken with his childish instinct to run. They’re both in their 20s, and I’m in my 40s. I don’t have a family of my own, but damn it feels good to help out a little at the formation of a new one.
I was worried. The part of myself that doesn’t like to be involved in anything or take a stand on anything, that just likes to smoke pot and play video games, was complaining that I’d lose my sanctuary. But over the years I’ve learned to trust my abolish to handle the unknown, and just force myself forward. So I did that in this case, and now I get to help.
When I was still in a band we played the same venue that I saw one of my favorite bands play at once. That was really cool, even though it was on a Monday and we just played to other bands.
Getting involved in local street design projects, and making a literally concrete difference.
They made a rule against using bird houses in a demolition contest because of me. It’s not my fault they asked for the most effective way of getting through a steel plate instead of the most precise.
I would love more details.
So there I was with something of an informal competition in front of me to make the “best” shaped charge to blow throw about a two inch steel plate. It was really just something like practicing skills and maybe showing off creativity.
Most people took “best” to mean most efficient, precise, or cleanly shaped hole in the metal. I took a different meaning. A Mongo minded meaning.
People showed up with their creations and proceeded to pack them with explosives. Most were C4 filled and under half a pound, many of them much less. Shaped charges made of coins, wine bottles, whatever else.
I brought a bird house similar to:
Removed the copper roof, put it in a 5 gallon bucket and proceeded to fill the bucket with as much C4 as it could hold. I don’t know how much. It was a lot. More explode means more good.
My charge had to go last for fear of disrupting everything else. I put a dachshund sized hole in the steel plate along with a massive crack. Penetrated the dirt a few feet down. Somebody even recovered the copper penetrator and turned it into a keychain.
After that they put a size limit on how much explosives you could use. Really not my fault there wasn’t a limit in the first place.
Over the past year my AVG daily step count is over 15k.
An unhoused woman recently asked me if I’d buy her some food at a fast food joint. I said ok because I think I have a moral obligation to help anyone who asks for food if I can afford to. She ordered the largest multi-item meal they offered (think bucket of chicken). The person ringing it up offered to do a smaller combo, but I said fuck it and let her get the largest. I figured she might have people to feed other than herself and it’s not like I couldn’t afford to let her indulge.
The reason I’m proud on this is because I changed myself into this compassionate person where once there was an angry person filled with hate. This is the product of years of therapy and deliberate self-work. I’m also proud of finally being able to love myself. That happened in 2019-2020.
Damn! Keep you the great work. <3
Thank you.
Stuff keeps breaking in my house. I hate fixing the stuff, but I always feel super proud when it’s done.
In the last month I replaced an electrical outlet that released its magic smoke when the electric griddle cord short circuited. I replaced the igniter in our gas oven. And just today I replaced the insinkerator garbage disposal that started leaking water under the sink.
Do mean like a skill, a habit, or a project? Or something else entirely?
I can be anything you are proud of. I’m just asking that it’s something that you did.
Does that help?
In that case: I’ve carved out a pretty decent career despite no formal education at all, and virtually no network to lean on. I got where I am because I’m good at what I do, and my 30% paycheck increase when I was recently poached by a competitor proves it.
Also, I make an awesome porkbelly roast.
Remember Valentine’s day 2004, when San Francisco county started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples?
Thousands of couples showed up. Some from the other side of the planet, some from the other side of town. The County Clerk was overwhelmed and there weren’t nearly enough wedding officiants to keep up. So they put out a call for volunteers to be deputized by the Clerk as county marriage commissioners. I volunteered and officiated at dozens of ceremonies at city hall.
Still have my official commission hanging on my wall.
Okay, that is awesome.
I let a homeless guy know he dropped a nickel.
I cracked a joke that made a person laugh who is very difficult to make laugh. I’ve known them for nearly a decade and it was the first time I ever heard them laugh out loud.
That’s awesome - well done! Reminded me of something else, story below.
For anyone that watched MythBusters, you’re probably aware the two main hosts, Adam and Jaimie, didn’t like each other because they were two different clashing personalities and tough to work with. There was a pirate myths episode, and Adam went all out dressing as a pirate and using a very heavy faux-pirate accent. Jaimie was laughing so hard during that scene that his whole head was red! One of the most endearing moments of the show, and something I treasure because this show was so influential for me growing up.
Props to anyone like @Vanth@reddthat.com that makes the normally serious person laugh!
Come on, you can’t tell us that and not share the joke!
I’m convinced that the joke has to be so specific to that person’s sense of humor that it would not be funny to us.
Sometimes it’s better not to know.
I think doing this is a life achievement. I used to work at a grocery store and was being trained by an ex military woman who was hard as nails and really no nonsense. At one point she was explaining to me the concept of First in First Out (FIFO stocking of product, meaning the oldest product stays at the front of the shelf to be purchased first).
When she asked me “have you heard of FIFO?” I replied “Yeah, first in, last out… Oh, wait, that’s the Marine Corps”. Got an actual laugh out of her. I’ll never forget it.
