What ‘compulsory’ things did you only realise later in life was totally optional? 23 people tell how they joyously saw the light

13.

‘Signing contracts as presented. I learned that the best way is not to ask for changes. Simply change what you don’t agree with, add what you want and return. “But it’s a standard contract”. I don’t care. Now it’s changed. Counter sign, or don’t.’
–hawknovice

14.

‘Answering your own phone. You can just let it ring and not answer it. Free will is a hell of a drug.’
–Puzzleheaded-Gear-15

15.

‘Put up with other peoples bullshit and stupid games. There was a guy I used to work with that would just call out stupid things all the time. Some guy shook hands with him and did that thing where people try to crush your hand to assert dominance or some crap.

‘He just said to him ‘why did you squeeze my hand so hard?’. The guy looked really taken aback and said ‘what?’

‘When you shook my hand you squeezed it really hard. It hurt. Why did you do that?’

‘The bloke had absolutely no idea what to do or say, he was not expecting to be called out at all.’
–Hank_Wankplank

16.

‘Wearing a bra. And don’t come at me about, oh what if they’re big. Mine are big. I hate bras. I wear a shirt. They’re covered. I don’t care if you can see that I have them or what position they’re in. Took ’til I was in my 40s to decide fuck it and stop entirely – I would not wear them at home but I’d still put one on before I went out.’
–Ok_Cauliflower_3007

17.

‘Not answering the door when some knocks unannounced. I used to freeze in my living room like a burglar was outside, until my roommate casually walked past the door, muttered “I didn’t invite anyone,” and sat back down on the couch.’
–Coffee_Tech_Sam

18.

‘Matching up socks. I used to just wear mismatched socks. Worked fine. Now I’ve innovated and just bought a lot of the same sock. Both are better than sitting there playing the matching game.’
–incorrectconjugation

19.

‘Explaining yourself to everyone. Sometimes you can just say ‘no’ and leave it at that.’
–xela_999

20.

‘Taking food you didn’t want. My mind was blown when my date said no thanks, he wasn’t hungry when asked to try whatever it was Granny had made. Logically I knew that was okay but I still remember the burst of horror that he wasn’t considering Granny’s feelings.’
–JumpOverTheHedge

21.

‘I went to a Catholic school. We always used to pray before going for lunch. One day some kid asked why he had to pray if he doesn’t believe in god. Up until that moment I just assumed everyone believed in god and he was 100% real.’
–spezial87

22.

‘I was once at a conference, and was attending a break out session, and the presenter started off by telling us about the “law of two feet” – if we found that her session was not what we expected, or it wasn’t serving us, we could use our two feet to leave and she would not be offended.

‘I realised this “law” can be applied to almost any situation – if we don’t like a relationship, a situation, a movie, an interview, we can use our two feet to leave.’
–Individual_Ad9135

23.

‘Getting married and having kids. When I was younger I accepted this was what I had to do when I got older despite not wanting to. I tried dating in spite of it not at all being what I wanted, because I needed to just get used to it.

Now I’m 35, and I quit years ago, I don’t have to follow the societal script for my life if it’s not what I want.’
–unsuccessfulbees

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