Reddit | ServeChilled

20 Powerful Pics That Made Me Think About What's Important

Published September 24, 2021

In life, it's often easy to sweat the small stuff. After all, we can surprise ourselves with how much sentimental value we can put on some things in life that even we're not aware of until we lose it.

But these setbacks are frustrating and maybe even saddening in the moment, it's easy to lose a sense of what's really important in life if we let them get to us. As hard as it may be to see them sometimes, life is full of a lot of blessings that are easy to take for granted.

And that's why it helps to get a reminder from time to time of how big the world really is. As we're about to see, what's going on in it can give us some real perspective.

Although the photo on the left still makes this woman cry, she thought it was nonetheless important to share.

Reddit | squiral-

She explained that she was 17 back when that was taken and it apparently wasn't unusual for her to stand alone in the kitchen with a knife and some very self-destructive thoughts at the time.

Nine years later, she shows us the life she could've missed out on if she let those thoughts overtake her.

This adorable picture becomes even more precious when we hear the story behind it.

Reddit | Buncha_bastards

It's very gratifying to see that the dog has not only since found a home, but also that he never fell out of touch with his pelican friend.

Although this street art is obviously a take on Johannes Vermeer's Girl With A Pearl Earring, it takes on a more haunting context here.

Reddit | chngo13

The mask certainly brings to mind our ongoing anxieties about the COVID-19 pandemic, but it's hard not to see our nerves as similarly frayed to the girl's faded likeness.

This child's school held a "donuts with dad" day and his mom didn't want him to feel left out.

Reddit | TitaniumPeak

Her efforts are definitely heartwarming, but it's also good to see that she had some lighthearted fun with it given the inclusion of the mustache and the wallet chain.

Here we see a proud supporter of the Aurat Azadi March (or women's freedom march" in Pakistan.

Reddit | zaynthelegend

As the BBC reported, this march took place at significant risk to its participants, but this sign outlines why that shouldn't be the case.

As an anonymous organizer said, "There's a deep conflict in the society that we live in, about the right of women to ask for their rights; to be mobile, to be out in the streets."

This art represents the triumph this man has had over some serious hardships in his life.

Reddit | Boknows1

As the uploader wrote, Shawn Petrie went to prison at 17 for assault that occurred in the process of defending his mother from his abusive stepfather and fell victim to recidivism, addiction, and ultimately, homelessness.

However, he eventually broke his cycle of imprisonment and has remained sober for almost two years by now. He is also in a leadership position at the homeless shelter he once retreated to.

When this woman began her transition, her family stopped speaking to her and haven't for the past six years.

Reddit | jillison_flook

This clearly didn't help the fact that she was already experiencing a great deal of self-loathing, but after a year of cognitive behavior therapy, she says she now feels cute for the first time in her life.

It's unclear exactly how much time these two grandmothers spent apart, but the answer seems to be many years.

Reddit | suzykar111

Naturally, this made it so much more special when they were able to see each other once again in their ancestral village.

This woman has alopecia and although she was encouraged by a period of fairly recent hair growth, the fact that she was losing it again prompted her to ask her boyfriend to shave her head.

Reddit | BURNxBBQ

And as we can see here, not only did he do that for her, but he began shaving his own head in solidarity.

You can almost hear the frustration that went into this sign found in Woodstock, New York.

Reddit | TheUseOfWords

Although this was apparently placed here 13 years ago, the importance of supporting local businesses is now more clear than ever.

This attorney said she never smiled in pictures due to feeling ashamed of her teeth for 20 years.

Reddit | tsdlaw123

However, it seems that recent developments have given her the smile she's wanted for so long and now she says she can finally feel good about doing it.

Although it's sad that he has to do this, his pretty brilliant idea is likely very appreciated by those who needed it.

Reddit | folded_dreams

I suppose we can only hope that seeing his disappointed expression starts someone who would harass women in this way on the road to realizing how wrong and unhealthy their behavior is.

It's unclear where this was put up, but it definitely leaves passers-by with something to think about.

Reddit | Bill0157

Although fear can be a good motivator in the right contexts, it's also known to either paralyze us or lead us to act in ways that destroy others and fill us with regret.

After 16 years of seeing his petitions for release from prison either delayed, canceled, our outright denied, this man is finally free to be with his daughter for the first time.

Reddit | TheSweetss

And what crime led the system to take so many years from his life? Distribution of marijuana, a plant that is now legal in 11 states.

Worse yet, he was originally sentenced to 32 years in prison.

This brother's gift would be very generous at the best of times, but that's sadly not how we can describe the year his sister has had.

Reddit | Crisis5gem

As we can see, 2020 was off to a rough start for her even before the COVID-19 pandemic made it hard for all of us, but this gesture now seems like the one shining blessing she's had in a situation that remains uncertain.

There's something inspiring about the ways people can make the best of a bad situation, but that doesn't make what's to come any easier to endure.

Reddit | pokamoonshine

Despite concerns shared by health officials over the consequences of reopening American schools this year, the federal government is nonetheless putting pressure on governors to do just that.

If and when that happens, the outlook for the results remains grim.

Here we can see a nuclear weapons test at Bikini Atoll in 1946.

Reddit | ServeChilled

Although this is only a test, it still speaks to the fearsome destructive power that a nuclear weapon can have. Worse yet, it speaks to the power they've had for over 70 years.

When this little boy trapped himself in the bathroom, his parents had to take some extreme measures to ensure his safety.

Reddit | wineandcheeseyespls

The problem wasn't that he locked the door as he was also trying to get out, but rather that he somehow wedged a door into just the right place to make it impossible to reopen.

Since things can turn dangerous very quickly when such a young child is left alone in a bathroom, they had to break through the door.

The uploader captioned this photo with, "This is what inequality looks like in my country."

Reddit | gurupistol

It has since been revealed that we're looking at a street in India, but the sad reality is that so many others had reasonable grounds to mistake it for their own countries.

Things are tough all over, as they say.

This harrowing photo shows just how egregious a situation can get when enforcers don't take de-escalation seriously.

Reddit | winterfellwilliam

The unfortunate reality is that at the range this man is pointing his gun at this woman (armed with a phone, I might add), the difference between lethal and "less lethal" rounds isn't as clear-cut as it may sound.

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