Today, on January 20th, 5.46% of 2024 will have passed. However, some people have already run out of luck this year.
So in order to remind you that we always have to expect the unexpected, we put together a collection of unfortunate pictures, depicting folks' struggles with the weather, technology, cars, and pretty much every other facet of the modern world.
I guess it's true what they say: life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.
Continue scrolling to check out the images and don't miss the chat we had with Manhattan psychotherapist and performance coach Jonathan Alpert — you'll find it in between the mishaps.
#1 Got Off Work To No Road Home
Image credits: silv3rnite
#2 Worked 12 Hours Cleaning Toilets And Can’t Take A Shower Because Our Water Smells Like Feces
Image credits: yikesbro_
"When such things happen to us, we have to fight the thought that the universe has conspired against us. Only once we come to terms with its indifference do we realize that we have only ourselves to rely on.
"In the face of difficulty, those who maintain a positive attitude and don't let themselves be defined by a negative event end up feeling and doing best in the long run," psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert, who worked in a hospital emergency department, academia, a corporate setting, and even did a brief stint at the FBI before going into private practice, told Bored Panda.
"Know that you are bigger and stronger than one rejection or a negative situation," the author of 'Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days' added.
#3 Five Days Into The Year And I'm Already Done
Image credits: alivesarcasm
#4 We Don't Consider You Luggage 'Lost', We Like To Think It's Off On An Adventure
Image credits: WeblockHolmes
#5 So I’m Watching My Brothers Dog For The Week And He Went After A Tin Of Chocolate Up High On The Sneaker Shelf
Image credits: EditorsNotes
Bloomsburg University philosophy professor Steven Hales agrees that luck is a matter of perspective.
For one of his studies, Hales and experimental psychologist Jennifer Johnson tested the hypothesis that optimists are more likely to see other people's experiences as lucky, while pessimists focus on misfortune in the same set of facts.
They used real-life stories of "ambiguous luck"—for instance, a Japanese man who survived the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, practically unscathed, and lived a long life, and an American soldier who had a rocket-propelled grenade, which did not explode, lodged in his abdomen. Both men survived horrific experiences, which makes them lucky—unless you think that the fact that bad things happened to them at all makes them unlucky.
#6 Happy New Year Indeed
Image credits: Hil_Phartman
#7 Passing A Kidneystone On My First Day Of Work In The Bathroom Before Our Safety Meeting Where I Had To Meet Everyone. 4mm Stone Passed After 5 Weeks From First Sign
Image credits: Monkdiver
#8 Update From Yesterday, We Are Definitely Not Getting Out For A Few Days
Image credits: Lokkuri
#9 Starting The New Year With A Collapsed Lung. At Least It Should All Be Uphill From Here
Image credits: RedFalcon725
To assess the relationship between personality traits and perceptions of fortune, Hales and Johnson gave study participants a commonly used psychological assessment called the Life Orientation Test. With this, the researchers determined the extent to which subjects were optimists or pessimists.
The participants then rated the luck of people in ambiguous real-life stories as unlucky, somewhat unlucky, somewhat lucky, or lucky.
#10 My Week In 3 Pictures
Image credits: nightwing13
#11 See The Blue Light? Yeah Thats My House
Image credits: playboybunny2077
#12 My Car Window Was Broken Into, Im Completely Broke And There Was Nothing To Steal From My Car
Image credits: sadbabyface
#13 Just Got To Our Hotel… At Least They Left The Lug Nuts
Image credits: Spiritual_Price5707
The researchers found "a significant positive correlation" between subjects' level of optimism and how lucky they thought others were.
"One of the things this means is that the more optimistic you are, the more you think others are lucky. If you are more of a pessimist, you’re likelier to see others as suffering bad luck,” Hales wrote.
#14 Got Bitten By A Bat And Spent The First Day Of 2024 Getting Rabies Shots
Image credits: Interesting-Cress-43
#15 Owch
Image credits: cicglass
#16 Somebody Rummaged Through Nearly All The Packages In My Apartment Mail Room On New Years Day
Image credits: watashi-weasel
#17 Reckless Driver Crashes Into A House
Image credits: tomytronics
But while luck is subjective, uncertainty isn't and it follows us every day.
"Certainty provides predictability and the feeling of control. When we aren't sure how things will go and what outcomes [are going to be], our brains tend to create endings as a way to gain control," Jonathan Alpert explained. "The problem with this sometimes is that it is not always accurate."
"For example, a boy wants to ask a girl out on a date and because he's uncertain, his mind goes to the worst possible outcome (a girl like her will never say yes to a guy like me). This then affects his confidence, creates anxiety, and leads to overall discomfort."
#18 Dental Crown Popped Off At 10:30p New Years Eve. Yay
Image credits: Ruffffian
#19 My Wife And I Rented A Cabin. We Arrived To Find A Trash Bag For A Window, And Wine Service For One
Image credits: PKLKickballer
#20 While Trying To Open Some Tuna, I Accidentally Dropped The Can
Image credits: Smmaxter
#21 Brand New iPad Already Logged In
Image credits: Salty-Tomato5654
"For example, a boy wants to ask a girl out on a date and because he's uncertain, his mind goes to the worst possible outcome (a girl like her will never say yes to a guy like me). This then affects his confidence, creates anxiety, and leads to overall discomfort."
The solution, according to Alpert, is to "stick to what you know to be true and what you actually have control over."
In the boy's case, he has no idea that the girl will say no, so he has full control over how he conducts himself and what he says but not the response he receives.
#22 $1,199 iPhone 15 Left In The Snow While I’m At Work All Day Unable To Retrieve It
Image credits: accidental-like
#23 Our 60+ Year Old Birch Fell On Our House
Image credits: Fancykiddens
#24 It's My Daughter's Birthday And I've Made Her A Cake. It's Been Cooling Down In The Fridge. Let Me Just Check On It Real Quick
Image credits: an303042
#25 Good Friend Of Two Years Ends Friendship
Image credits: Slade1234545
So even if life throws you a curveball similar to the ones in these pictures, try to "stick with fact over fiction and what you have control over," Alpert suggested.
"For example, you can't control the weather but you can control how you deal with it or prepare for it, e.g. bring an umbrella!"
#26 Did This Annoyingly Difficult Prize Puzzle Just To Find Out After That It Was Used And The Code Had Already Been Redeemed
Image credits: Mmmelanie
#27 My Mom’s Ceiling Collapsed On New Year’s Eve
Image credits: sweater_brown
#28 I Have A Meeting At Congress And No One Showed Up
Image credits: Antique-Echidna-1600
#29 Walked Outside This Morning To Find My Car Keyed. What A Great Start To The New Year
Image credits: iiDaBomb
#30 Worked Up The Courage To Go To A Bar To Try And Socialize. Even The Bar Tender Stepped Out For A Smoke
Image credits: vapegod420blazekin
#31 Car Broken Into Before A Snow Storm
Image credits: thamtham254016
#32 Stuck In A Smallest Elevator On The First Day Of The Year
Image credits: Wiglse
#33 Way To Start My Morning…
Image credits: Aware_Past
#34 Got Zapped By Static Electricity From A Conveyer At Work
Image credits: Scene_muah
#35 The Weather Where I Live
Image credits: Sysion
#36 Crashed My Brand New Car Under 40k Miles Last Week ?
Image credits: bunnishortcake
#37 Dominos Not At It’s Finest
Image credits: indoorfoliagespray
#38 Came Home To My House Broken Into And Loads Of Stuff Nicked. Great Start To The Year
Image credits: NotInAJayWay
#39 My House ?
Image credits: Chachaclam
#40 I Bought A Ton Of Food For Tonight So That I Can Host Nye For Us, My Parents, And My Brother’s Family. I Also Spent All Day Yesterday Making Cupcakes, Each Filled With Lemon Curd I Made The Day Before. My Mom Now Has Food Poisoning And Can’t Come, And My Daughter Caught The Flu ?
Image credits: themoonandthehermit
#41 New Couch Has Cushion Velcro On The Wrong Side
Image credits: vanderlooMueller
#42 Happy Neh Year! From The Discount Store?
Image credits: alexesparza
#43 Someone Forgot To Lock Their Frame
Image credits: john_r_14
#44 As I Took A Picture To Show My Husband What I Was Going To Buy From Goodwill, A Lady Took The Price Tag Off To Buy It
Image credits: jojocov
#45 Went To Goodwill Yesterday. Got A Discount At The Register, Thought It Was Because Of Tag Color. Looked At My Receipt Today And Saw This
Image credits: FloatDH2
#46 Guess Who Forgot Their Exit Plan After Staining The Stairs. Send Help
Image credits: IAmTaka_VG
#47 I Accidentally Spilled Tinga In My New Car
Image credits: StupidSexySnoo
#48 Phone vs. Car Door
Image credits: sammmythegr8
#49 Neighbors Car E-Brake Failed And Rolled Back And Hit My House
Image credits: AlistairBennet
#50 Wife's New Car Well Was New
Image credits: Still_Pullin
