Whether we’re talking about people’s height, truck sizes, or even the health of our skin and the calmness of our neighborhood, context is king.

If we had nothing to juxtapose these things against, we simply wouldn’t know how they “fit” into the world.

So in an attempt to broader your horizons, we at Bored Panda put together a new collection of the most interesting comparisons. Continue scrolling to check out the pictures and catch up on the series here, here, and here.

#1 With My Son’s Autism There Is A Lot Of Repetition And Routine He Uses To Find Comfort. This Is One Of My Favorite. He Has Snuggled The Same Way For 19 Years

Image credits: Timfrostyo

#2 One Year Of Good Care And Love

Image credits: zoace88

If these pictures make you experience awe, I have great news for you. It is associated with lower stress and inflammation levels, and a higher sense of meaning and connection.

According to researchers who study the emotion, awe has two fundamental components. It is a response to encountering something more vast, complex, or mind-blowing than we had conceived of either physically or conceptually.

And the experience also induces a change in how we see the world, producing “little earthquakes in the mind.”

#3 That Is A Wonderful Accomplishment And Much Harder To Achieve Staying At The Same Company

Image credits: MoniMokshith

#4 10-Year-Old Me vs. 25-Year-Old Me

Image credits: Theoson

#5 Man Shares Pictures Before And After A Liver Transplant

Image credits: Orri

To understand the concept, it helps to know how the brain responds to what we perceive as mundane.

Over the course of our lives, our brains learn and encode what normal is and predict what we think should happen next, based on our internal understanding of the world.

“That prediction of what happens next guides our behavior. It is crucial for being able to function in this incredibly complicated world,” said Michelle “Lani” Shiota, an associate professor of social psychology at Arizona State University. “But it does narrow our perspective, it narrows our vision. And it simply doesn’t account for everything.”

#6 How It Started vs. How It’s Going

Image credits: bape_x_anime

#7 Sometimes I Don’t Realize How Far I’ve I Come Until I Look Back

I spent most of my adolescence in and out of hospitals and treatment centers, every day at war inside my own head and scared of my thoughts. I had to re-discover who I am, what made me happy, and what made life worth living for.

Image credits: rena_serenaa

#8 Best Day Ever

Image credits: aznbbgoth

#9 A Pic I Took Of My Husband With All The Books He Wrote

Image credits: FaolansPen

Research found that experiencing something extraordinary may make us (and our worries) feel small. And not in a bad way.

“You know, by adulthood, we move through the world pretty immersed in our own concerns, our own minutiae of the day-to-day, our own responsibilities, and it can be hard to keep a sense of perspective about how that fits into the grand scheme of things,” Shiota explained.

#10 First Portrait I Ever Did Back In 2011 vs. Most Recent Portrait From 2021, It’s Been A Long Journey

Image credits: Proka1234

#11 My Grandma And Grandpa Dressed As Each Other For A Party. Early 1950s

Image credits: chipsandsourcream1

#12 My 10-Year Progress Pic To Becoming A Registered Nurse

Image credits: MoveAfterCompletion

#13 Adding The Backstitches To My Cross-Stitch Embroidery

Image credits: lavenderfart

Experiencing more awe is associated with living healthier and more meaningful lives. A 2021 study discovered that feeling more awe is correlated with reporting feeling lowered levels of daily stress. Interestingly, people who feel more awe also tend to have lower levels of inflammatory cytokines.

Positive experiences of awe have also been linked to increased feelings of well-being, life satisfaction, and a sense of meaning.

#14 From A Little Bean To A Majestic Queen

Image credits: PolarBla

#15 My Client Asked To Make This Rug With Her Rats. Them vs. The Rug I Made

Image credits: _bbrug_

#16 Negative Drawings By Liam York That Come To Life When Colors Are Inverted

Image credits: MisterYorkie

#17 Best Buds, Then And Now

Image credits: jillieboobean

Emerging research suggests that experiencing awe may make us more curious, creative and compassionate people.

In turn, recent studies have found that awe-prone people may be more prone to being curious, and people who experience more awe also tend to be more creative.

#18 Me Suffering From Cancer Over The Spring vs. Me Happy And Healthy Spending Christmas With My Beautiful Family

Image credits: waxeryboiliroo

#19 Stranger From The Internet Reached Out To Me And Offered To Restore The Only Known Photo Of My Uncle. They Asked Way Too Little Money. I Paid More Because Of This

Image credits: Ruffffian

#20 My Uncle’s Husband Used To Be A Hairdresser And Turned My 93-Year-Old Grandma From Doc Brown To A Hollywood Starlet

Image credits: felatedbirthday

#21 This Afternoon’s Plein Air Paintings

Image credits: jeremy_sams_art

Awe leads people to feel more connected with others and identify with more universal categories such as “a person” or “inhabitant of earth,” as opposed to more individualistic, limited ones.

In different studies, when researchers induced awe in participants in laboratories, such as by showing panoramic clips of places on Earth, people behaved more prosocially, being more likely to help out, donate more money and volunteer more time for noble causes.

#22 Beautiful Christmas Tree Before And After

Image credits: M4Strings

#23 My First Cosplay vs. My Most Recent

Image credits: mblackburncosplay

#24 Two Photographs Of My Nana, Taken 71 Years Apart

Image credits: Pi-zz-a

#25 2 Wars, Same People

Image credits: medizerovan

By transforming our sense of self and meaning, and enhancing our relationship with others and the wider world, awe has the power to improve our mental and physical health.

So if these pictures speak to you, keep scrolling!

#26 Wanted To Share My Swelling Progress Following My Facial Reconstruction

At the height of my insecurities, it would’ve been very relieving seeing something like this, so sharing it with those going through something similar. This is 2-months’ progress.