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The Absolute Most Defining Moment/Turning Point of Your Life???

LONGRDLONGRD Posts: 6,036
edited July 2008 in All Encompassing Trip
I'm trying to find that moment myself.

In the meantime, please tell me your "moment," I'm trying to get a good idea of what this life is about.

Thank You.
PJ- 04/29/2003.06/24,25,27,28,30/2008.10/27,28,30,31/2009
EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009
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  • ZanneZanne Posts: 899
    LongRd. wrote:
    I'm trying to find that moment myself.

    In the meantime, please tell me your "moment," I'm trying to get a good idea of what this life is about.

    Thank You.

    The first time my that my oldest child (only at the time) got seriously ill.. It hit me what it was like to be a parent and I forgave my parents all the things I *thought* they did wrong. I think it was the first time I realized that what they did for/to me, they did out of love and sometimes not knowing what to do at all. I certainly spent a lot of those moments raising my own children. I guess it was a turning point because I learned we are all human, including my parents and myself.

    Peace
    Just me
  • chiquimonkeychiquimonkey Posts: 9,337
    i've had a few. but sometimes they aren't major earthshattering sky-splitting moments. it can be just a quiet moment of clarity....realizations. or just being in a moment and feeling complete.

    dunno, that's all i got right now lol
  • Rhinocerous SurpriseRhinocerous Surprise Posts: 4,423
    I'd say the biggest "turning point" for me so far was choosing to do an optional extra year in my old school. I left a lot of assholes behind, got a lot closer to my existing circle of friends, and made a whole bunch of new friends. Not to mention that I came out of my shell a lot that year.

    Of course, it also killed any compulsion I had to work hard at schoolwork of any kind. :p
    Smokey Robinson constantly looks like he's trying to act natural after being accused of farting.
  • patrickredeyespatrickredeyes Posts: 8,834
    So many good and bad moments in my life. Hard to pick the ONE. lol
  • GraySaturdayGraySaturday Posts: 2,878
    my life dramatically changed when I moved 800 miles away from my mind controlling/over bearing mother.


    Sometimes you can't find who you are without getting away to a place where you only have yourself to depend on.
  • JeanieJeanie Posts: 9,446
    It's a road mate, a long, winding, uphill, downhill, road. :) A journey you embark upon when you're born that you'll end when you die.

    You'll probably not have one ABSOLUTE MOST DEFINING MOMENT but a series of life changing events or defining moments throughout the course of the journey. Things that force you to take a different path or sometimes a little fork pops up in the road and you want to take a meander down, see what you can see. You might find yourself sidetracked, take a wrong turn here or there or get so caught up in the beauty of your surroundings along the way that you stop and rest awhile and just take it all in.

    Don't wait for something to define you or define your life, just get out there and live it. Make mistakes, have new experiences, learn from the troubles. Just get up every day that you can and breathe in and out and move forward. Infinitely better than moving backwards or standing still.

    Life's what happens when you're busy making other plans ~ John Lennon
    NOPE!!!

    *~You're IT Bert!~*

    Hold on to the thread
    The currents will shift
  • StateOfLoveBoatCptn.StateOfLoveBoatCptn. Posts: 904
    when my wife and I split up for good. I had shared almost 15 years of my life with her in it in different aspects, and that was the only life I knew. It was a turn for the worse but feel now that I'm on a road to a happiness Ive never known.

    and now in a month I am moving 1500 miles away from the only life I've really even known, to start a new chapter in my life. So maybe that will turn out to be the most defining. I'm hoping so :)
  • ToneTone Posts: 1,206
    In February 2004 I upped and moved to Canada from Australia having never even set foot in the country. I was beyond stressed leading up to it but somehow swung into action and got a job and an apartment within 2 weeks. I proved alot to myself doing that.

    A more traumatic experience was my friend and boss dying suddenly last year at 34. It shook me and everyone so much, I still don't think I've processed it. 6 weeks later, the scumbug company fired me "without cause" and I was stranded without a work visa and without my residency finalized. I sued the company and won and my residency still came through. But, especially with my friend dying, I had already decided to leave Canada. It made me realize that (as corny as it sounds) life's too short to spend it not doing what you want and not following your dreams. I made the decision to move to NYC because what on earth was I waiting for!? Someone to run up to me and say: "Hey, you want to live in NYC, let me help you with that." Hands down been the hardest year of my life... financially, mentally & emotionally. Even today I feel like packing it in and going back to Canada or heading to the UK, but I will never forgive myself if I don't stick it out and try.

    So I guess the last 16 months have been a big turning point for me.
    Glaciers melting in the dead of night and the superstars sucked into the supermassive.
  • ajedigeckoajedigecko \m/deplorable af \m/ Posts: 2,430
    currently......when my daughter was born. i say currently because someone above mentioned divorce or spouse leaving.
    live and let live...unless it violates the pearligious doctrine.
  • Heineken HelenHeineken Helen Posts: 18,095
    GraySaturday wrote:
    my life dramatically changed when I moved 800 miles away from my mind controlling/over bearing mother.


    Sometimes you can't find who you are without getting away to a place where you only have yourself to depend on.
    Mine's pretty similar.
    The Astoria??? Orgazmic!
    Verona??? it's all surmountable
    Dublin 23.08.06 "The beauty of Ireland, right there!"
    Wembley? We all believe!
    Copenhagen?? your light made us stars
    Chicago 07? And love
    What a different life
    Had I not found this love with you
  • manipulatedlivingmanipulatedliving Posts: 508
    most recently...the pj show in VA Beach...for reasons I really would not rather specify. Just know that the words "I'm still alive" means much more to me now.
    "I feel the same way about disco as I do about herpes." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, 1977
  • Sian-of-the-deadSian-of-the-dead Posts: 8,963
    Losing nealy 6 stone in weight, which lead to realising (and having confidence in) who I am and what I want in life :)
    Been to this many PJ shows: Reading 2006 London 2007 Manchester & London 2009 Dublin, Belfast, London, Nijmegen & Berlin 2010 Manchester 1 & Manchester 2 2012...

    ... and I still think Drive-By Truckers are better.
  • harmless_little_f***harmless_little_f*** Posts: 8,005
    my wedding

    my divorce

    embarking on a new relationship with so much more potential

    and next year, moving to the middle of the country to realise it..
    'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'

    - the great Sir Leo Harrison
  • illegal pantsillegal pants Posts: 13,471
    for me i don't think there's been one single defining moment, but a chain of similar events that have made me stop and think.. about the people i surround myself with and the person i want to be

    but i guess that's an ongoing lesson in life
    wah
  • yosi1yosi1 Posts: 3,272
    That time I found a half eaten hot dog on the sidewalk.
    you couldn't swing if you were hangin' from a palm tree in a hurricane.
  • Sian-of-the-deadSian-of-the-dead Posts: 8,963
    yosi wrote:
    That time I found a half eaten hot dog on the sidewalk.

    Did you eat it?
    Been to this many PJ shows: Reading 2006 London 2007 Manchester & London 2009 Dublin, Belfast, London, Nijmegen & Berlin 2010 Manchester 1 & Manchester 2 2012...

    ... and I still think Drive-By Truckers are better.
  • Inhiding230Inhiding230 Posts: 362
    After 12 years of unhappy, emotionally abusive marriage, I took my daughter and left. Standing in my new apartment surrounded by boxes, I realized that I did not need a man in my life. I realized that I was very capable of raising my daughter, and able to support us both, emotionally and financially. Even though it was a struggle at first, I think it made us both stronger and smarter people.

    After that, I was able to get into a relationship with someone for all the right reasons and am finally happy :)
  • ThecureThecure Posts: 814
    i would say my Dad dying. i was young but not that young (18) and i realized that you only have oen life so you might as well live it. i dropped out of school where i was studying computer programming (that was funny as i didn't even have a computer at that time) i decided to go to university and got my first degree in Philosophy and my second in social work. before my dad dying i was stuck in a program that i hated, i was drinking alot and doing other stuff. i still drink but have not been high or drunk in almost 14 years.
    People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."
    - Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

    If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me."
    - Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980)
  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    That time I realised that consciousness, as a cognitive bolt-on to a neurophysiological processes, was a swirling mass of of sub-photonic energy in communion with a great thought-matrix, a godhead, a breathing, pulsating mass of cosmic wakefulness and "Is-ness", of divine satchitananda, of nirvana, of being, of awareness, of bliss. Ah, they don't make acid like that anymore. :D
  • blackredyellowblackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    I don't know if it's a defining moment, but it did change my life...

    I was working/living in Pittsburgh (where I'm from), and basically in a rut... same job, no love life, at 29 years-old, absolutely nothing happening. It wasn't a bad life, but it wasn't going to change any time soon.

    One of the buildings in our corporation had some people quit and needed someone to fill in on an interim basis for 6 months in Worcester, MA. and I was "encouraged" to go. I had never been there, hell, I couldn't even pronounce it, but that weekend, I packed up my car with all that I could fit, and drove the 8 hours to my new job.

    I ended up meeting/working with my future wife, and fast forward 4 years, I am married to the girl of my dreams, and we have a beautiful 6 month old son.
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • Brain of J.LoBrain of J.Lo Posts: 3,259
    GraySaturday wrote:
    my life dramatically changed when I moved 800 miles away from my mind controlling/over bearing mother.


    Sometimes you can't find who you are without getting away to a place where you only have yourself to depend on.


    Wait, did I post this under your name? I don't remember doing so....but I swear I could have posted this. :D

    I have to say that I never realized the issues I have with my mom and older sister (who is somewhat like a second mom) controlling my life (or trying to) until I moved 800 miles away from them! I feel like it allowed me to grow up in a way that I hadn't before. Don't get me wrong, I love them....but I think I am better off being on my own.
  • markymark550markymark550 Columbia, SC Posts: 5,174
    I don't know about one single moment, but a few important ones are:
    -graduating college and having to go out and make it on my own
    -getting married to the most wonderful woman ever
    -the death of my father
    -the death of my maternal grandfather
  • polarispolaris Posts: 3,527
    spending 6 weeks recovering from a broken leg in a crippled childrens centre where i was the healthiest kid around ... it may not be a defining moment but it has shaped me to be who i am today ...
  • lalalalaaaaaaaalalalalaaaaaaaa Posts: 2,445
    LongRd. wrote:
    I'm trying to find that moment myself.

    In the meantime, please tell me your "moment," I'm trying to get a good idea of what this life is about.

    Thank You.
    I'm pretty certain that life is NOT about having a single "OMGWTFMYLIFEHASCOMPLETELYCHANGED" moment. Life is about having little moments of clarity all the time so you're constantly growing in a semi-chaotic state. Otherwise, you're not really living, you're just idling. Some moments are more profound than others, no doubt, but there's no master moment that will make you see what life is all about imo.
  • you areyou are Posts: 1,651
    GraySaturday wrote:
    my life dramatically changed when I moved 800 miles away from my mind controlling/over bearing mother.


    Sometimes you can't find who you are without getting away to a place where you only have yourself to depend on.

    EXACTLY! moving out into my own apartment has been the BEST thing for me. i've learned so much about myself, become more responsible, and more confident. i've also learned how to think for MYSELF! i'm the youngest of 5 children so i never had a chance to think for myself. :o
    No need to be void, or save up on life...
    You got to spend it all
  • comebackwomancomebackwoman Posts: 7,271
    There have been a few times where I had the courage to do what I thought was right for me and my happiness...even if it wasn't what other people wanted me to do or thought I "should" do. My most defining moments have all been about having the courage to trust myself and my decision instead of worrying about pleasing other people.
    There's a light when my baby's in my arms :)
  • eyedclaareyedclaar Posts: 6,980
    Probably the time I was locked in mortal combat with a guy that I thought was my arch-nemesis only to have him throw me for a loop and profess to be my father.
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  • CityMouseCityMouse Posts: 1,010
    LongRd. wrote:
    I'm trying to find that moment myself.

    In the meantime, please tell me your "moment," I'm trying to get a good idea of what this life is about.

    Thank You.

    well, there have been a few:

    -hearing Ten for the first time (sounds cheesey, but my life has never been the same)

    -college

    -moving out on my parents

    -realizing certain things about relationships
  • you areyou are Posts: 1,651
    eyedclaar wrote:
    Probably the time I was locked in mortal combat with a guy that I thought was my arch-nemesis only to have him throw me for a loop and profess to be my father.

    Luke, is that you?
    No need to be void, or save up on life...
    You got to spend it all
  • LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSunLikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun Posts: 6,097
    a few:

    moving far away in the middle of the night with a couple hundred bucks and a car. (good)
    Katrina, and moving back home (bad)
    gaining 70 lbs. (bad)
    losing 70 lbs. (good)
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