Defining Moments

Do you ever stop and think about who you are and how you got to be there? Do you ever wonder who you could have been instead? Or, do you ever wonder about who you will become and where you will end up?

I think that there comes certain times in everyone's life when they look back and realize either how far they have come or how far they didn't go. There seems to be moments when you truly think about who you are and how you came to be there. Looking back on ones life can bring both joy and pain. It can bring sorrow for things lost and regret for things never done. But it can also bring back laughter and love for those around you. One of the biggest things that I have learned about looking back on ones life is that it not only comes with joy or pain, but that it can also come with knowledge.

When one looks back on ones life they usually start too see how they have gotten to where they are today. They tend to start to realize how much they have gone through, whether it be good or bad. But they also tend to realize how much they have learned and how much they have grown in their life. And with that comes the knowledge. The knowledge of what you have learned and what you know to be true. The knowledge of how strong you actually are or what you are truly afraid of. The knowledge of knowing you did something right or knowing you never did what you wanted to do. No matter when you look back or what you look back upon, you seem to always gain a certain bit of knowledge about yourself and who you really are. And sometimes, if you are lucky, you can even gain a bit of knowledge about the person whom you should become.

A lot of these times where one gains knowledge are what some like to call defining moments. Moments in our lives where things irrevocably changed and would never change back. Moments where the choice that you made defined all of the ones that came after it. Moments that in essence define who you are and who you will yet become.

These defining moments that we have come in a variety of styles and forms. More often then not you don't even know that it will be a defining moment. Some of them tend to just come and go and when it is happening it is just part of your day and it is only when you look back that you realize that that moment changed you or your life forever more. However, on occasions there are defining moments that we know are happening right before our eyes. There are times when you realize that whatever choice you make in that moment will change your world forever. There are times when you recognize that you are at a crossroads and that you have to decide in that moment who it is that you want to become. You have to decide who it is that you are willing to be. And sometimes those are the hardest moments of all because when making that choice it means abandoning who you are at the moment and being ready to become someone else. It means being ready to become someone more. And that my friends, can be the scariest thing of all because it also means stepping into the great unknown and believing that you will have not only have the strength, but the courage, to survive and come out being better then who you are at that moment.

Defining moments come in a variety of styles and forms. They come in saying hello, submitting an application, saying yes or saying no, trying something new, taking a different route, and sometimes they come by just getting out of bed. No matter what style or form they come in though, they are always a moment that makes a change. A change in our world and a change in who we are. so as you look back on your life come to realize your defining moments. Come to realize what you have already gone through and how much you have changed over the years. Come to realize what you have learned and the strength that you have gained. For it is only by recognizing our past defining moments that we can come to prepare for the ones in the future. The ones yet to come that will again change a part of who we are and where we are headed. The ones that will define where we ultimately end up.