By Shazza P
I’ve come to learn that what may seem of little consequence to one person can literally turn someone else’s life inside out. I experienced the power of this when I was coaching a client recently. They share with me how a teacher had made fun of one of the students when they had been in school. This event had happened over 30 years ago, but my client remembered that event as being hugely significant in their life. Because of the teacher’s seemingly thoughtlessness, my client had become a teacher….. they wanted to show the world that teachers can be kind.
One event, an entire future shaped!
We all have significant events in our past that have shaped who we have become and the choices we make. If it is important to you, then its important! These are our defining moments. They can be positive, and influence our choices in ways that empower us. They can inspire us and show us what we are truly capable of. Some events are of course going to be clearly negative. However, the meaning we give to these events is entirely up to us.
Memory gives us the ability to recall these events, but our ability to recall the events accurately is difficult. What we always keep, however is our feelings associated with the event. Recall a moment of exquisite joy in your life, and notice how the feeling is close by. Recall an event that caused you great sorrow and the pain is there.
Defining moments anchor our reactions to the world today. These significant events determine the feelings we have to the inevitable stresses and strains of our lives. This makes them essential to uncover and explore. Until we do this, we are separate from who we truly are. How can we understand what motivates our choices unless we understand what created these choices in the first place?
