Your Three Biggest Life Moments

[Danoff]

The Off-Topic forum has a thread about the 3 biggest world events of your lifetime. I thought it would be interesting to make it more personal and ask what the three most important moments in your life have been. Now, arguably, being born is the most important moment in anyone's life - but let's start after that.

Here are mine:

3) An argument that I had with my uncle.

This was one of those personality-defining moments that changed my entire worldview. I had been raised my entire life to be a die-hard republican. Anything anyone who claimed to be a republican said was gospel truth, and anything anyone claiming to be a democrat said was a vicious lie. Up until this particular day, I never questioned my parents' views on this or that I should accept them. I remember specifically that the argument was about drug laws. And I lost it. Afterward I did some soul-searching and realized that it was right that I lost it. It called into question quite a bit of indoctrination that crumbled for years after that. I don't know that my uncle realizes that he had this affect on me, but he kicked off a long slow process of me learning to think for myself. It's what started me down the path of libertarianism.

Now, it's quite possible that someone else would have had this effect, or that I would have done it on my own. But I see it as a critical point in my life.


2) Talking to my graduate advisor about getting work after school

It's simple, but it changed my life. I went to his office after class one day and discussed my job search with him. He realized that, given my grades and success in his program, the university had an interest in me getting a good position. He started calling all of his contacts looking for a place for me and lobbying for me to get it. This got a ball rolling that eventually put me in the job I'm in today. I've been in that job for over 6 years now, and it's a huge part of my life and a major source of achievement for me. I'm not sure where I'd be today if I didn't visit my advisor that day, get the interview, and eventually get the job... and it might not even be a worse place than I am today, but it's guaranteed that it has had a huge impact on my life.

1) The third date with my wife

No, it's not the day I got married. By then the writing was on the wall. The wedding was merely a ceremonial formalization of what everyone already knew. No the real tipping point was the third date, when we went from being people who were attracted to each other, to people who were 99% sure they were going to be together for life.

My wife and I both approached dating in the same way. We saw it as a screening process for marriage. We spent two dates making chit-chat and enjoying each other's senses of humor and company. On the third date we talked about religion, politics, children, and life goals. At that point we knew that we were unbelievably compatible. Our personalities and thought processes fit together so incredibly well that I think we were both a little stunned. We didn't talk about it at the time, but by the time we were married we had both admitted to each other that we saw it coming after the 3rd date. It's a memorable event for both of us that represented a major turning point in our lives.

So that's it. An argument, a chat with a teacher, and a date. My 3 biggest life moments.

Edit: I searched for something about this. But I found it tricky to search for. Apologies if it already exists.

 

[Bram Turismo]

1) 2) and 3) When I migrated to Norway

Nothing comes even close to this, hence why all three places are rightfully taken by this event. When I first found out about the whole thing, I went bazookas. We migrated anyway, and it was the best thing ever happened to me. Learning a completely new language, new people, basically a new world. It took 2 months before I could follow the conversations, and after about 6 months I began to use more Norwegian words in my conversations. It's been 4 years now, damn time flies by, and I'm fully blended in. I do have a thing for languages though, so that made it easier. Apart from my "r" pronouncing, people often find it very difficult to tell I'm not Norwegian. The Norwegian ladies are absolutely stunning, and I found my first ever girlfriend in this very country. One cannot imagine how much it expands his horizon, being a part of an event like this. I've become a totally different person, lost 15 kg of overweight as well. I'm just happy. In Belgium I never found my way out of things, I got bullied quite often and never seemed to fit in. I now go to university in southern Norway, and I can't wait to see how many options my Norwegian education will give once all the languages I can fluently speak are marked onto my diploma

 

[TB]

3) Going back to school

I didn't go straight from high school to college. There was a 7 year gap between the two. My job, despite it's life changing event (see #1) was crap. After going back to school, I am making more and am happier. With the making more, it has allowed us to enjoy numerous possessions (some required) that would have been significantly more difficult.

2) My son

Yes, my first son changed my life, as he should have, but without a doubt my 2nd did more so. I'm sure you guys are getting tired of hearing it, so I'll leave it at that.

1) A co-worker introduction

At my former place of employment, a friend of a co-worker came in at 4:50 to go to a movie with him. I later found out that said co-worker bought 2 tickets for the movie, but not for her - for another co-worker. That simple act of selfishness caused her to realize that he was just that stupid (I can say that because I worked with him for 6 years). I mean really. Who goes to a movie with a girlfriend and doesn't buy her a ticket?

All of these events were unknown to me until two days later when I went to play volleyball with a bunch of friends. I asked her how the movie was, we started talking and that's all it took. We were married six months later.

This has to be #1 because most of the really important decision I've made in my life occurred after I met her and is therefore the best decision I've ever made. Correction - it wasn't really a decision as there was no consideration. Short of sounding cheesy, we both knew it was going to happen.