Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - July 21st

Today’s challenge.  Tomorrow’s defining moment. – Sheeba Varghese

There are moments which mark your life.  Moments when you realize nothing will ever be the same and time is divided into two parts – before this, and after this. ~ from “Fallen”

Last week, Terri’s Tuesday Tip of the Week was about persevering through the hard times because they are molding us for the future.  This past Sunday was a beautiful day in Austin, Texas and I took the opportunity to walk around downtown.  As I was thinking about by upcoming birthday, I started thinking about “defining moments” that have occurred over the years in my life. 

When I got home, I searched “defining moments” on dictionary.com and it is defined as “a point at which the essential nature or character of a person, group, etc., is revealed or identified”. 

Here are a few of my life’s “defining moments” over the years:

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• At 4 years old, my grandmother had me stuffing envelopes for the presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan.  Little did anyone know she instilled in me a love of politics in that campaign office.  Thank you Meme!

• My junior year of high school I was elected Senior Class President.  When I called my mother to tell her, I asked her over and over again “Why Me?”  So many years later, I now see how that defining moment is still impacting my life.  When I graduated from high school, I received the Timex award…Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.  Sounds sort of like perseverance! 

• When I lived in Oklahoma, I returned to college to finish my degree.  I look back to see how I persevered through taking 21 ½ hours the last 2 semesters to bring my GPA up to graduate with honors.   

• When I wrote my Senior Paper for college, I never would have thought doing research on the first televised debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon would ever help me later in life.  However, that research laid the groundwork for understanding the importance of how technology has changed and continues to change politics especially in he 21st century.

•  While living in Michigan, I decided to follow my faith, which took me on journey back to Texas.  That defining moment changed my life and it has never been the same. 

The best quote to summarize is:  

It’s not what I have been through in my life that defines who I am, it’s how I got through it that has made me the person I am today. – Unknown

When I went through these various “defining moments”, I had no idea how they would affect my life and still are to this day.  I am excited for the next fun and exciting defining moments that I will get to experience as I approach another wonderful year in this world.

I challenge you to look back over your life and discover your “defining moments” and see how they are impacting you still today.  As I can attest, you may think in the moment the event is nothing, but I can assure you that every moment is preparing you to fulfill your purpose in this life. 

Our lives are defined by moments, especially the ones we never see coming. – from The Next Three Days