My latest issue of Men's Health had an article about the moments in a man's life that shape the man he becomes. This is the very same magazine the D.O.C. literature review committee is now trying to reject each month. One thing I can get here that inspires me and they want to take that away. Yet they say they want to rehabilitate us.
Reading this article caused me to look over my life and remember the moments that caused growth toward manhood. Well, the day a judge handed me a 12 year sentence in prison changed my life. If you can, picture life like a buffet line. There are all sots of dishes. Some are appetizers. Others are sweets. You can try something a little out of your comfort zone. One plate you may not care for, but another may make you nearly gag.
Are you looking over your life yet? What's that moment for you?
Often times we forget. As children our parents handle the big stuff. If we have loving, caring parents the very description of their job is to keep your problems small. Yet it seems those very problems become the very things that inspire growth in us. I would guess most people's defining moments happen later on in life. They become the transition from children to adult.
We have seen the pastor who preaches the importance of being faithful to your spouse from his pulpit, yet is knocking off the choir director on the side. Or the very teacher at the AA meeting caught with a purse-full of prescription meds. At times, people preach a sermon that sounds well researched. Yet when their own life is faced with a hurdle, they take an "F" on performance.
I think the best advocate for breast cancer awareness is the lady who suffered the loss of a breast. There's a real passion for what she does. I would guess the day she was diagnosed with cancer was probably her defining moment.
At the time we are faced with this "thing", the last thing on our mind is seeing it as the very thing that will shape the person we are. It's only after we emerge from the other side that we can see the change it inspired in our life.
Like the mother who lost her son to a drunk driver. Then in court, she finds the love in her heart to forgive the guilty man. Wow!! What kind of love is that? And what a blessing she not only brings to herself, but the lesson she teaches to the guilty party.
The day I was sentenced to 12 years in prison was a dumb-founded moment for me. All these years later, I now see it differently. When I thought about what the most impacting time of my life was, it was the day I was sentenced. That is the very moment that defined the man I am today.
And I wonder....I wonder how many people will have their defining moments from my life. And how long will it take you see that?
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