In A New York Minute – What We Can Learn From Our Defining Moments

It was October 13th, 1993. I was 22 years old, and a recent college graduate. I was living at home, working my first sales job, and loving my life. What's not to love? I was 22, had money, and had my entire life in front of me. That evening, I spent some time with my father, who was feeling a bit under the weather. Before I went to bed, I hugged my Dad, I told him I loved him, he did the same, and off I went - just like so many times before. This time would be different.

The next day, shortly after lunch, I received a call at work from my grandmother. "You need to get to the hospital right away", my grandmother said. "They are working on your father." Immediately, I ran from my office, jumped into my car, and sped off to the hospital. Little did I know at that point that my father had gone to the doctor, received a shot of penicillin, and had died of an allergic reaction. My life was about to change - forever.

In a New York minute, my life had changed. No one could have predicted this, no one saw it coming. I now had to deal with reality. I realized that while there was nothing that I could do to control or change the situation, I could control my reaction to the situation, and what it meant to me. After I recovered from my loss, I decided that what I was going to pull out of this situation was that I was going to live my life with a sense of urgency. Moving forward, I would decide what was important to me, and make those things a priority. I was going to live my life like each day was my last, because someday, it would be.

I chose to write about this so that perhaps you can take some time to reflect on your "defining moments". We all have them. Decisions we make, like where to go to college, who we marry, how many kids we have - all affect our lives and who we are. Some things, like the death of a loved one, a spouse leaving us, or perhaps a friend betraying our trust are things we can't control, but are still defining moments that have a profound impact on who we are.

I encourage you to take some time and reflect on your "defining moments". What are they? How did they affect you? How did they change your life? While we don't always control what they are, we can control how we react to them, and how these things define who we are and who we become. It is these moments that truly define who we are.