11/27/02: Your Ten Defining Moments

juju · 11-27-2002, 09:00 PM

Some of you may know by now that I, a grown 26-year old man, am an avid watcher of the Oprah and Dr. Phil shows. Yeah, yeah, go ahead and rib me if you want. I might as well be watching Lifetime! No, I don't watch daytime soaps. No, I don't know who Stephano is. And no, I don't get overly emotional once a month. Hey, I just like intelligent television!

Anyway, one of the things the good doctor likes to talk about is your Authentic Self, and you how got it. What made you who you are today? What the hell happened that caused you to be such a freak? Obviously, there are external and internal forces that helped shape you. Of the external forces, Phil says there are 10 defining moments, 7 critical choices, and 5 pivotal people that have shaped your life. These are the events and people that wrote on the slate of your life and made you who you are today.

Of the 10 defining moments, Phil says:

"In every person's life, there have been moments, both positive and negative, that have defined and redefined who you are. Those events entered your consciousness with such power that they changed the very core of who and what you thought you were. A part of you was changed by those events, and caused you to define yourself, to some degree by your experience of that event."

Upon first glance, it seems rather trite. Why such specific numbers? And just why are they so damned low? People are pretty complex. Does he really think that everything about me can be reduced to 23 items on a bulleted list? It's so psychological and 30-minute-cure at the same time.

Nevertheless, I casually asked my wife last night what she thought her 10 defining moments in life were, and surprisingly, it sparked off a very good 2-hour-long conversation that revealed a whole lot about how events have helped shape our personalities. I really enjoyed that conversation. This simple question seems to have an amazing ability to reveal a whole lot about how people got to be who they are.

So, I'm asking this question to all of you. For brevity's sake I'm restricting this to just the first one, and i'm not restricting it to ten.

What were some of the most defining moments in your life?

11-27-2002, 09:00 PM	#1
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	11/27/02: Your Ten Defining Moments Some of you may know by now that I, a grown 26-year old man, am an avid watcher of the Oprah and Dr. Phil shows. Yeah, yeah, go ahead and rib me if you want. I might as well be watching Lifetime! No, I don't watch daytime soaps. No, I don't know who Stephano is. And no, I don't get overly emotional once a month. Hey, I just like intelligent television! Anyway, one of the things the good doctor likes to talk about is your Authentic Self, and you how got it. What made you who you are today? What the hell happened that caused you to be such a freak? Obviously, there are external and internal forces that helped shape you. Of the external forces, Phil says there are 10 defining moments, 7 critical choices, and 5 pivotal people that have shaped your life. These are the events and people that wrote on the slate of your life and made you who you are today. Of the 10 defining moments, Phil says: "In every person's life, there have been moments, both positive and negative, that have defined and redefined who you are. Those events entered your consciousness with such power that they changed the very core of who and what you thought you were. A part of you was changed by those events, and caused you to define yourself, to some degree by your experience of that event." Upon first glance, it seems rather trite. Why such specific numbers? And just why are they so damned low? People are pretty complex. Does he really think that everything about me can be reduced to 23 items on a bulleted list? It's so psychological and 30-minute-cure at the same time. Nevertheless, I casually asked my wife last night what she thought her 10 defining moments in life were, and surprisingly, it sparked off a very good 2-hour-long conversation that revealed a whole lot about how events have helped shape our personalities. I really enjoyed that conversation. This simple question seems to have an amazing ability to reveal a whole lot about how people got to be who they are. So, I'm asking this question to all of you. For brevity's sake I'm restricting this to just the first one, and i'm not restricting it to ten. What were some of the most defining moments in your life?

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