What moments have defined me? This is the daily service vloggas with Anthony Fungini. Let me name just at the top of my head my five most defining moments in my life. One, I already mentioned yesterday, repeating nursery.
No, no, no, I didn't talk about repeating. I made a vow in grade one. So that's my first repeating nursery in my mother's own school. They say it was my age, I used to be young, but come on.
That defined me, seeing my classmates move on. Number two is joining an international student organization that I got involved in for years. Ending a long romantic relationship. That was tough.
Accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. And finally, marrying my wife, Mary Sel. Of course I had to add that. Can you name your top five?
Perhaps getting lost in a theme park at the age of five, like bench, my son. Accelerating, right? A year level in school, leaving all your classmates behind. Was it the loss?
I love one. Being unjustly accused for something at work. Or surviving a major accident or a health scare. The earlier years of our lives, in fact, the first seven, are quite defining.
Not just as a moment, but as a period in our lives. That's why they're called the formative years. They serve as foundations for our characters in the decades to come. The principle, the psychological principle of transference, that the way we treat our current relationships is largely impacted by the way our primary caregivers treated us the first seven years of our lives.
So we're transferring that to our present relationships. We are projecting to them what happened to us earlier. Bring the unconscious, or the past, to the realm of the present, the conscious, where you can deal with it. I mean, not to dwell in it, but if only to acknowledge it, to talk about it.
And it's lasting impact on your life. Facebook CEO Cheryl Sandberg talks about a major defining or a redefining moment in her life in her book, Option B, which was the sudden death of her husband while they were on vacation. And you know, the three things that she actually got out of that painful experience, facing adversity, building resilience. And listen to this, finding joy.
What are your top five defining moments? If you want a process, I'd write at least 20, personal, relational, professional. Then I would choose the top five, looking at what has the most impact on my life today, right? Meaning a major change or transformation that they cost in my life, perhaps even in the lives of those close to me.
Then when I've chosen the top three or five, I'd write down the positive contributions they have had for me. I'd note the negative implications that I need to acknowledge. Yes, maybe even grieve over or guard against. And then I'd probably share this with a few trusted souls and reflect with them on how these things can be used to my advantage and for others to benefit from in the future.
J.M. Green, there is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in. Tomorrow we look at how we can create better defining moments today.