What was the best epiphany you've had?

[Too Far From Home]

Live in this moment - life is finite, and every second wasted is a tragedy.

Children are CHILDREN - let them behave that way. Too soon, they will have the lives and responsibilities of adults.

Nothing makes you feel better than helping someone else. Searching for happiness? Volunteer

 

[Too Far From Home]

...My epiphany is 'don't waste it.' Don't waste it mad. Don't waste it mixed up in drama. Don't waste it chasing the all mighty dollar. Don't waste anything. Use the good china. Go ahead and cut the flowers and bring them into the house! Don't work so much. Live more, love more. Forgive more. Just don't waste it.

Amen

 

[snapppyd]

I realized my sister is a toxic person, and for the sake of my health and sanity I will limit my exposure to her in the future.

Oh, and life's too short to drink bad wine

 

[Ginny Favers]

I've had several over the years.

Once, as a child, my father did something very stupid that nearly got him arrested and I realized that parents did NOT know everything.

When I was pregnant, I realized that THAT was what my body was made for, NOT for looking hot on a beach.

Lately I've been down about my career, and this weekend I had another one, while, of all things, watching BRIDESMAIDS. Everything is going wrong in the main character's life, and one of the others characters says, "You know what your problem is? YOU are your problem. But YOU are also your solution." That is SO perfect. Because hardships will happen to everyone; it's the way we choose to react to them that can make all the difference. We can either wallow and stay miserable, or pull ourselves up on our own.

 

[yoopermom]

I tend to be a perfectionist/planner/control freak/etc/etc, so my mantra when I'm feeling overwhelmed is, "I will never experience another (current day,time of day, date). So what should I choose to do RIGHT NOW?" It always brings me back to living in the moment.

Terri

 

[Minnesota!]

Live simply, love easily, laugh lots...

Cherish the little things...

Hang on to every second

God Bless the Broken Road

and finally

Every action I take leads me to where I am supposed to be. I believe all my actions in my life led me to here. The heartbreaks I have endured (deaths, miscarriages, etc) have led me to be where I am - mom of 2 amazing kids, fantastic hubby, great life. Had one of my miscarried babies survived....I would not have the kids I do. And that is heartbreaking.

 

[IUTBAM]

Wow, I love this thread. I really do.

A few epiphanies I've had...not monumental, but thought-provoking for me:

1. Sometimes you can try hard, do what you are supposed to do, and still not get respect from those who are supposed to love you unconditionally. When that happens, you have to let it go, and move on. It's their loss.

2. God does answer all prayers...sometimes God says no.

3. As trite as it may sound, everything really does happen for a reason. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.

4. If you aren't hungry enough to eat an apple, you aren't hungry.

 

[Katy Belle]

I've had a few...

I was always worried, my mom worried, I worried, about LOTS of things. A few months after we married, I was 20, I woke DH up in the night worrying about something. He said, "If there is something you can DO about it, get up and DO IT right now. If not, then you are fretting, and fretting gets you no where." True, true. Changed my life.

The phone is for YOUR convenience, not for the convenience of others. Only answer it when YOU want to. Freeing.

Family is the people who love you and treat you right. Just because there is a blood relationship, doesn't mean you are obligated to have a relationship with a toxic person. SIL is toxic, and for about 9 years now I have remained polite, but distant, like an acquaintance. Freeing. And I have MANY friends that I LOVE, and treat like family.

Love your husband. Love is a verb.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

As a warning, I am just going to say once I start typing this, it could get long.

My major life epiphany came in 2004. As back story, my childhood was not the best, and as it has been said children learn what they live, I had learned quite a few negative things over the years. I carried an extreme need to prove myself, to be perfect, not cause trouble, and to be the peacemaker. I had enormous guilt and suffered from depression often. I was also very unhealthy by 2004, with my 2nd occurrence of cancer. I had so many positive lymph nodes, things looked so bleak. Part of me had given up and was ready to go. I wrote my own obituary. I planned my own funeral. And I waited. During that whole time, I forgot to LIVE, to enjoy what I had and realize the blessings that were staring me in the face. One Friday night (Oct. 2004), during our normal family Friday movie and game night, a friend and former neighbor dropped by our house to visit. We thought he was drunk and wouldn't let him leave later on and let him go to bed in one of the kids' rooms for the night. Well, he died. The next morning, we needed to get into that room to get ready for football/cheerleading and I had my husband go in to wake him. He was gone. His death changed everything for me. God took someone from my home....it could have been me. I had to quit wasting time, I had to wake up and smell the roses. So I did.

You know that Tim McGraw song, 'Live like you were Dying'? Well, that's how I started living. And I got better. I did! By early '06, there were no more cancer cells! Power of positive thinking, baby!!!

My epiphany is 'don't waste it.' Don't waste it mad. Don't waste it mixed up in drama. Don't waste it chasing the all mighty dollar. Don't waste anything. Use the good china. Go ahead and cut the flowers and bring them into the house! Don't work so much. Live more, love more, learn more. Forgive more. Just don't waste it.

That is amazing to me! Your a strong person

My moment came to me when my dh and I were going through a really difficult time in our marriage about 5 years ago. I went away for a long weekend to really think things through about whether or not I wanted to stay married to him or not. I didn't come to any realization while I was away like I had thought I would. It came to me on my drive home from work one day and it was that we love the ones we hurt the most because we are so close to them. I realized that no matter what he had done to me, I loved him more than I hated him and I realized that you have to work really hard and be present to make the things you wanted the most to work out. After that moment or minutes, I came home and have given the best of me and the worst of me to him and we have finally come to a place where we can support each other. This helps me in my life with other relationships as well.

 

[Robinrs]

My Mom was the wisest woman I know. Brilliant in life, never even graduated high school! She married my Dad at 16 they were married 60 years when they both passed away 6 months apart.

I always said I'd was going to write a book called the Wit and Wisdom of Jackie... she had SO MANY good ones.

The ones I live for till this day:

You TELL people how to treat you. (your reactions get a like reaction. If you feel like a doormat, people will treat you like one.. if you act like a winner, people will treat you like you are one)

NEVER expect anyone to take care of you. (God bless the child who has her OWN!)


My Dad was a strong silent type. Very few words, but the ones he did say AFFECTED you.

My Dad told me the day we rode away from his youngest brother's grave (he was 33 and a soldier) that God knows the day you are born and the day you will die. No one is promised tomorrow.

Little did I know that YEARS later when I buried my 3 day old son that those words would sustain me. They sustain me till this day.

After my son died, a woman who lost her son in 1961 told me when I asked her "when will I stop crying?'... You will never stop crying, but the time between the cries will grow longer and longer.

What a blessing that was. It made me realize that I was not crazy!

Every nugget of wisdom is important. It may not change your life today, but it will be filed away safely till the day you need it.

 

[alex9179]

I have similar moments as some other posters. One of my biggest came when I was having a religious crisis, and since I've never been religious it really threw me for a loop! I was so worried that what I believed, or didn't, would doom my soul.
I was watching a TV show, "Mysteries of the Bible" I think, and heard a passage from the gospel of Thomas paraphrased. God is in and around everything. I realized that all life is a part of the whole and that it's not possible for my soul to end up anywhere but with God. Life's energy cannot be separated, only shared.
I'm still not religious, but I AM at peace and marvel at creation.

Another is that perfection is ephemeral at best. Besides, we don't reach our potential in perfection.

My most recent is that I can't make people happy. It's NOT about me! We became kinship foster parents a few years ago and I tried so hard to make good decisions and take into account how everyone would feel. If we were choosing something that could upset another party, I would talk to them about the reasons and try to get a dialogue going. All my agonizing was a wasted effort and caused some unpleasant physical side effects in my body. Some of our relatives broke off contact, one made mild threats. I could not understand why these people refused to even TALK about it. I had thought that I influenced them some way, that it was my fault relationships were imploding. It was conceit on my part, they were and are responsible for their actions and feelings. Overall, my part was incidental to what they were going through. It's not about me

 

[Robinrs]

As a warning, I am just going to say once I start typing this, it could get long.

My major life epiphany came in 2004. As back story, my childhood was not the best, and as it has been said children learn what they live, I had learned quite a few negative things over the years. I carried an extreme need to prove myself, to be perfect, not cause trouble, and to be the peacemaker. I had enormous guilt and suffered from depression often. I was also very unhealthy by 2004, with my 2nd occurrence of cancer. I had so many positive lymph nodes, things looked so bleak. Part of me had given up and was ready to go. I wrote my own obituary. I planned my own funeral. And I waited. During that whole time, I forgot to LIVE, to enjoy what I had and realize the blessings that were staring me in the face. One Friday night (Oct. 2004), during our normal family Friday movie and game night, a friend and former neighbor dropped by our house to visit. We thought he was drunk and wouldn't let him leave later on and let him go to bed in one of the kids' rooms for the night. Well, he died. The next morning, we needed to get into that room to get ready for football/cheerleading and I had my husband go in to wake him. He was gone. His death changed everything for me. God took someone from my home....it could have been me. I had to quit wasting time, I had to wake up and smell the roses. So I did.

You know that Tim McGraw song, 'Live like you were Dying'? Well, that's how I started living. And I got better. I did! By early '06, there were no more cancer cells! Power of positive thinking, baby!!!

My epiphany is 'don't waste it.' Don't waste it mad. Don't waste it mixed up in drama. Don't waste it chasing the all mighty dollar. Don't waste anything. Use the good china. Go ahead and cut the flowers and bring them into the house! Don't work so much. Live more, love more, learn more. Forgive more. Just don't waste it.

Awesome story!

 

[Teresa Pitman]

When my marriage broke up, I was left with four young kids. I had a patchwork of part-time jobs to try and make ends meet (I'd been a full-time, homeschooling mother previously, and it took two years to get through the court process and get any child support). It was a huge struggle to care for the kids, earn enough money, look after the house, etc. I tried to make lists and set priorities, but one day I realized that some very important, even essential things were NOT GOING TO GET DONE. You can only do what you can do. That helped me feel more at peace with the situation.



Teresa

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

My best epiphany was two weeks ago when I realized I didn't want to spend 8 of the last 20-30 years I might have left living with a man who never has and never will treat me well enough.

Finito, done even trying. Next chapter, hopefully begins soon.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Most people are bad drivers. Once you realize the fact you can't make everyone drive better, you learn to prepare FOR it rather than react TO it. Always assume everyone else on the road is a moron and do your best not to be in the way when they do something stupid. It will not only make you safer, but more stress free.

Random acts of kindness are their own reward.

 

[Disney Doll]

For life in general:
The will of God will not take me where the grace of God will not protect me.

and

For those times when my "worrywart" comes out:
Don't bleed until you get shot.

 

[Kady]

1. I was 19 weeks pregnant and going for my first (and only I thought) ultrasound. SURPRISE - TWINS! Holy shnizzle. I was terrified. How were we going to do this? How were we going to pay for two babies? How was I going to care for 2 babies and a 3 year old? What kind of sick joke is this? A week later I have my first appointment with my awesome wonderful obstetrician. She walks in and says, "Two for the price of one!" I said, "Yeah, yay for me." She said, "Do you know how many people who would love to be in your shoes right now?" And at that moment I realized get over yourself. And strangely enough the twins were easier than my first and we made it through just fine.

2. When my son was 2 1/2 I had an "epiphany/breakdown" at work. He had always had issues. We kind of just thought he was difficult, high strung etc. Talking to my sister that day at work and she said, "You know, it sounds like autism." I immediately googled (not always the best thing to do I know) and it was like an out of body experience when I read what was essentially my son. I freaked out and cried and had my little emotional breakdown. She said, "You know, there are far worse things that can happen. He doesn't have cancer. He's not going to die. It could be so much worse." And it could be. And he's a fabulous quirky little 8 year old goof now! I cannot imagine him any other way.

3. At my step-father's mother's funeral (who EVERYONE called Nana) she had written something to be read at her service. The one part that sticks me is she said, "All of my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, I love you all and I except you exactly the way you are." Everyone bawled. She was not much with the spoken word in life, but those are words to live by and I plan to do that.


Little nuggets from my dad..."A place is what you make it." "Do it like as if you know what you're doing." "Do the best you can, that's all anyone can ask."

 

[palmtreegirl]

...

 

[Luv Bunnies]

1. I was 19 weeks pregnant and going for my first (and only I thought) ultrasound. SURPRISE - TWINS! Holy shnizzle. I was terrified. How were we going to do this? How were we going to pay for two babies? How was I going to care for 2 babies and a 3 year old? What kind of sick joke is this? A week later I have my first appointment with my awesome wonderful obstetrician. She walks in and says, "Two for the price of one!" I said, "Yeah, yay for me." She said, "Do you know how many people who would love to be in your shoes right now?" And at that moment I realized get over yourself. And strangely enough the twins were easier than my first and we made it through just fine.

2. When my son was 2 1/2 I had an "epiphany/breakdown" at work. He had always had issues. We kind of just thought he was difficult, high strung etc. Talking to my sister that day at work and she said, "You know, it sounds like autism." I immediately googled (not always the best thing to do I know) and it was like an out of body experience when I read what was essentially my son. I freaked out and cried and had my little emotional breakdown. She said, "You know, there are far worse things that can happen. He doesn't have cancer. He's not going to die. It could be so much worse." And it could be. And he's a fabulous quirky little 8 year old goof now! I cannot imagine him any other way.3. At my step-father's mother's funeral (who EVERYONE called Nana) she had written something to be read at her service. The one part that sticks me is she said, "All of my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, I love you all and I except you exactly the way you are." Everyone bawled. She was not much with the spoken word in life, but those are words to live by and I plan to do that.


Little nuggets from my dad..."A place is what you make it." "Do it like as if you know what you're doing." "Do the best you can, that's all anyone can ask."

That's such an awesome attitude! I feel the same way about my son who has Asperger's. His quirks and unique outlook on life make him who he is. I see parents everyday in my job who are constantly trying to "fix" their kids. Therapy is a great tool, but some kids are so "over-therapied" and their parents are constantly correcting them that they don't ever get to be themselves. The parents are miserable. The kids are miserable. I love it when people embrace their kids' differences and recognize how special they are!

 

[KristaTX]

For those times when my "worrywart" comes out:
Don't bleed until you get shot.

I like that! As a worrier, I am going to try to remember that one.

For me I guess it was when I realized that God isn't waiting for us to cross all our t's and dot all our i's before He/She loves us. God already does love us. The basic rules (commandments, some would call them) are just there to help us avoid experiencing pain or inflicting pain upon others, much like loving parents teach their own children.