This Is Me Challenge: Challenge #58--Important Experience

We all have them…those special times in our lives when something seems to just click in our brains or hearts, and our lives are forever changed! Some of them are small, simple things that change our way of thought or an action, and others are huge, life-changing events. Some were good, some were not so good...but we learned something, and came away smarter and better because of it.

What was an important experience you had in your life, and what did you learn from it?

This is kind of a hard one, so here is a list of ideas to help jump-start your mind:

*A college/school course you had
*A special meeting or conference you went to for work or pleasure
*Becoming a parent or grandparent for the first time
*Something that happened with friends
*Learning a new way of life or a change in religious beliefs
*Serving others (service to 3rd world country, religious mission, helping the needy, etc.)
*Being served by others when you needed it most
*A song, poem, story, etc. that have changed your life or outlook
*Being part of a disaster (natural or man-made), or helping those who were
*A conversation with a friend, co-worker or relative that changed your life
*The death of a loved one or even a pet
*Going through a trial you never thought you’d have to face
*A movie or show that may have really gave you a new point of view
*A near-death experience of you or a loved-one
*A terminal illness or bad accident of you or a loved one
*Meeting someone famous or even well-known, and what they said or did
*A miracle that happened to you

I think that should give you an idea or two! And remember, you don’t have to limit this to just one thing…you can always record about any number of experiences you had and what you learned from them!

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What Kim did:

I created a personal/private blog for doing the This is Me Challenge. I like to just write a little about what the challenge is and then find a picture that goes along with it. On my personal blog I like to put personal pictures that correlate with each challenge. If I don't have any pictures that go along with the challenge then I simply go online and find a picture that goes along with it, just to jazz my blog up a little. But I love the challenges and love to keep these things recorded for my family.

If there is one experience that I would want my kids to learn from me it would be an experience from when I was in 6th grade. In 6th grade there was a gal in the school that spread some mean rumors about me. I went from being a "cool" kid, to being one of the "un-cool" kids that nobody wanted to play with. I decided to make friends with the other "un-cool" kids and learned that they really weren't all that bad. It taught me that it is important to be nice to everyone. There really shouldn't be any "un-cool" kids--everyone just wants a friend. I have to admit, that when I was one of the "cool" kids, I didn't really talk to the "un-cool" kids...because I thought it would make me look bad. During this time that I was friends with all the "un-cool" kids I was still very forgiving and nice to all the "cool" kids. My whole 6th grade year the "cool" kids still didn't dare talk to me since I had been put in the "un-cool" group, but I never said anything negative about and never did anything to try to bring down. Instead I would try to serve them and help them when they needed it. Most the time they would either deny letting me help them, or let me help them but then continue to shun me. I simply forgave them and kept saying nice things about all my old friends. For about five months I was classified as "un-cool", I remember writing in my journal how sad I was that all my friends hated me for an untrue rumor. As the year progressed all the students were soon learning that there were lots of rumors being spread by people and that none of them were true. When all my old friends learned that the rumor about me wasn't true; they wanted to be my friend again.

The two most valuable things I learned during this challenging time in my life:
1. Be nice to everyone! People that gossip about you, people that hate you, people that are "un-cool", the "bad kids", the "fat kids", the "kids that pick their noses". Everyone wants a friend. An when you befriend someone who needs a friend.
2. Forgive others. There is no need to hold a grudge against people. When you learn to forgive and serve those that hurt/offend you, a greater friendship can develop.

From 7th-12th grade I got several letters from fellow classmates, teachers, and parents saying how people appreciated and looked up to me because I was friends with everyone. I did not classify people as "the goths" or the "jocks". I was friends to everyone. Now, not everyone liked me, but I truly liked everyone in the school and tried my hardest to never say anything negative about someone. I also got lots of letters from my friends thanking me for forgiving them back in 6th grade. I am very grateful that I had that experience in my life and I'm glad that I learned a valuable lesson from it.

Source

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What Laura did:

Laura just wrote a quick summary of her challenge this month. Moving can take up time, but I love that it's still possible to record something, even when time is short!

There are so many life changing experiences that I have already gone through in the first 40 years of my life. For example, buying my first house, getting married, losing friends, having children, changing jobs multiple times, and even a BIG change that is soon approaching – the move of my family out of the state of NJ, the only state I have ever lived in. I’m leaving behind my parents, my brother and my nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, but I’m looking at the move as a positive one. I can always come back to visit and everyone can visit us too.

I do have to say that one of the biggest life changing experiences in my life, is the loss of my grandmother. My grandmother passed away last March (can’t believe it’s been almost a year). She was in and out of the hospital the last few months of her life, but she always bounced back and returned home.

I went to call her one evening at home to see how she was, and my aunt answered the phone to tell me Gram was going to the hospital yet again. That was the last time I dialed her phone number.

She was admitted to the hospital, and I was able to visit her a few times, but she had tubes down her throat and wasn’t able to actually speak. At first she would use hand gestures to talk and she was able to shake her head to answer questions. But her responding to us ended soon, because she was then sedated and wasn’t responsive.

She ended up passing away, at the age of 90, a few days after my last visit with her. I miss her terribly and think of her every day.

My life lesson from this experience is to spend more time with your loved ones. Don’t put off visiting someone, if it is in your heart to go and see them. I wish that I had seen my grandmother more over the past few years. I would see her during the holidays and during the times she would come up to visit my parents, but that just wasn’t enough.
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What I did:

I actually had a hard time choosing what I was going to record (at least for now, anyway, as I will be doing at least 2 more when I have some more time!). But I narrowed it down to one of my favorite songs, and wrote a little background about what was going on in my life the first time I heard it, and why it meant (and still means) so much to me. Oh, and I did this on a digi-scrap page. This was actually really hard to put up on here, because it’s something I rarely talk about to others, and most people don’t know this about me…even writing it brought tears to my eyes. Sigh. So please, no hate comments that I will have to delete.