When was your life transformed?

[TheEngineer 188]

Whether it be the realization of a fundamental truth about the universe, the light of a savior, the loss of one's ego, or an overwhelming and invigorating freedom, many people experience a moment (or perhaps moments) in their lives which completely revolutionizes their perceptions and their mindset. Some call it enlightenment, others salvation, and yet others (including myself) a different kind of personal breakthrough. It occurs in many different cultures and, for each individual, tends to be different.

 

 

I want to hear your story, what changed your life? What was the turning point, feeling, or realization that transformed who you are or how you think?

 

 

Note: This is not a thread for argument. No matter what you believe, I'm interested in hearing your personal story. We are here to share, not to debate. With that being said, I'll go ahead and share my experience.

 

 

My story begins in the summer of 2008, sitting in contemplation in my bathtub at 18 years old. I had been challenged, the previous day by a few non-believers, to think about my religion (Christianity) from the perspective of an outsider. In other words, how would someone who knew nothing about my faith think about it after hearing it for the first time? At the time, and before, I was an extremely serious guy who thought deeply about life and was, to some degree, still a fundamentalist who believed my life mission was to serve God.

 

Ridding myself, as best I could, of my teachings and repeating them to myself while pretending to be someone new to the Western world, I began from Genesis: "So, a talking snake told a man and a woman to eat a fruit which gives them more awareness...". Mid-sentence a strange thing happened, I burst out laughing and I couldn't stop. As I thought further about what I had just stated and the rest of my beliefs, I continued to crack up uncontrollably.

 

In that moment, I realized that 1) I had just become an atheist and 2) I did not have to be scared of God. By laughing at the Bible and God, I realized that I didn't need to be frightened of them and began criticizing my pervious beliefs. Moments later, however, I also realized the implications, socially, of my decision. Life would never be the same. Who could I tell? Would my deeply religious family and friends understand? What about my church community? In a waterfall of nauseatingly extreme emotions, I was drowned in tears, overcome with happiness at my freedom, and enraged at my past indoctrination. Before I set foot outside of that bathroom, I had decided to venture into the vast world of free-thought and never look back, leaving behind the things of my childhood; no matter the cost.

Edited September 8, 2012 by TheEngineer

[Ad Foedera Cresco 188]

My turning point or realisation point was when I realize how much I really was teased and picked on for. I didn't change myself, but I better'd myself over a foundation of who I already am (so to speak). I was very hyper-active when I was little, think Pinkie Pie as a boy but Actually annoying. I was teased for that reason mainly, several reasons fall under that, such as not knowing what to say during most topics and bieng spontanious. I've learned from my mistakes, and I became who I am today. I'm still the same, especially on the inside, and found a better perspective of life and everything and everybody around me through train of thought from past experiences and other's experiences. I hold dearly to the years I was teased and picked on actually, best years of my life! I have high regards that everybody would do or think the same at those kind of times like I and/or others did, but I defend those who are teased and picked on, because I know what it can be like if somebody isn't highly secure. I know it's not really wise to say this, but I've gained a considerably high amount of wisdom for my age through learning from ever experience I could, learning from stories, and even my own thinking when I got lost day dreaming or just thinking. That's how I became who I am today, no regrets and happy to be in the moment.

[Flying Whales 311]

Hmm this is interesting because I don’t think there was ever one particular moment when things just clicked for me but I’ve always had this internal need, even struggle to try and make the world a better place by just being generous, and helpful to others even to my own detriment I’ve always had a vision of a harmonious world one similar to that of Equestria actually. I’ve always been an optimist believing that people are inherently good. This view has gotten me walked all over in the past and that’s okay, people think I’m naive and maybe I am but I’ve always thought why not at least try to strive for a world where we are more helpful, generous and accepting of each other? I guess you could say it’s an ambition of mine to make the world as good of a place I possibly can just by being as pleasant as I can. I’ve shared this view with people before and I’ve gotten straight up laughed at before, but it has always been something I have strove for.

[SonOfTheNorthe 412]

I've never had a life-changing epiphany, but I plan to do half an ounce of shrooms one day, and I'm sure that'll do the trick. Mhmmm.

[Flying Whales 311]

I've never had a life-changing epiphany, but I plan to do half an ounce of shrooms one day, and I'm sure that'll do the trick. Mhmmm.

 

That reminds me of the time that I once tried to eat so many carrots that I would turn orange. I heard that is actually possible.

[Drehgunklew 136]

When I was 10 and said to my mom that I wanted to change gender (from female to male). It was like 1000 pounds just disappeared from my shoulders. My dad hates this, though...

[WordplA 42]

I have an 'epiphany' every year, at least, and ultimately I end up not changing a lick or only changing superficially. Ultimately, I suppose the epiphany I'll need to have is that you simply must deal with the hand you're given. Still trying to find a work around, still ruining my own life in the process. Indeed.

[Ink 191]

When I first discovered the internet, of course. I'm online more than I sleep.

 

I also had a sort of realization similar to the OP, except I've never believed in a God - when I realized that the concept of believing in a religion or not makes no difference and that humans are all stupid. Yeah.

[Evilshy 5,089]

Mine is similar to OPs, except it didn't come all at once. It was a gradual thing. And most of it was a result of becoming more and more interested in science, and seeing how Christianity is quite at odds on many subjects, as well as the numerous hypocrisies. The fact that religion provides little to no evidence to back up its claims was what made me decide that it was wrong. Could there be a god? It's possible, I suppose, but don't expect me to believe in something when there isn't any evidence for it.

 

But my parents are super religious, and I don't make enough money to pay rent and other things, so I can't afford to get kicked out of the house. So I've had to lie about it for the last 5-6 years. And now they've got me going to a church school :/

[I used to be a stranger 7,989]

It patronizes my own life experience to say that any singular point defines me. Real life is not like Cutie-Marks and such; we are the product of every waking moment of our lives. It is true that there are moments that suddenly change our thinking, but those moments have just as big of an impact as the hours and days and weeks of progression that span between them.

 

I became a Christian when I was six years old, but my life never was significantly change until I started being curious as to what being a Christian entailed when I was 17, and that change happened over the course of my reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, which took 5 months (because I suck at reading books.) I imagine my thinking will change even more when I go to Bible School in Germany, and after I read Dostoevsky and Kierkegaard and Aquinas and Augustine and when/if I get married etc. but all of those things are not as instantaneous as the epiphanies of when we take an arrow to the knee, or someone says something very probing.

 

My life is being transformed, and so is yours. Life is dynamic constantly, not static until we reach the next cool thing.

 

 

Mine is similar to OPs, except it didn't come all at once. It was a gradual thing. And most of it was a result of becoming more and more interested in science, and seeing how Christianity is quite at odds on many subjects, as well as the numerous hypocrisies. The fact that religion provides little to no evidence to back up its claims was what made me decide that it was wrong. Could there be a god? It's possible, I suppose, but don't expect me to believe in something when there isn't any evidence for it.

"It's possible, I suppose" suggests a far greater lack of bias than many other people. Even though some very egregious Christians would say that such a testimony as yours is one that should be pitied, I say it is a commendable one, simply in the regard that you state it's possible that you could change, given certain conditions.

I'm sure God is willing to oblige, but definitely not in a way that you expect.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Blue

[Envy 6,004]

I'd have to say my first semester of college and shortly after that. I lived a fairly normal life up to that point. (Yet I did not recognize that, but I'll go into that later) That changed with completely unexpected medical issues. They literally happened right at the beginning of my freshman year of college, in August.

 

Before this point I had dug myself really deep into a hole with my mindset. I had looked at my fairly average life as if it was the bottom of the barrel. I thought it was comfortable to assume that it wouldn't get any worse. Afterwards I realized that is a very stupid thing to assume. You can never assume that things can't get any worse. I've learned that one the hard way.

 

As I said, in my teenage years I was, sadly, like many others - I blew up small issues into much larger issues than they were. For example, social inadequacy - Losing friends, not finding anybody to date. I really let those things get to me. Now I know those were never real reasons to be depressed, or at the very least, not real reasons to claim my life sucked and be anywhere near suicidal. They're temporary issues... Things that everybody deals with, as well.

 

How have I changed? One way is getting very upset when I see others act the way I did... And being on forums like this exposes me to a lot of this... And believe it or not I still see people IRL in or around my age (low 20s) acting like this.

 

Okay, that's not really a change. It's a natural progression. The one way I changed is that I learned to stop assuming I will always have an tomorrow. Literally when I think a few months ahead of time I don't assume I will, for sure, be around then. I know that probably nobody assumes that they will for sure be around then, but I mean I consciously recognize it. But that's probably because I have to.

 

Coming to that recognition has pushed me to finally put everything into striving for something. If anybody has read practically any of my posts, you probably know what I'm talking about. The truth is that if all of this hadn't happened to me I might have completely given up on music by now. Beforehand I struggled a lot to even see what I was doing wrong, so I just looked at it as me simply being inadequate (which was another thing which made me depressed back then lol). I did not see what I didn't understand (okay that sounds dumb, but you know what I mean) and did not see that I still had so much work to do. Once I saw tangibly what I was doing wrong, it made me go for it. And if I get past that goal, I want to become a teacher, to be able to help others that are like me - caring, but not understanding what was wrong.

 

Lol that was a mess... But I swear I have a point somewhere in there. =P

[Lost Profile 644]

My story starts way back when I was 5ish... My dad was teaching me how to fish... Untill he "acsdently" pushes me into the high current river... Then... There were some court stuff...

 

Then I lived with my aunt and uncle... Untill I moved out...

It was hard... I guess.

[Viscra Maelstrom 3,718]

the whole year of 2011. it completely changed my goal in life, me as a person, and i learned sooooo many things about myself i had no idea about. case in point, read this whole fucking post for the whole story.

[Evilshy 5,089]

"It's possible, I suppose" suggests a far greater lack of bias than many other people. Even though some very egregious Christians would say that such a testimony as yours is one that should be pitied, I say it is a commendable one, simply in the regard that you state it's possible that you could change, given certain conditions.

I'm sure God is willing to oblige, but definitely not in a way that you expect.

 

Thank you.

There is very little I like to be certain about. You never know when there is some little detail you missed that can result in huge changes. The fact that the existence of God, according to many religions, isn't someone/something that can be proven or dis-proven by scientific means makes me even less comfortable with being 100% either way.

[Finesthour 7,284]

My life was changed when the fire nation attacked.

 

I was just a lowly villager in my home in Alaska, when my brother and I found this boy frozen in ice.

We got him out, and soldiers came to attack us.

 

The boy was taken away, but came back to us a hero.

We set off on a grand adventure to save the world from the fire nation.

 

And even know the boy does not know the elements yet, we know he is destined to save the world.

 

I met the Avatar.

 

I said this because nothing has changed my life so far, as I have barely lived yet.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Princess Hime

[TheEngineer 188]

It patronizes my own life experience to say that any singular point defines me. Real life is not like Cutie-Marks and such; we are the product of every waking moment of our lives. It is true that there are moments that suddenly change our thinking, but those moments have just as big of an impact as the hours and days and weeks of progression that span between them.

 

I became a Christian when I was six years old, but my life never was significantly change until I started being curious as to what being a Christian entailed when I was 17, and that change happened over the course of my reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, which took 5 months (because I suck at reading books.) I imagine my thinking will change even more when I go to Bible School in Germany, and after I read Dostoevsky and Kierkegaard and Aquinas and Augustine and when/if I get married etc. but all of those things are not as instantaneous as the epiphanies of when we take an arrow to the knee, or someone says something very probing.

 

My life is being transformed, and so is yours. Life is dynamic constantly, not static until we reach the next cool thing.

 

"It's possible, I suppose" suggests a far greater lack of bias than many other people. Even though some very egregious Christians would say that such a testimony as yours is one that should be pitied, I say it is a commendable one, simply in the regard that you state it's possible that you could change, given certain conditions.

I'm sure God is willing to oblige, but definitely not in a way that you expect.

 

Right, and I'm not saying that it has to be a moment; but I've heard from a lot of people before who have experienced that sort of thing. The reason I put this up is because it is common, but you are right: most of the time personal change comes slowly and is complex. There were, of course, prior stages to my own story.

 

What I'm really trying to do here is get a better glimpse of the human condition by asking for the personal experiences of others.

Edited September 8, 2012 by TheEngineer

[Nah 3,181]

It happened in 2010, I was 15 at the time and realized one day, I don't need to be religious, for the previous 15 years I just thought I was religious because my parents were religious.

 

Sadly I have to lie about it because I'm an agnostic and my parents think I'm religious.

 

But my parents are super religious, and I don't make enough money to pay rent and other things, so I can't afford to get kicked out of the house. So I've had to lie about it for the last 5-6 years. And now they've got me going to a church school :/

 

[Cupcake Ice Cream 436]

I say it is happening now and has been for many years. I don't see a single moment changing me so radically...rather it is a series of experiences that roll with me and help me form the person i am....so my moment is happening now...and it keeps going

[I used to be a stranger 7,989]

The thing that's changed me the most (ignoring Biblical effects, or books written upon exegesis thereof) would be the internet.

From this, I've come to realize two things chiefly:

 

One, anyone can be convinced of anything. Regardless of how logical or illogical, stupid, brilliant, evidence or delusional, people can devote themselves to the strongest and wildest things. Moreover, people can spend outrageous amounts of money in these things. Massive government projects researching LSD, expensive aircraft testing the possibility of "quiet" sonic booms, "religions" that hold-as-true historically catalogued fact that their canon is based upon fiction or comedy (Pastafarianism, Scientology, &c.), conspiracy theories for every batshit idea under the sun. If I wanted to be an inciting ass, I'd mention Atheism as "something people can be convinced of" but I think it just goes better as how Chesterton put it: It's the manliest truth claim after Dualism, if Christianity is false. Additionally, people who are genuinely bad at something or unknowledgeable about something can also genuinely believe they are talented or insightful. (Hence Sturgeon's Law.)

These things have come about from browsing forums and meeting people who believe in "The Power of the Crystals' Energy", actually fervently hold into Moon Landing Conspiracies, and loons from Wicca, Satanism, Atheism, Christianity, Islam and non-religious un-religious anti-relgious (&c.) morons who think there is actually a philosophical standpoint in the middle of nowhere that allows them to sneer at any metaphyiscal considerations of any kind (Hence trolls.) It's also explained to me how so many people can make art or fan-fiction or frag videos and actually think they're really good, even when juxtaposed to real artists or whatever else.

 

It's lead me to realize the importance of rational argument and research into the background of what I think and believe, logical introspection of myself, and the patience to seek understanding and research in order to verify the authenticity and accuracy of things I do, think or know.

Example: I know that Space begins at an altitude of 100 kilometers (328,000 feet) because that's where the Kármán line is, according to Standards Internationale.

Example: I believe that Christianity is true because it has the most comprehensive and existentially satisfying claim for Absolute Truth and has the greatest explanatory power into the nature of the Universe than any other that I've examined or as far as they've been presented to me. (Evidence never comes to you; don't be so lazy. You have to find it.)

 

Two: the majority of internet users just want to be entertained. Be it Youtube, status updates on TwitFaceblr, DeviantArt, Internet Forums of every stripe, 4chan, Torrents or Blogs, people just want to escape from every day pressure and stress in order to talk about whatever. If that involves talking about or looking at carburetors, beer, broadsword technique, ponies, pasta, parachutes or porn, people just want to "get away from it all".

Unfortunately, entertainment unrestrained by morality or ethic can cause numerous things that people can find problematic. Debates, complaining, rage and confrontation seem to be things people do very often for some unknown subconscious pleasure whilst making a terror to themselves and others. (Not to say Debating is bad in of itself. Just flagrant hot air sprayed between people doesn't really do anything even if it's highly comprehensive and well researched.) This also all says nothing on my stance of materials which people peruse as 'harmless or permissible' but could be hotly contended otherwise.

 

These things I probably would have learned through the course of life, probably some time in College through social faux-pas or just talking to people that one might summarize as "stupid", but I'm thankful I got it from Internet Forums first. And not dangerous, crazy ones, mind. Simpler, calmer, idler ones (while they lasted) hither and thither.

Thankfully this is the most calm of any forum I've been on, relative to its size.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Blue

[~Sugar Sprinkles~ 637]

Mine begins when I began dating my Ex. Well, at first he was okay and I thought he was sweet. I really dated him cause I was guilted and he had a BIG crush on me. So..I felt bad. Anyways, we began dating for about 4 months and then we started to argue A LOT. After, I knew, it was NOT going to work out. So, I tried to break up and tell him that if we keep arguing, it just won't work. When I confronted him, I was trying to be nice and have him realize that it just won't work. He flipped out and started saying he was going to "kill" himself. So at first I got worried and kind of stayed (Very stupid of me, I know, dont throw hate comments). The over the same year, he got aggressive. As in, he grabbed me, pushed me, forced me, and was abusive. Every time I tried to leave him, he threatened me and stuff. It made me fear. Then along the way, I did start crushing on another boy, because I just could not bare my Ex. I was just friends with my crush, cause obviously, I could not date him. Me and my crush knew that we liked eachother, but I was miserable cause I actually liked him. Then one day, my Ex started to be a total douche all day to. He screamed in my face, called me cuss words, abused me, and threatened me. I ran out of his house, my crush was there beside me, helping me. Then my Ex ran up to me demanding me to come to him at once. I cried and got scared. My crush ran up to him yelling at him to stay away from me and they both almost got into a fist fight. My Ex then gave up, and I dumped him with the help of my guy. I am dating him now, because he is my hero. He saved me from that monster. (Note that I did not cheat on my ex, even if I did, he deserved it). The End C:

[The Razor Wing 879]

It was 6th grade for me. I had moved to a new place a year ago and was not liking the new place we moved to. I was much different than the other kids. I was the one black kid that did not "act black" at that age. After that i started to think "is this really how the world sees me, just another black kid"? I did not let it get to me and just kept going on with what i was doing. A few months later i had a "problem" with some of the other students. I was not a fighter because when i got in fights i did not know how to stop, so i was like a guy version of Fluttershy minus the shy. So when ever i would have "problems" with these other students i would suppress it and hide it away in the back of my mind. But then one day it got taken to far. The "problem maker" thought it would be funny to slap me and run. He was smart about it and did it while we were changing classes. As he ran i walked behind him with a chain in my hand ready to kill him with it. But then i was going to be late for class, so i would just go over his head and went to a teacher. But she would not listen to me at all. So after that day i did not bring my problems to adults, i dealt with them myself. Over the next year i started to feel myself care less about the world around me. If it did not deal with me in any way i could care less about it..By the time i hit high school i had gained a lot of wisdom for my age. I had changed into that guy who could tell you about life and show you a way to make it better. But then life really opened my eyes when i had my heart broken for the first time along with the death of a close family member. It made me colder but opened my mind to the world and the people in it. "If you put trust in one person be ready to fall hard when they let you down" by. Jeremy D. Little. After i wrote that i kept writing and learning the truth. I still write to this day. And the world is not all that bad. Its like a cold flat soda, it may have taste but there is not a lot of flavor in it.