Defining moments.....

Defining moments....We've all had them. It's the accumulation of incidents, these moments in our lives that make us who we are today.

Most often it's the subtle things that change our lives. The actions we take when it is either time to step up to the challenge or sit back and do nothing.

Sometimes it's a life or death occurrence that after it happens, we right then and there decide which road we will choose in the future.

I have a friend who was wounded in Vietnam, who I am sure, as he lay recovering in a military hospital, he was sorting out his life's plan.

And sometimes, sadly, we never make the necessary changes until we're on Death's doorstep wondering why we didn't stop the stupid behavior earlier in our lives.

Each day there are more and more stories of drug overdoses happening. Parents, and that's using the term loosely since they are no type of parent I have ever known, "shooting up" in their car while kids sit in the back seat. Getting high at home and overdosing and leaving the survivors to a life of hell.

We've had a couple of incidents locally of stupid teenagers vandalizing schools and personal property and it has reminded me of a time when I had that "moment".

One of the first decisions I had to make on whether I would take the high road and "do the right thing" or follow the pack and take the stupid lane.

Some friends decided to pull a fire alarm and wait and watch the firetrucks show up. I decided to go home and pass on the idea. I'm not sure why, but I guess it was the upbringing and being shown what was right from wrong.

Trust me, I'm not a saint. Never have been. I spent a lifetime of screwing up by making poor choices in life. I've paid the price over and over but usually it was myself that I was hurting and the others around me were what we today now refer to as "collateral" damage.

God has been good to me. I'm still here. I don't make quite as many bad decisions as I used to. I've slowed it down and can now see life from a different perspective.

Do I wish I had done some things differently? Hell, yes. But I guess it's all part of the living process and thank goodness I ended up where I am today.

You can never make anyone change their life by telling them what to do. Preaching, yelling, incarceration doesn't matter to them. It has to come from within.

Why some of us are spared, even if it took years and years of doing the same stupid stuff over and over, I don't know the reason. I'm just thankful I have the chance to tell my stories and they might just make the slightest difference in a person's life.