Hey Pandas, What's A Moment That Changed Your Life Forever?

First: Of course the day I met my wife. Living 9000km apart didn't stop us. Met 22 years ago. Married for 18.

2nd: Bringing a dog into our life.

Both the loves of my life.

When I was 8 years old, watching one of those Minecraft skits on youtube with my brother (who was 5), my mother, who was very drunk, was walking our uncle to the bus stop. While walking back, she was struck by a car going 40 miles per hour, flung her nearly 30 feet, and she landed on her head. She was in the hospital for nearly 3 months before she was able to return home to us with a severe Traumatic Brain Injury. She was very confused as to where she was, constantly forgot our names, and confused my dad for other people. After a few months, her brain recovered a little, she could remember our names, and make rational decisions, she had made MAJOR improvements considering it was only a few months. However, she could not be left alone, and therefore, my dad (who was very depressed) could not get a job because our mother required constant attention. We had very little money, and I often was unable to do homework when our wi-fi was cut off. We needed food stamps to get food, and had to go to dollar tree to get things. I required medicine for my ADHD to focus in school (I was such a problem without them, that I was told not to go if I didn't have them). Eventually, my aunt and uncle became our legal guardians, my mom was sent to a place called "The Howard House" (which is NOT a mental asylum, it is a mansion some people decided to open up as a home for people with brain injuries, it has a pool, and a barbeque, and we can visit whenever we want). My dad has a job now, and I live happily with my aunt and uncle now.

When I decided to follow Jesus.

I used to be nasty, unforgiving, aggressive, the lot.

I’m not saying I’m all sweetness and light but Jesus has made
me a better person.

When I developed my fear of glass. An incident left me traumatized and hearing the sound of glass breaking is too f****ng much.

That moment was the day I proposed my crush, she accepted me, and she is now my girlfriend!

The first time someone I knew died. I've had two people die in my life. My friend and my Grandma. Anyways, it was late 2019 and I was in the 6th grade. My grandma was in and out of Hospice and it was a Tuesday, my grandma was coming back home that day so I was all happy, getting to see her and all. I and my sisters were talking about it and it was all good. We were excited to see her again and once we got off the bus, and walked down our driveway to the house, our dad stopped us and told us she had died the night before. So much for getting to see her again :(

The night I got a TBI (traumatic brain injury). At first there was nothing than as years passed the migraines came, along with that the pain behind my eyes. The hardest part is knowing how much I used to know but not knowing anything about what I learned. I am/was a very intelligent person, I had knowledge and skills in varying fields. I can no longer focus on multiple things, I can’t walk away from anything or I will forget. I don’t remember any conversation from yesterday… The real blow is that I am forgetting more and more childhood memories, I sit for hours trying to remember a vision or smell or feeling but nothing just empty… I was alive inside

When i decided to move out of my parents.

I moved out of my parents when i got married but i divorced at age 26, and moved back in .
During that period i ve started a busy professional life that included a lot of traveling and long periods living abroad, so every-time i came home i would stay with them , sometimes for long periods as well, so I didn’t really had a place of my own, ever. This went on for another 10 years.

I reach 35 and felt i never had been by myself. I was totally independent, making very decent money, the fact i had a long distance relationship , also made me not act on it , and somehow i never took that step.

But one day… over a small fight with my mom over nonsense , something snapped, and the following week i had rented an apartment in one of the best spots in town and for another 5 years i had the time of my life. That sense of freedom, at a much wiser age, grew me into a confident self assured women, it upgraded my social skills, my relationships , it made me end a 7 year long relationship that reach a dead end. and I was happy and willingly wanting to be alone, with no significant other, nothing! just me my friends my family my work . I mean it was the most empowering experience i had so far.

Note that i love my parents to death, and they were always the best parents one could wish for. But to break that bond was a life changing moment.

Now close to my 50s i have a family of my own , and even got to have a baby daughter at age 43.

We are never to old!

well, when I was ten I decided to watch Avatar the Last Airbender words were said tears were shed ships were shipped and by golly did I laugh the fandom was pretty chill for the most part. I highly recommend this show to those who like anime or are looking for some new meme material.

The day that my adopted grandmother died. A few days before, I had hugged her for the last time, and she said "thank you for everything, sweetie." I didn't say anything back to her, and 9 years later and I still beat myself up for not saying goodbye the way I should have.

After suffering with mental illness since I was 3 years old, it was the day I realized that the abuse- emotional, mental, physical and sexual- that I grew up with-was nothing I had done. It was not my fault. Slowly, I am healing from it. I'm 67 years old. It's never too late to give yourself the validation and acceptance you deserve but didn't get as a child. I love life and plan to enjoy it every minute I have left.

Idk if this counts but the pandemic messed me up. Not really a moment but a couple of years. I think I am more pessimistic because of it and it kind of messed up my mental health for a bit. not as big as some of the other things but whatever

I know no one will believe me, but the time I actually saw a dragon. It was from a distance but I could still tell. It has inspired my username on here, Discord, Reddit, YouTube, and more and insisting to everyone that I saw it. No one ever believes me :(

I probably wouldnt still be a guitar player if I hadn't heard Black Sabbath when I did.

When I realized eating soap (bar or liquid) was NOT normal for a human being. It’s an eating kinda disorder called pico, where one is obsessed with consuming inedible things. Not a good realization, but at least it’s not the most bodily harming thing I could’ve been obsessed with eating. Although I’ve had my stomach pumped at least 3 times so far…

My kids and I had just left an abusive situation. I had nothing. No job, car, home or family to help me. I spent everyday trying to get stability and it was the most trying time of my life.

I eventually did get a job, car and home which to this day I’m still amazed by. The thing is I had been in survival mode that whole time so I didn’t have time to process the things that happened to me and the things that I had gone through

Now that I could breath it came crashing down on me and I couldn’t handle it. I had a complete mental breakdown and was not functioning well.

I remember it was a Saturday and I was desperate for help and I didn’t know what to do but I remembered my doctors office had urgent care appointments on weekends so I called. The nurse that I spoke to told me mental health issues didn’t constitute as urgent and hung up on me.

I remember curling up in a ball on the floor crying uncontrollably until it hit me. I didn’t want to live like this. I didn’t want to let the person that hurt me continue to hurt me well beyond when I left them. I said to myself my revenge will be to take what they meant to destroy me and use it as motivation to help others and to live life to the best of my ability.

That was almost 6 years ago. I got help and it’s taken a lot of time and effort but I’m in a much better place now.

Oh yeah and I’m going to be finishing my masters in social work next semester :)

when I was born

When my family got evicted from our house, and I went into foster care.

When I was 11 years old, my mother sat me down and told me that my father was in fact very much alive and never died in a car accident like she had previously told me. Then she proceeded to tell me I was going back to her country to meet him. I stopped praying to ‘ my dear father ‘ and God that day.

When I went into my therapists office for the first time. It was maybe 15 years ago. He helped me through some rough years, childhood trauma and so on.
He is the main reason I am alive today and happy! He changed my life completely. Never thought I could have a good life with a husbond I love, kids that I love even more and being both financially stable as well as emotionel stable! Dont want to think what could have happened if I never met my therapist.