What was the turning point in your life?

Failing out of university. Then getting on disability finding Fluther changed my life.

My first memory was wanting to die. My childhood was very hard. At 19, I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior, and that’s what turned my life around. There’s a lot more to the story, but that’s it in a nutshell.

It’s funny…I have had several turning points that ended well. But life isn’t a one-and-done thing. I joined the navy and got a really good education which led to a career. Good. Had to spend long periods of my 20’s underwater. Not so good. Met my wife just before getting out of the navy. Good. Started a good job that led to a good career. Good. 9 years later she is my ex. Actually that is good too, but getting there wasn’t. I got custody of the kids. Good. I was a single dad for years. Okay. Met my current wife. Good. Tried blending the families. Difficult, but ended good. It seems like we go up and down and even good things can, in the long run, turn out to be bad, and bad things can turn out good.

I’ve had a few but moving out of my moms at 17 to live life minus worrying about her alcoholism was a big one. I finally felt free to be happy. The second time I was in a bad place with bad people, I moved out of town to get out of that situation and reinvent myself.

Getting sober in April of 1986 was the single most important event in my life. All the blessings in my life lead from that point.

@Zenvelo Good for you!

I think having our first child. It made me grow up a bit and focus on the fact that it wasn’t all about me. When you have such a small life depending on you totally your views change dramatically.

My 4th grade teacher (Mrs. Butler) told me that I will come to school a half hour early each day to learn how to read. She would’t Take any of my nonsense and really worked closely with me and I started reading very quickly.

From then on I decided to try hard in school and be a good kid. I use to steal, cheat, lie, smoke and generally make everyone’s lives miserable.

Getting my colon removed. If I hadn’t taken that step, my health would have continued to be too poor for me to leave home, get a degree, or work. As it is, I am independent and killing it at my job. I am so thankful every day for my surgeon.

I grew up being teased unmercilessly in school. I had severe emotional issues. Being raised in a very religious family, I was convinced there was something terribly wrong with me, because I couldn’t feel the same belief all the adults in my family seemed to feel. I discovered later that is because I have no “faith”. I even considered committing suicide because I was such a terrible person. Then, I married a young man and became pregnant. When that baby was born, I saw how perfect he was, and I decided to be the mother he deserved. My life changed from that day on.

Probably getting tossed in jail for a night at 18 for the shocking crime of drinking two beers. Pretty well decided I was not ever coming back.

I have been thinking about his question for a while and can’t come up with only a single turning point. There were several times where I made a choice that affected my life down the road.
The time I was offered an elicit drug and I refused. That excluded me from that group and moved me into another, healthier circle of friends.
Deciding to leave my job and venture out on my own. That choice necessitated a medical exam which diagnosed a life threatening condition.
Accepting a fix-up to an office Christmas party which introduced me to my future wife.
Pregnancy and children.

Life is the journey.

I fondled around this question for so long because there are just so many turning point that it’s hard to pick up one. My first turning point was going to the high school and suffering the bully that completely changed my view of people. Then finding this site and finding out that I’m not useless like I thought. Made some friends here who opened my mind up and whose death affected me greatly. And now I’m heading for another turning point in life. I have graduated and it’s time to make a decision of what to do with my life, as my choice in my 20s will have a big impact on the rest of my life.

But I realized that as I become more aware of the world, literally everything can be a turning point. Life is made up of decisions. When you go on a road, you have to constantly choose which turn to take. You may eventually get there but for how long and whether you have a smooth or rough ride totally depend on the turn you choose.

@Mimishi I wish I’d truly grasped that concept at your age. You have a great headstart in that aspect.

When, at age 45, I realized I didn’t need a woman in my life and that being single was heaven!

Getting married. My wife had a baby girl from a previous abusive marriage and she was preggers by me in short order. I had previously been a player and party dude with no thought for tommorow, and despite having better women in my life than I deserved, I had scrupulously avoided commitment. Being faced with being a husband and daddy turned me around. Two kids, six grandkids, and 37 years later I have no regrets.

There isn’t one. Many really. A few really positive ones (dating and marrying my wife, going to college, adopting our daughter), but many really negative ones that shape who I am quite a bit.

Sadly those are all about addiction, mental health, emotional abuse, and death. It’s quite the laundry list starting when I was little and ending with my father’s death in 2008.

I’m only 26, but up to this point, getting diagnosed with a learning disability in math and memory problems has been a huge turning point. After that diagnosis I started to teach myself to draw, and I’ve discovered that I have a lot of potential to be a professional artist. This month I’ve done 4 commissions.

Thanks all for your responses!!

Life iѕ full оf changes, аnуthing аnd еvеrуthing саn affect уоur mind, уоur heart, уоur decisions. I think a turning point соmеѕ whеn уоu realize thаt hоw уоu live уоur life iѕ уоur choice tо make, аnd уоu make thе choice whilе accepting уоurѕеlf аnd taking responsibility fоr уоurѕеlf аnd оthеrѕ аnd fоr аnу consequences оf уоur decision. Evеrу timе уоu make оnе choice, it соuld bе a turning point fоr thе good оr thе bad. People lооk аt turning points аѕ juѕt that, оnе moment in уоur life whеrе уоu changed, but сhаngе hарреnѕ оvеr time. Yоur оnе turning point iѕ rеаllу a culmination оf repeated decisions. Thе turning point оnlу соmеѕ frоm thе strength tо kеер оn making thе right decision day аftеr day, оr thе weakness thаt уоu аllоw tо overcome уоu ѕuсh thаt уоu kеер making thе wrong decisions.

I think thе biggest turning point in mоѕt people’s lives iѕ maturity. It’ѕ whеn уоu apply уоur knowledge оf whаt iѕ right tо уоur actions еvеrу day аnd prove tо оthеrѕ thаt уоu аrе dependable аnd саn tаkе care оf others. Yоu will thеn find meaning in thiѕ life аnd a рlасе in thiѕ world аnd acceptance оf уоurѕеlf аnd thе strength tо handle whаtеvеr comes.