Who or what has changed your life for the better??

There are many life events and people that have changed my life for the better. Some of the people and things are very positive and some are very negative. It is odd that many negative events have had a great positive effect on me. I want to mention one event that changed my life for the better. I just turned 18 and was a senior in High School. One day in early March, before my graduation, I received a nice invitation to Join the Army by taking my physical. I panicked and joined the Navy Reserve the next day with the stipulation that I would be able to finish H.S. Four days after graduation, I was in boot camp. I grew up quickly. Boot camp is not an especially pleasurable experience, but it helped me to realize I was free to be me.

I can think of perhaps 3 that have been almost indespenceble.
angels or agents of source that i needed to at least get as far as today,
will write something tommorrow.
good topic

In response to Lake Placid’s post:

Can’t wait to hear about it…

In response to Lake Placid’s post when#post114583:

Isn’t it strange that something as simple as a cassette recording helped change your life. It’s like a small piece of the puzzle of your life that set into motion more meaningful pieces like the book signing and now you’ve met this gentleman who I suspect help you put together a more complete picture of who you are today.

I am anxious to find out who this author is and what book he wrote and what happens next…?

So now I had graduated from high school and was in the Navy Reserve. To begin my active duty I was sent to San Diego and held in transit for several weeks. There I met my uncle who had retired from a long career in the navy and spent many hours talking to him. I was really impressed with his service and wanted to follow in his footsteps. Then whoosh, I was off to serve on a land base in the Phillipines for two years. I had hardly been out of my home state much less out of the country. Those two years changed my life forever. I was stationed on an air base and assigned to the Air Navigation Office. We were an emergency distribution center for land, sea, and air charts and maps. The center had to be manned 24 hours a day. After a couple of weeks I started my normal rotation of duty. That being I worked every day there during normal hours and every 4th day I stayed there during the night. We housed over two million different maps and charts- land,sea, and air coverage-mostly Southeast Asia. Vietnam Nam was in full force. Remember I had been there only a month or so when I changed forever. It was after hours and I was alone in the office. Suddenly a helicopter landed outside and a very excited pilot rushed in demanding a chart of the bay. Never mind he was cussing like a sailor, “ give me a $&@)(;: map of the bay.” Well, I didn’t know which bay he was referring to as I had charts of many bays. So I asked which bay sir and he pointed out my door and said, “ That #%*#%*bay you #%^%%#%^idiot.” So with great relief, I rushed into the back and picked up naval charts # 91286 and 91289. Both charts of Subic Bay. He grabbed them and was gone. The next day I found out they were unable to rescue the jet pilot that had crashed a few miles outside of our base. That really got to me. I thought if I had been quicker at getting the charts, that pilot would not have died. From that day forward, I studied the locations of our charts and within a few months, I could find almost any chart quicker than anyone in the office. To be continued…

Loving Bmindful!!! Great topic!!! Tremendous contributions from everyone! Thank you all for sharing so openly!!!
…& I too want to hear the rest of Lake Placid’s post & Poppy who left us off at a major cliffhanger… (:In response to Lake Placid’s post:
Thank you Lake Placid. I’m looking forward to the next pieces/parts of your story when you choose too(: I appreciate your sharing and you sound like you have quite a few pearls coming up(:

If I had been quicker at getting the charts, that pilot would not have died. From that day forward, I studied the locations of our charts and within a few months, I could find almost any chart quicker than anyone in the office. So for the next four months I worked hard and studied for my first advancement exam. I was going to make the navy a career. Exams were given only twice a year or maybe only once a year—I don’t quite remember. But the point is I had studied hard and prepared for advancement. I had to have my immediate supervisor recommend me for advancement. When I submitted the paperwork to him he refused to recommend me for advancement. He said I was a reserve and he would never recommend me for advancement. I was crushed. This chief petty officer was not nice to say the least. He must have seen how hurt I was and he started abusing me verbally and physically. By physically, I mean he would make me get on my knees and dust under every row of shelves twice a week. This lasted for over a year. I grew to hate the man and the navy. When it was time for me to exam again, he recommended me for advancement and I told him I would not take the test.. That didn’t go over so well. He made me take it. So I deliberately answered as many questions wrong as I possibly could. When the results came in, I was called into the Commanders office and asked to explain myself. I told him what I had done and why I did it. Within the week that chief petty officer had new orders and was shipped out. My tour of duty ended abruptly as the Vietnam war was ending. I knew I would never let anyone abuse me again and I knew I was bright. I had managed learning a complex system of warehousing millions of charts. My life really had changed. I now had a tremendous desire to go to college and continue my education. There was only one little detail in my way. I also had learned that I had come from a very poor family and I had no real work skill other than dusting under shelves. And I had no money to start school. To be continued…( don’t worry, I’m not going to tell my life story)

So sometimes the most negative experiences and the least positive person you are around, are the best positive life changing things that can happen.

On with my story but in much less detail. … No money. There just wasn’t any. So I took the first job I could get. It was working in a roofing factory making asphalt shingles. I worked for a year and a half saving every penny I could. I worked double shifts whenever possible. Finally I thought I had saved enough to start college. So cash in hand I went up to a state college to enroll. I had all of the required paperwork and was ready to give it a go. I had met above the minimum standard on my SAT and when I I tried to pay my admission fees, I was told I couldn’t enroll because I didn’t have the pre-requisite courses from H.S. I had worked to hard to just accept a rejection so I asked if there was anyone I could talk to to plead my case. I was told the dean of admissions. I went straight up to his office, knocked on the door and entered with fee in hand. Laying the money on his desk I said to him that it was costing him nothing to let me in and I deserved a chance to prove myself. He didn’t say a word at first, scribbled a note on a slip of paper and then told me to take it back down to the admission clerk. I did as I was told and was a new college student. My life had changed once again.

In response to Poppy’s post:

There have been other life changing events and people in my life, most more positive than my rough beginning, but I don’t want to risk being a bore. What I would really like is for you to share a life changing story yourself.

In response to Poppy’s post:
I hope others share too…Though I find your writing and your life(and thoughts about it) very interesting(: Wonderful thread!

In response to Lake Placid’s post:

In one way or another, I think we all have some sort of addiction. One of mine is sugar. I love black and white food-bread, rice, potatoes, chocolate, ice cream, cookies, and being diabetic, that’s not a good thing. So I think I can relate a little concerning your struggle.

I am intrigued by your conclusion that some of your life changing events have had a component of Devine grace. I say this because I have never equated my life changing events as Devine intervention. But now that you have opened that idea, I can think back when things have happened in my life that must have been miraculous. I do hope you will share more or your story. It is my belief that when I open up my heart reviewing my humanity, it serves a duel purpose. First, it offers new thoughts to relate to our own life journey and it soothes the hurt we have experienced through our own decisions and feelings we have created.

I think we both have brave, trusting hearts.

In response to ‘Just’ For Me’s post:
You may have heard the quote“of course i made plenty of mistakes,life
doesn’t come with instructions”
As a kid 8 years old approximately,i would drink on festive occasions
when my parents and aunts and uncles were drinking.
my mother said in later years i was quiet and introverted basically,
but everytime i drank some kind of booze at christmas etc.
like a light switch i seem to be happy joyous and free.
i didn’t really like the taste of alcohol beer wine etc.but i liked the effect for sure.i was it seemed genetically predisposed to alcoholism.
what i know for sure was i was unequivically a practicing alcoholc from
20 to 30 years of age.So FF 35 yrs. old i’ve been sober 3 years and as
usual doing my best to stay sober.as i remember it i wasn’t overly happy
with being sober,but i new it was a step up from being drunk,i was sober as
a result of my effort,AA,and the grace of god.however i could sense once
again,that i was going to relapse,rather than panic i just continued doing
my best,at that point the ? was not if i would drink my brains out again
the only ? was how many days or weeks before i walked into that
vast open dessert that was alcoholism.
however much to my surprize,the second miracle or pearl happened instead.
I will explain that in the next email.i will say it wasn’t a romantic
love affair,or a bunch of money.
Again it was a very specific act of grace that god delivered,as i review
it now in my mind,god or source new the percise pearl,to receive it I had to just show up and listen,and act on a hunch.

Before i bring closure to this second “miracle or divine intervention”
I need to include my AA sponser,who was a vital part of my journey,
as he helped me formally do the steps,2 years prior to my one and only
meeting with Bob E at the book signing event,so my sponser was the first of these pearls,Bob E and his experience and wisdom was the second pearl.
Now try to understand this third scenario may not seem to qualify as a big
deal to anyone else,much less a miracle.That’s irrelevant because I’m
referring to my truth and experience on a particular day years ago.
I went to an AA meeting,I didn’t expect to hear anything I hadn’t heard
before,however a girl spoke of a book and highly recommended it.
Later that day I decided to buy the book,I guess i figured since it was
about alcoholism i would read it,or maybe my higher power was doing most of
my thinking that day.I don’t know what another person would get out of the
book,I do know that after reading it,the impending thoughts of drinking
disappeared,and I remember thinking to myself,this book explains with
complete clarity the phenomenon of alcoholism.It can be found on amazon
under the ISBN# O-553-27487-2 it’s a red and white paperback.

The title of the paperback book, is 

Under The Influence "a guide to the myths and the realities of alcoholism"

In response to Poppy's post:

So it's only been a year and a half and out of the blue someone asked me to continue my life changing story. I've now started college four years after my H.S. graduation. ... to be continued. ( it's very late and I have to get up early tomorrow morning) P. S. I won't wait another year and a half to continue--

In response to Poppy's post:

(:

I had graduated from a small HS and had not prepared myself for college in any way. I didn't have the slightest idea of how to study and I felt like I was so far out of school that I had forgotten most everything I had ever learned. I had taken the easy road through and now I was struggling. I had signed up for 15 hours and was working forty more. I was determined to be successful in school. That first semester I received an A, B, C, C, and a D. Botany almost killed me. By the time the second semester rolled around I felt more confident I could do it. My grades improved and I received mostly A's and B's. By my sophomore year, I was making mostly A's. I was enjoying school and still working forty hours a week but it was getting easier. My junior year was great. I was working as a recreational therapist at a MHMR facility. My major was psychology and I felt like I was on my way. I was also working on a double minor in rehabilitation and sociology. I was doing practicums and internships at various places including working with people with cerebral palsy. My senior year turned out to offer me my greatest challenge. My fourth course in Spanish was difficult, but I squeaked through. My final class in psychology was my greatest challenge. My professor announced on the first day of class he would only give one A, one B, and two C's. I failed my first course and I had studied very hard. So I had to take it again during the first summer session. My notes and tests fron the spring semester were very helpful and I received a B and graduated. I was the first of my two older brothers and later my younger sister to attend and graduate with a degree in psychology. 

My next big adventure was to get married, start graduate school, and have children. All three were big changes and have impacted my life forever. I had been accepted to the University of Arizona to continue my studies in rehabilitation. The masters degree program was only 36 credit hours. I had taken a full time job working as a child care worker in a residential treatment center. It was classified as a psychiatric hospital housing emotionally disturbed children. It was there I found my second true passion---working with children. I learned so very much from these young children. I learned to be patient, understanding, kind and to develop a great deal of empathy. It was because of my deep respect and desire to help these extremely disturbed children that I abandoned my rehab studies and graduated with my masters degree in special education.  

My first passion was wanting to be a good father.  

After graduation, I took a teaching position at another residential treatment center in Texas which was closer to my parents and siblings.   Because of a long commute, I changed teaching jobs by working in a school district teaching children with behavior disorders.  I stayed in that position for four years and then taught third grade for an additional eleven years. 

To be continued....

After my first 15 years teaching, something extraordinary happened at school. We were hit by a tornado. Our building principal was at home sick and I took command. We had several substitute teachers in the building and I was finishing up a math lesson when the lights blinked off and then back on. It was very dark outside and I had my class exit my room and go into the hallway. The other third grade teachers were also switching classes so all of third grade was in the hallway. My room was the last one nearest a door and I went outside to have a look at the storm. The clouds were green looking and I was worried. I called the office from my call button in the room and asked the office to have everyone go into our severe weather duck and cover drill. We did. While I was standing with my class and they were covering up against the wall, I saw a fifth grade student's hair spiral up and knew were in trouble. I quickly moved those classes from that end of the building and ran to the other side of the building to warn and move our kindergarten teachers classes from their end of the building. By this time we had lost all power and it was before cell phones were readily available. The office phones were working and we were calling for help. The emergency responders could not get to us because of the many twisters in the area. We waited. The roof started falling in due to the rain and we had to continually move students to relative areas of safety until busses were able to move us all to a high school on the other side of town. We finished the year at that high school location as our building was severely damaged. In the aftermath of it all, many teachers  encouraged me to seek my principalship and become an administrator. So I went for it. Teaching all day and driving 50 miles to the university twice a week was grueling. I typically arrived home around 10:30 and was exhausted. Of course I had school the next morning. During the summer breaks, I attended both sessions and received my principal's certification. Upon graduation I began working as an assistant principal and continued for the next 15 years in that capacity. 

Then retirement. 

To be continued...

So I retired from teaching a few years ago. The first thing I did was throw away my alarm clock. ( actually I gave it to the Salvation Army) Now I pretty much do anything I want and that consists of a lot of doing nothing. I bought a camera and started taking pictures. It's now one of my passions. I like taking photos of birds and spend quite a bit of time in my own back yard taking pictures. Birds are a challenge for me because they don't like posing and sitting still. I spend as much time as I can with my grandchildren and I enjoy being outdoors. ...to be continued

Later

This site has been a metaphysical university of sorts 

I have only come here seeking knowledge of things they could not teach me back in college.

Sting

You can find various AA and 12 step recovery channels on you tube, Bob Earl has a few talks, don't expect a boring vanilla story, do expect too laugh and hear street language, his vulnerable honesty I really admired, his talks are. simply his experience strength and hope.

 

Bookmark

In response to Poppy's post:

Glad you brought this thread up. It’s very good!

How my life changed when I met my best friend.

About 45 years ago, I met my best friend. Everyone used to tell us he & I were more than friends. I told ‘everyone’ , he’s ‘just’ a friend … my best friend. Each time he came to visit, my eyes lit up, because there was no one on earth I’d rather spend my time with. He caught my interest with every thing he shared. He caught my heart with all of his compassionate interaction. I felt so lucky to have him as my best friend. And the day he asked me to marry him, I couldn’t picture my life without my best friend… & I realized that was what love really was… so I emphatically said yes.

My life has been changed for eternity.

 

 

In response to Poppy's post:

I just read your posts above. What a beautiful history. I enjoyed reading your path.

In response to Poppy's post: Thanks for creating this thread, I may express how my life changed when I somehow found this site years ago, for now I will say the design of this site very unique. And a game changer, if your inclined to change your game. 

In response to Midnight expressions's post:You are very welcome! Our lives change every day. Most changes are small and almost imperceptible, but they are extremely significant. Our thoughts and actions today really do determine our outcomes of tomorrows. Other changes can be dramatic and instantly change you. These changes are almost always out of our control. These are life changes that take a great deal of time and effort to accept. How we learn to accept them is very individualistic. These are things we never really get over. Hopefully we learn to move forward in positive loving self-caring way. 

Wonderful thread !

My last post was in April of 2022. My life has changed drastically since then and I will have to update, but not tonight. It is very late and I have to work tomorrow..

In response to Poppy's post:

looking forward to you sharing when it works for  you, Poppy

The thread reserector