Any given moment, I create the definition.  It is easy to celebrate victories.  I have had many and I hope for many more.  Adversity and failure are uncomfortable, hard, and debilitating. Avoid it at all costs.  I tend to agree.  Who likes pain?  

The thing is- pain happens.  Failure happens.  Adversity happens.  The growth from pain, if allowed, can be positively life altering.  I could not even imagine the growth that I found to be possible.  So, I am reframing how I look at adversity and failure and will, henceforth, put these on the top shelf and highlight them alongside my triumphs as my defining moments. 

Defining moments are the events in my life that have left a significant imprint on me.  A lasting impression that alters my course or changes my life’s trajectory.  If not for this moment, things would be measurably different.  At times, the impression can be felt or realized in real time with immediate cause and effect.  Other times the defining moment is subtle, but makes a big impact down the road and is best appreciated in retrospect. 

The amount that I have learned about life and myself in these past few years of struggle is astonishing.  I never imagined that I could get here from there.  Valleys are low.  Valleys are first to flood.  Valleys are literally overshadowed by hills and mountains.  Nonetheless, valleys remain extremely important.  It is in valleys that rivers run through and bring fertile substrate for growth.  It is here that one might gather the resources and the strength to climb out of the valley and challenge the hill or mountain.  Valleys help define mountains.  I would even argue that mountains grow from valleys. 

I celebrate me and the road that is my journey.  I am me because of my defining moments not despite them.

What defines you?