I haven’t had very many life-changing experiences, which I suppose is obvious given the word “life-changing.” However, skydiving with my co-workers on July 11, definitely counts as one of those moments. When I think back on all of my adventures, across the world and back again, very few can be identified as events that altered my state of mind and being. In my opinion, the experiences that can be defined as life-changing encompass the following characteristics:

• Something that challenges you, whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally
• Changes the way you view yourself or the world around you
• Provides a rush of emotions: accomplishment, excitement, fear, etc.

What do you think defines a life-changing experience? Or, is it the very nature of these experiences that they cannot be defined by any number of qualifiers?

Have you had a life-changing experience? Multiple?

“Life changed after that jump…I’d suddenly stepped to the highest level of daring, a level above even that which airplane pilots could attain.”
– Charles Lindbergh (1902 – 1974), describing his first skydive