So last week my Disneyland Half Marathon “Memory CD” arrived and I was so excited I could have crushed a grape. A whole vineyard of them, actually.
I have never bought official running photos before because well, they’re usually very unflattering and the Disneyland ones are no exception. The only difference is of course that these photos were taken in Disneyland, the happiest place on earth, so although the photos are unflattering, I look happy. Really, really happy. Weirder still, is that looking at these photos makes me really, really happy.
Anyways, the last photo in the collection is this.
The moment I got to cross the finish line AND high five MINNIE MOUSE!
This wasn’t just the highlight of my Disneyland adventure, nor even the highlight of our trip, or even the highlight of my year, it’s a highlight of my life, what I have chosen to call a life defining moment. You know about life defining moments, right? You know, it’s one of those game changing times, that no matter what you do, or where you go, you will never forget it for as long as you live.
Now, I don’t say call this a life defining moment lightly. In that high five and those 21km were my hopes and dreams of the past 3 years. I wrote about how the Disneyland Half Marathon gave me closure on cancer here. My legs may have felt about a tonne heavier but my heart, it was as light as a feather.
I also have this bit of bling to jog my memory! What’s not to love about a medal the size of a doughnut?
When I think back upon a life definining moment whether it be a day ago or a decade ago, it’s as if I am transported back in time and I feel all the feels and experience all the emotions, as if it’s happening all over again. Is it the same for you too?
One night while my brain was whirring at a trillion miles an hour as it is wont to do when it should be buying a one way ticket to sleepy town, I started to think of other life defining moments.
These include include saying “I do,” because getting married was so much more than just a big pink dress and a bit of a knees up, and feeling the sand between my toes the first time I stood on Bondi Beach. (FYI – Australia, it was love at first sight!) Shortly after arriving down under, I decided I never wanted to leave and hot footed it to an immigration lawyer. True story.
Cancer was a series of life defining moments. It made me question my life and the choices I make living it. Life was good before, but now life is great. I can only liken life before to a really good photo, and life now, that’s been enhanced with a kick-ass filter, that makes it look sensational. When I say cancer changed my life for the better, people look at me like I had a part of a brain removed and not just my thyroid. But it’s true, it really is.
So now I’ve told you my life defining moments, will you tell me yours?
