■Epiphany(돈오頓悟): What sudden realization has changed your life?

Has been there a sudden realization in your life? If you have ever experienced an epiphany, what was the sudden realization, and did it make an impact on your life? 깨달음을 경험한 적이 있다면 갑작스러운 깨달음은 무엇이었으며, 그것이 당신의 삶에 영향을 미쳤나요? I will try to make the introduction as short as possible. Growing up I had a wonderful mom and a Jekyll and Hyde dad. He was a great dad sober. A monster drunk. He beat me and my mom. So I grew up screwed up in the head. I drank, I tried suicide umpteen times. I did drugs. All to ease my pain. I had one failed relationship after another. So in 2004 I met a girl who I thought was it. She was beautiful, understanding and helped me through it when my mom passed away 2 months after we started dating. She could not save me though, she tried. I could not deal with losing my mom. I drank more, did more drugs, was totally out of control. She stayed for a year and a half but couldn’t take it anymore. I don’t blame her. I left. Moved in with my aunt. I had lost everything. One night I wanted to end it all after I found out my girlfriend was seeing someone new. I took a lot of pills and drank a fifth of whiskey straight. I don’t know why I did not die but I didn’t. I prayed to God and to my mom to help me and end my suffering. Instead of dying, I had what I can only describe as a spiritual awakening. The next day I was different. I did not want to die, I wanted to live. I called up a place and got in to see a counselor and a psychiatrist. At first I went 3 times a week and then it tapered off and now it is only once every 3 months. That was 2006. It was a long hard road but I kept fighting. I faltered sometimes but always kept going. I have been clean and sober for almost 5 years now. I am in my first healthy relationship and although I no longer make the money I did, I am happy. I learned money doesn’t buy happiness. Self love does. That night changed my life. Maybe because I was finally ready to change. I am not sure. All I know is my life went uphill from there, with some ups and downs but mostly ups. And let me also say that if I can do it anyone can. It is never too late to start your life over Epiphany: What sudden realization has changed your life? Unlike quite a few others on this question, the epiphany that changed my life forever, did not relate to an abusive partner or parent. It related to work life balance. 이 질문에 대한 다른 많은 사람들과 달리, 제 인생을 영원히 바꾼 깨달음은 학대하는 파트너나 부모와 관련이 없었습니다. 그것은 일과 삶의 균형과 관련이 있었습니다. In 2002 I had a sabbatical from work, part of a program I helped set up, to allow long-term employees to recharge their batteries. For the first three days after I returned to work I was relaxed, confident and supremely capable. I enjoyed my job. Then on day four reality hit and I became once again the tired, stressed out drone who needed a break. At about 8.00pm on day 4 I was still at my desk, the only one in work, and I had what alcoholics call 'a moment of clarity'. It came in two parts. Part one was that the permanently tired, stressed out version of me was not the only one available. Part two was that even if I wanted to return to that I could not, Not now I knew there was an alternative. So I decided to "science the shit out of the problem" and summoned up the courage to go with whatever the conclusion was. I made some big changes financially and was pretty scary for a few years but at least there was an end goal in sight. 하지만 적어도 최종 목표는 눈앞에 있었다 After three years I was able to pay off the millstone of a mortgage and change careers to something less well paid and a lot less stressful. And it turned out that the courage to go with your own conclusions came in useful in the new career too. Hope this Helps.