Meaning of Defining Moment

What is meant by the defining moments in one's life. Defining moment refers to a significant life-changing event or moment that reverberates throughout your career and personal life and so changes everything.

The following quotation explains defining moment further:

You make thousands of decisions every day.... Each choice shapes what is to come in some small way, but occasionally, of moment can change who we are and what we value, With reverberations throughout our careers and personal lives.

While it's still up for debate exactly how much of our morality comes from personal experiences, many of us can think of at least one experience that has defincd us and our beliefs.Lain Hensley, chief operating officer at Odyssey Teams, recalls the fear and loneliness he felt when he was diagnosed with cancer, for example. His illness exposed weaknesses in his lcadership and as a result, he writes, he has become "a better man, husband, father, employer, speaker and friend." Other influential moments can come down to a single conversation....

The Defining Moments of the Saints

St. Paul's defining moment was when suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him on his way to Damascus. When he and his men were very near the city, they were suddenly surrounded by a light so bright that it knocked Saul to the ground. "They heard a voice from heaven that said: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' And Saul said, 'Who are you, Lord? And He said, 'I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.' (Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 9). From that time on, Paul preached Jesus to all men, the one whose followers he persecuted and became one of greatest disciples of Jesus.

St. Augustine's defining moment came while spending time in Milan in 386 A.D. Here is the story of his conversion:

While outdoors, he heard the voice of a child singing a song, the words of which were, "Pick it up and read it. Pick it up and read it." He thought at first, that the song was related to some kind of children a game, but could not remember ever having heard such a song before.

Then realizing that this song might be a command from God to open and read the Scriptures, he located a Bible, picked it up, opened it and read the first passage he saw. It was from the Letter of Paul to the Romans, Augustine read:

Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy. Rather put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. (Romans 13:13-14) While he read the scripture, Augustine felt as if his heart were flooded with light. He turned totally from his life of sin. He was baptized by Bishop Ambrose during the Easter Vigil, April 24, 287 Later, St. Augustine wrote his faimous prayer: "You have made as for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest You,"

Relationship Between Moral acts and Character

The following cssay serves as good explanation of the relationship between moral acts and character:

This essay examined the question of whether moral character is necessary for moral behavior. I argued that moral character is relevant to moral behavior in two important ways. First, given that I am already aware of what I ought to do (i.e. of what the "moral' action is), moral character facilitates doing that action. The person who has moral character does moral actions more readily - more easily and more willingly than one who does not. I also argued that moral character matters in a second, much more fundamental way: the person who has moral character is able to recognize what is moral and occasions for moral behavior in a way that those who lack moral character cannot. Those who lack moral character often fail to act morally because they simply fail, in many instances, to recognize the morally relevant aspects of the situations they find themselves in (Knobel, 2019)