5 Once-in-a-Lifetime Moments No Human Being Forgets

Life is made up of once-in-a-lifetime moments you never forget, partly because they never happen again. You may go through the best or the worst experiences, but it’s never the same as that one decisive moment that changed you forever. We’re talking about the instants that open the door to something transcendental you never knew before now.

Those moments leave a deep mark on you. You may even forget them consciously, but they will forever echo in your unconscious. Not all are good, lucky moments, but they remain in you regardless.

Why can a single moment be more crucial sometimes than a long period of time? Because they turn out to be a kind of revelation. They open your eyes to something previously unknown. They inaugurate a new part of your life. That’s why you don’t forget them, and that’s why today we’re talking about once-in-a-lifetime moments.

1. Unforgettable moments: when you began your first relationship

This moment is one of the most exciting moments in life. To open the door to the world of love, relationships, and sexuality is to inaugurate one of the most important parts of our lives.

Normally your first relationship is not really love, in the strict sense of the word. Even so, these moments make up one of the first big challenges and revelations of our lives. The challenge is to see if we can be a part of a couple. And the revelation is the enlightenment that comes through expressing affection to the other sex. After this, we will never be the same.

2. Once-in-a-lifetime: your first paid job

One of the most memorable moments in life is when we get our first paycheck. Not our allowance or payment for household chores from our parents, but one from a non-family employer.

What’s so transcendental about this moment is that it’s your first sip of autonomy and freedom. It is, almost always, a very rewarding sensation. It makes you feel capable. If the payment is relatively fair, it makes you see work positively. Maybe it’s the moment when you feel like you’re really an adult.

3. Once-in-a-lifetime moments: the first time you saw your dad cry

Our fathers, one way or another, wear a halo in many of our minds. He is often the head of the pack we call family. Director. The guide. That’s why the first time you see him crying is so memorable. Something breaks inside you when his tears fall. Something finally tells you that while he is a father, he is also a human being just as vulnerable as you.

Some people have never seen their father cry. Some have not even seen their father at all. But maybe you have some authority figure that represents a father, although not always very clearly. Whoever it is has huge influence in our lives, and seeing they can feel negative emotions really impacts us. If they feel like this, that means that anyone can.

4. Once-in-a-lifetime: when someone helped at a critical moment

We will all inevitably feel some day like all the doors have been closed to us. However happy and fulfilled a person may be, they will have such moments in their life. It feels like there’s no exit. Everything is dark, and you’re in a stupor. You feel helpless.

In those moments, there is always a helping hand. Some people find generous, abundant help. Others find  just a smile or word of encouragement. But in all cases, that voice of encouragement or gesture of solidarity turns into a beautiful and unforgettable memory.

5. Once-in-a-lifetime moment: the death of a loved one

The first time the door of death opens before us is unforgettable. The first time death touches someone we love. Seeing someone dead, or knowing that they are dead, reminds us of our mortality. It reminds us of our own death and feels like we’ve touched infinity.

If someone very dear to you dies, the confusion it causes in you is unlike anything else. The words “gone forever” … how do we wrap our minds around it? We start to see that life has an end. And it begins to teach us how to say goodbye.

All of these moments shape us and mark us forever. Therefore, they are not only experienced at the time they happen, but also when they are remembered. They are there, in our blood, reminding us of who we are, where we come from, and that someday our heart will stop beating.