Thursday, September 28, 2006

Wake Up Calls

Thanks in part to my friend Jason's near fatal fall (he is healing well now by the way - thanks for the vibes), I have come to realize more fully something about myself that I think may be of use to others. Given that I don't believe in accidents and that everything we encounter has some significance, I think that major events in our lives are that much more significant. We tend to get painful and sometimes nearly fatal messages in life, that are what some refer to as wake up calls (in my case it was a grand mal seizure). I think these major events in our lives are designed to tell us something about the direction our life is going, more specifically that we may be pursuing the wrong path. It seems like they have to be life altering events sometimes to adequately get our attention since we are resilient creatures that bounce back from minor occurrences.

A lot of us have been lucky enough to survive life's wake up calls and emerge on a totally different and more beneficial path. The key seems to be to look at these events from a different perspective and pay close attention to what was going on when the event took place. There are clues everywhere guiding us in the direction we need to be going, but if we don't pay attention to the little things, it may take something more significant to get our attention focused where it needs to be. I'm very grateful for everything I've been through since it all has helped shape who I am today. Maybe you should be too.
Take care,
Trey

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello all. Trey, I agree with you in that I believe we all have life lessons. I truly see my recent accident as a window of opportunity. It has already changed me in positive ways. There were alot of things in life that I was taking for granted that my current condition has illuminated for me. Unfortunately, I had to be taken to the edge of life to open my eyes. I say unfortunately because I am sorry for the stress it put on my family. I am not scared of death but I am afraid of not truly living. I pray that for the rest of my life I learn everyday to be more compassionate,find truth and enjoy every moment left.

Unknown said...

Just a quick Q&A I heard today that I thought was relevant to my current situation: Q:Why do we fall? A: So we learn to get back up.

Trey Carland said...

Hey,
You reminded me of a story I read once about a guy who worked on power lines. One day he fell and woke up being rushed into the ER. He had a broken neck and the prognosis wasn't good. He could hear all of the things being said around him about how he wasn't going to make it. One of the nurses asked out of habit, before he was rushed into surgery, if he was allergic to anything, not expecting an answer. He said, "Yeah," and everyone froze not expecting him to be able to talk. They just stared down at him and he said "I'm allergic to heights." They all laughed and felt some relief that he might just be okay.

He, just like you, went on to recover despite the fact that he could have easily been killed. Keep up the recovery and live every day to its fullest knowing it could be your last.