Have you ever been in a hotel or motel and received a morning wake-up call? For many, that’s a comforting feeling knowing they will be taken care of.
On the other hand, have you had another type of wake-up — the kind that alarms you in an unsettling way? If you’ve found yourself in the throes of a life-threatening illness, you can’t ignore the state of health at hand any longer. Maybe a loved one became seriously ill, and you were suddenly confronted with the transitory nature of their mortality. Perhaps a friend passed away without warning. It may have shaken you to the core. Those kinds of wake-up calls elicit a radical shift in perception.
Numerous people suffer financial losses, divorces or their homes being destroyed. Those kinds of shocking circumstances cause their reality to shift, likely in a lasting way. They cannot return to the way things formerly were because the change in their consciousness is so profound.
Sometimes wake-up calls are less dire but still impactful. Maybe you tended to mindlessly drive too fast but then you caused an accident that could have seriously hurt another person. You woke up. You amended your driving habits and corrected those past patterns. You changed because you saw life from a radically different perspective.
What kind of feedback are you currently receiving in your life? You don’t have to end up in a hospital because of poor self-care. You can avoid bankruptcy by practicing prudent financial habits. You can circumvent the loss of a close relationship by being thoughtful and loving. You can overcome a performance improvement plan at work by diligently stepping up. Not all wake-up calls are avoidable, but many are.
Most of all, you can have a better life by owning and attending to your personal issues. You can be a better version of yourself and evade a negative, and perhaps unnecessary wakeup call.