Wake up call?

[buffettbride]

I went to mass with my mom yesterday as I do every Easter Sunday. The priest walked through the congregation, spritzing us with holy water with a baton-looking thing, just after the homily about understanding our mortality. His first sprinkle was more of a thrust and pelted me right in the face.

I come on to BN today and a beloved member (I did not know Al well, but well enough to like him and know he was well-liked in these parts). His last post was 4/21 and just a few days later, he was gone.

Yep--there are some changes I need to be making in my life.

How about you? Have you ever had a wake up call? What was it? Did you make significant changes in your life?

[Tiki Torches]

Deaths in the family and those of friends really make you sit up and take notice but unfortunately those changes are usually short lived (that is, until there's another death).

[pair8head]

First of all Mal I have to tell you that I misread your first sentence as "I went to mess with my mom....."
And I thought Oh that is soooo Mal.

On the subject at hand yeah there are many types of wake up calls but when someone younger then you and in better shape then you passes away like this it gets to you big time. This will cause me to keep up my efforts to lower my blood sugar and my weight.

[TommyBahama]

When my dad had his heart attack a few years ago ( doing great now )....i would never go to the doctors for anything...one night it hurt so much in the chest area...felt weird....thank god it wasn't anything...but i've changed my diet....try to work out daily....and have cut down on drinking ( red wine consumption has gone up)...i'm 49 and fortunate enough to be able to play sports at decent level ( not as high as it use to be , but i can hold my own).....and i want to keep it that way.

[tigzoe]

I would like to think that all of the wake up calls we encounter in our lives, end up turning into better people in the long run. It doesn't happen overnight, it happens over time.

[ScarletB]

I would like to think that all of the wake up calls we encounter in our lives, end up turning into better people in the long run. It doesn't happen overnight, it happens over time.

Well said, one just has to learn to pay attention to them - which I think you also do over time.

[tigzoe]

I would like to think that all of the wake up calls we encounter in our lives, end up turning into better people in the long run. It doesn't happen overnight, it happens over time.

Well said, one just has to learn to pay attention to them - which I think you also do over time.

If you have a heart, you don't have to pay attention to it, it just happens. That is why we learn from life's experiences.

[ScarletB]

I would like to think that all of the wake up calls we encounter in our lives, end up turning into better people in the long run. It doesn't happen overnight, it happens over time.

Well said, one just has to learn to pay attention to them - which I think you also do over time.

If you have a heart, you don't have to pay attention to it, it just happens. That is why we learn from life's experiences.

I don't know, I've known some perfectly nice people who just weren't self aware enough to figure it out. But it is a process for sure.

[nutmeg]

I went to mass with my mom yesterday as I do every Easter Sunday. The priest walked through the congregation, spritzing us with holy water with a baton-looking thing, just after the homily about understanding our mortality. His first sprinkle was more of a thrust and pelted me right in the face.

I come on to BN today and a beloved member (I did not know Al well, but well enough to like him and know he was well-liked in these parts). His last post was 4/21 and just a few days later, he was gone.
Yep--there are some changes I need to be making in my life.
How about you? Have you ever had a wake up call? What was it? Did you make significant changes in your life?

My brother's death a few months ago would definitely qualilfy. You never dream a sibling only a couple of years older than you will go to work one day and never come home. It has made me realize how important it is to spend time with those you love and to make the extra effort to talk to them often. My brother worked long hours and I only got to see him occasionally on weekends.
It also made me realize how little control we may have over or lives or our deaths for that matter. One moment he was ending a day at work. The next he was under a fallen scaffold.
Live life to the fullest...love your family and friends.

[ragtopW]

Honest?? My Feelings are.. that the Day I go... is the Day I am supposed to go.. the Devil will feel the need for my Company and I will be gone from Earth..

But the Wake-up for me?? was last year. I missed the chance to visit
someone in the Hospital. I chose instead to sleep in. that person passed the next week.. I missed the chance to tell that person that
I loved her.. I still carry the Guilt of slacking off.. I have tried (very hard) to make sure the pholks that I love, I try and make sure that they know it. I tell them as often as I can and not seem creepy or insecure about it.. I also hug them when I can.. it has become
very important to me that if I pass, the people I love.. I want them to know it.. also If they pass before me I want them to know that
i love them...

just my two cents..

[johnson2113]

Signs doesn't seem to be a very popular movie, but I think it's one of the best psychological thrillers in a long time. For about 90% of the movie you never see any aliens, it's all in your imagination. And there's one quote that has stuck with me from the first time I watched it.

People break down into two groups. When they experience something lucky, group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck. Just a happy turn of chance. I'm sure the people in group number two are looking at those fourteen lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation is a fifty-fifty. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they're on their own. And that fills them with fear. Yeah, there are those people. But there's a whole lot of people in group number one. When they see those fourteen lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope. See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?

I've never been a big fan of coincidences. I would say I'm fortunate enough to have two wake up calls.

When I was a freshman in high school, I was still hanging out with my best friends from high school. That summer, I don't know what it was, nothing was said to me, I knew my parents wanted me to find a new group of people to hang around with, but that never occurred to me, I just said I'm done with these guys.

They all got into drugs and just weren't quality human beings. I can remember it as clear as if it were yesterday. I walked in to school that first day and didn't run over to them. At lunch I didn't hang out with them and one got up and called me out in front of everyone, asked me if I was too good to hang out with them.

One of them actually told me at our reunion he called up a guy and apologized to him for the way he treated him, but never apologized for the crap he pulled on me.

Three and a half years ago, I'm sitting on my couch feeling as miserable as I have ever felt. It was about 2 in the morning and I just said I'm done. I'm not a particularly religious person, like most kids I would pray to do well on a test or a paper and that was about it. But that night I just God, it's not going to get any better, just end it, I'm done. It's not going to ever get better, I'm never going to be who I want to be.

I'm not or never was suicidal, just miserable and mad. A couple weeks later I finally break down and realize something is wrong enough I have to go to the doctor. What was wrong was nothing major, but what truly was wrong, I had a starting point to do something about it.

And the rest is 'Healthy Living' history.

[sailingagain]

My wife gets mad because I refuse to ignore the occasional "obvious" health symptom. My job is stressful, so I miss them sometimes.

I like to think I don't need a "wake up". I really do try to live every day like it's my last. If I go tomorrow, I'll have no regrets.