Wake Up Call

    I heard a very interesting story from a gentlemen that really inspired me. He told me that ten years ago he was driving down the interstate and had a gruesome wreck. He suffered a massive concussion. I will spare the rest of the details because they would be too graphic. His injuries caused him extensive plastic surgery and physical therapy. In a nutshell, I was surprised that he was sitting there with the ability to talk to me. He told me he stayed in a coma for months and could not remember people for over a year once he woke up.

    Come to find out the man had the wreck because he was intoxicated and passed out at the wheel. He then told me that the wreck was the biggest blessing in his life. He told me he was so glad it happened because it scared him into never drinking again. He looked as if he was about to shed tears as he told me about all the things he would have missed if he had died that day. He said, "When I was alive and drinking, I was really just dead and walking. I had no purpose. I had no compassion or appreciation for people or the days I was allowed on this earth."

    At the end of the conversation, I had totally forgot I had an appointment coming up. I was fascinated to hear the man's story. If he had never told me his story I never would have suspected any of that had happened to him. It was a great reminder to me. Sometimes in life we have to go through the fire to get to the other side of hope. I bet the people around that man thought there was no hope for him before the wreck because he was intoxicated all the time. I bet on the day of the wreck no one had hope that he would survive. But after the man came out on the other side, I am sure someone witnessed that hope and it probably encouraged someone else. It is truly amazing what a person's body and spirit can endure when put to the test. That man had an experience that did not just change his body, but it changed his heart and desires.

 It almost seemed like that guy was placed in front of me to show me that I needed to slow down a little. Sometimes we get addicted to life just as this man was addicted to alcohol. We get so focused on the hustle bustle of life that we forget to appreciate the people around us and the blessings life has to offer. It definitely gave me a reminder that I did not want to walk around in life feeling dead inside. I did not want to walk around constantly bogged down with my own problems and worries that I forget to focus on others and appreciate life as we know it. That man's story was a wake-up call to me that sometimes I needed to be still, be silent, and just take the world in every once in a while.