Inflection Point In Your Life The Wake-Up Call

Everybody needs a little quiet time. Do you know what I mean? There was a great ambience all around us and music that we both liked playing in the background. We had some spectacular views as well. As they say, "It was just what the doctor ordered." We were both very relaxed, yet excited and looking forward to our private, anticipated, and much-deserved celebration of my wife's birthday. The night was young, and we were ready to roll! We were both putting on the last finishing touches for our dress-up night. Then, without any alerts, signals, or previous warnings — Boom! Boom! The bombs went off (figuratively speaking).

This day that I am referring to, I will never forget. Never! I will expand a little more about that moment. It was a cool and beautiful Thursday evening in January. It was about 7:20 p.m. or so, to the best of my recollection. We were about to enjoy the evening of festivities, celebrating my wife's birthday. My wife, Monica, and I were out at a very nice and upscale getaway location. Even though it was in January, the weather was almost perfect. The kids were not around. No offense to my kids. The bombs went off (figuratively speaking) as I mentioned earlier, and the muscles, ligaments, and tendons of my back were stuck, permanently still and unable to move. I was receiving some excruciating pain that I cannot explain. This had never happened to me before, ever. I had broken my neck and my ribs and torn my hamstring. I had had oral surgery, a liver biopsy, and several injuries. The pain I had back then was the scariest and most alarming. The potential celebration had turned into an evening of a horrible, tightening, and crushing back pain.

I felt twisting muscles, which I had no control of, causing immobility in my body. I had participated in at least seven to eight different organized sports, and nothing, nothing like this had ever happened to me. What in the world was it? What was going on? After about two hours of this predicament, the physical pain seemed like it would be a part of normalcy for the foreseeable future. Those two long hours caused me to close my eyes very often and see. I also began to experience emotional confusion and spiritual disability. I was lying on the floor, literally, and I couldn't move one inch without some serious pain. I started wondering if I would ever walk again, and I started thinking about what was going to happen to me. Why did I get those sudden, unannounced, excruciating pains? In addition, what was causing those nervous and helpless feelings?

That unexplainable pain continued for about two additional hours with that same state of immobility and pain. Now, several other things continued popping up in my mind and more aggressively tugging at my heart. I realized I had not taken care of my body. I had not listened well to others, especially my doctors. I had not finished a lot of my personal goals either, and in some cases — and I am embarrassed to say this — I hadn't started to attempt some of them at all! I also realized I had kept some old emotional pain hidden in my heart. As I lay on the floor, I did ask myself things like, "Will I ever have the opportunity to discuss them with my loved ones, friends, and colleagues? Will this new challenge bring about other types of hurdles? Physically, will I be a complete husband and father? What will happen to my career? What will happen to our four kids? What will happen to our lifestyle? Will I someday run again? Walk normally?"

I started to recognize the lack of attention to so many critical areas of my life. I had ignored and put things off for way too long. I started to ask myself if I really had a close relationship with God. I lay on the floor feeling very helpless, almost unable to move a muscle, much less a limb.

That was a serious inflection point, and during all that time, I was most confused. It was a body frozen while alive and a heart pounding with no direction and a story way too long to put into this book with all the details. But it was one event, one moment, that special time — and it was my inflection point. It was my wake-up call to my sleeping soul.

After spending three more days in some serious pain, with limited mobility and a newly acknowledged emotional humiliation, I discovered a different pain and message. This new pain was hidden inside one of my own personal emotional caves. What do I mean by that? The hidden cave was the dark secret chamber of my heart. That pain could not be denied. That lost soul was yearning. That painful feeling of the heart also needed some attention. My soul had just been wrecked. And guess what? That pain of the soul was more severe than the back pain! The MRI and EKG of my soul had just undergone an in-depth scan, and I was authorized and had been alerted to read the results. There was no denying the results. It was way past my time to fake it anymore. It was now time to suck it up and do something about it. So, I had to start the shift. I had to shift my perspectives and attempt to rebalance my life. You too should have your own MRI and EKG of your own soul, shouldn't you? Maybe it is happening right now.

After reviewing the scan of my soul, the message I received was this: it is time to begin shifting to Plan B — now! I had to stop pretending, stop the lies and half-truths, move forward and start anew. I had been asleep at the wheel. I was focused on one thing only from time to time, and that one thing changed, every other day, week, or month. I was not very well balanced in the major areas of my life. I had believed that someday the giant in me would awaken. I also believed that the genius in me would figure things out, catch up if you will, and, of course, make things up. And lastly, I could always fake it again until I made it. I was wrong, wrong, and dumb!

I had chosen to lie on the couch of life and watch cartoons, figuratively speaking, and let somebody else handle all the tough stuff. I hadn't paid attention to the critical structures and balances of real life. I never closed my eyes to see the new perspectives. If today, you are like I was, if you are ready to make some serious changes in your life or at least attempt to address some of those things needing your attention, this book is of critical importance. If you are searching for one missing piece in your life or need to improve a little bit in three or four areas, this book is for you as well. I am confident this book will address some critical areas in your life. I will say that during that...