When You Feel Reality Strike …

Have you ever had those odd moments of clarity when suddenly you feel reality strike you in the heart? You may be peacefully sitting around minding your own business when suddenly a new awareness hits you.

It isn’t necessarily something new that you become aware of. It may be something you’ve taken for granted for a very long time. But, for whatever reason you never really thought much about it. Then, all of a sudden it just hits you. BOOM! In the chest.

I’m sure it happens all through our lives, but we don’t acknowledge those moments. They come as a surprise for a minute, then we continue on with life.

Sometimes, however, they can be big enough to be memorable. I can still remember one moment I recognized reality strike me.

In 1990, I had just moved into my first apartment on my own. I was 20 years old, single, and had lived my whole life thus far with my parents and 5 siblings on 40 acres in the middle of nowhere. For the first time, I wasn’t sharing my living quarters with anyone. I wasn’t dependent upon anyone.

I had been living there already for about a month. Suddenly, while laying in my bed one night, enjoying a rare moment of silence (anyone living in an apartment building knows why I say this), when it hit me.

The thought that ran through my head was, “This is really mine.” There was a sense of personal pride in that moment. And a little niggle of fear. This is really mine and I am responsible. It took me a while to fall asleep that night.

I’m pretty sure we all experience these moments throughout our lives, especially around major events. And I wondered the other day if maybe these moments are given to us as a chance to encourage us to contemplate our life as it exists at that moment.

Perhaps it’s a nudge for us to evaluate our situation and decide if there are actions we should or could take to improve our situation.

Recently a friend who got himself into trouble had one of those moments. He said to me that he never thought he could be “that guy.” But, in the days surrounding his recent birthday, the reality of his life struck him hard.

He found himself in the second half of his life paying for actions he never dreamed he could have ever been responsible for. As he felt that strike from reality, he had two choices. He could spend his time feeling sorry for himself, or he could take the opportunity to be a better person.

He chose the second option.

What would you do?