I recently read a thought-provoking book called “Breakdown, Breakthrough” by Kathy Caprino.  I met Kathy at a womens’ group gathering in my area, and her inspiring talk made it hard to resist buying this book.

Though designed for professional women as a “guide to claiming a life of passion, power, and purpose,” there are many good nuggets for non-professional women as well as men.  The following excerpt is powerful and knows no category of reader.  Beware, if you’re the type that cries easily you’ll want tissues handy.  And by the way, crying is a very good thing – it sets you free.

Like so many others, I never played a very active role in where my career was headed.  The promotions and job changes kept coming, so I simply “floated down the river,” letting life take me from one place to another.  None of it truly felt like it was my “right” work.  I was unhappy, but moderately comfortable.

Several years ago, my floating “river” took me to another Fortune 500 company, and I found myself in yet another meaningless job.  I had just moved to Connecticut from New York City, and my commute increased from twenty-five minutes to more than two hours each way.  Each morning my wife would drive me to the station with our one-year-old daughter sleeping in back.  I’d come home each night and my little girl would be exactly as I left her, fast asleep in her car seat.  Days would go by where I wouldn’t see her awake at all.  Seeing her almost only when she was asleep reminded me that this was not the kind of parent I wanted to be, absent from her waking world.

I found myself wishing away my weekdays, hoping for each one to finish sooner than the clock would allow.  I realized that my work felt unimportant to me yet again, and I didn’t know what to do about it.  I was our family’s sole financial provider, and I didn’t know what would fulfill me.  I had no direction.  So I did what many people do – nothing.  I just kept floating downstream and time kept slipping by.

Then, one Monday afternoon, I was sitting outside my office having lunch.  As I sat basking in the sun, I looked up at my office building and was overcome by the sense that it controlled my life.  I realized at that moment that I HAD to made a change…even if it was a small change.  I had to take action.

So I decided that the next morning, instead of rushing to catch the early train, I would take a later train so I could have breakfast with my wife and daughter.  I remember smiling, thinking this was a good first step.  Not a big step, but at least a new beginning.  So the next day, despite my concerns that perhaps I should just get on the early train after all, we spent a wonderful time having breakfast together.  It was a beautiful morning.  After breakfast, my wife dropped me off and I took the train into New York City, smiling the whole way.  I felt I had some control of my life, and it felt wonderful.

I got on the subway, and instead of being in my office, I was underground at 8:45 a.m. when the first plane slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, into my floor, hitting my desk, and killing almost every single member of my group, including my boss and team – 300 colleagues I worked with and friends I valued deeply, each with their own dreams, their own beautiful families.  The morning I had breakfast with my family was September 11, 2001.

This is the story of Mike Jaffe, who calls himself the Human Wake-Up Call.  He now devotes his life and work to helping others take positive action in their lives.  He inspires people to take important first steps to awaken to what matters most to them, and to make changes that lead to a life of fullness and passion.

I believe that’s why we’re here – to create freedom, growth and joy in our lives.  Shortchanging ourselves does not serve our higher good or the higher good of mankind, and can even lead to personal misery.  Mike Jaffe was fortunate to have awakened to what’s important in life just before 9/11, then the events of that day sealed it firmly for him.

I awakened to compassion, kindness, and community on September 11.  I saw the outpouring of love from people around the world, and witnessed a level of care, concern and patience in this country like I had never seen before.  I felt proud to be an American, and honored to lend a hand to those in need.

It was as if the clock had turned back to 1969, when I was a child and the neighbors watched over me as I played outside.  The Vietnam War aired on the TV, teenagers burned draft cards and flags, Kennedy and Martin Luther King had been assassinated – and yet I felt love and peace and security.  I believed that all was well in my home and in my home town, because I saw goodness all around me.

*Questions to consider:

Have you awakened in any way as a result of 9/11?  Has this awakening been a helpful and positive force in your life?

Tags: awakening, freedom, growth, Human Wake-Up Call, joy, Kathy Caprino, life experience, Mike Jaffe, positive force, purpose

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 10:15 pm and is filed under Book Recommendations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.