I picked up John G. Blumberg‘s “Silent Alarm” for my X’mas reading. A well written, simple and inspiring book. Even before turning the last page of the book, I had made many mental notes of the changes that I needed to make in my life.
It is a story of a busy professional, Jack, who has no time for his family, friends or himself because he is always chasing deadlines. An accident leaves him with no choice but to stop and reflect back on his life to see what he has become. With every page I turned I began to realize that this story is about me, written a few years from now.
It would be wrong to say that I am as busy as Jack was before the accident. But that’s just because my new life has been less demanding. It will change. This is not the norm. The norm is to rely on drive-thru’s and fast food, online shopping and net banking, and all the luxuries that enable me to spend more time at work. I don’t have time to love or be loved. I think twice before helping a friend in need. I care less for the simple things in life. I procrastinate. I don’t prioritize. My life is nothing but items on a to-do list.
Silent Alarm gives me hope that even I can change; that it’s never too late to try; that there is an angel watching out for all of us and when the time is right I will hear the angel’s voice. The angel will help me see “what” I have become and “who” I need to be.
It took 12 days and 12 messages from Jack’s angel to get him on a path of true living. I don’t know how long it will take me but I have begun. I know you don’t see it and you may not for a long time. That’s because I am way off track and I am looking for directions. But I don’t feel lost anymore.
Silent Alarm is one wakeup call I can’t snooze on.
Life is not merely a race to the finish line but a journey in which we discover who we are, what we’ve become and who we need to be, as we travel through each of our laps.
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Congratulations to you on all your successes and wish you many more. I should say what an inspiring way of starting the new year!
Our family and internal self somehow take a backseat because of our very demanding careers and it is so difficult to strike a balance between all the three. Good Luck!
Meanwhile, I will try to grab a copy of the book for my self.
Very well written!
But since I’m in class now, and bored out of my head, I want to play the devil’s advocte, ok?
My question is, how does one recognise one’s ‘Silent Alarm’?
Does it necessarily have to be a drastic or life-threatening incident to qualify as THE Alarm?
Because, IMHO the very fact that you read this book and understood that your life could do with a few changes… THAT was your silent alarm. The alarm which made you wake up and reflect and re-think.
But from your writing it feels like you’re still waiting for ‘another’ alarm… another ‘angel’…
I may be wrong… and if I am… tell me, HOW do I identify my Silent Alarm?
V, Good point. The book is definitely my silent alarm. No doubt.
I believe that the thoughts this book and its messages provoked in me through Jack’s story, IS my angels voice. At first, I will become more aware of changes I need to make. The voice will then tell me how to make those changes and then how to sustain them. At every step of the way, until I recover, the angel will talk to me through my own inner thoughts and be my guiding light.
Really liked what you wrote about the silent alarm, reminded me of a discussion I overheard today, one of my colleagues was sharing how she is surprised to see many of her friends leading lives, doing things, about which they are not sure, she shared how people are afraid even to ask the question – what am I doing, what do I want to do in life? for the fear that it would open up a can of worms with which they dont want to deal. Ii am seeing more and more of my friends unsatisfied with their professional careers, always in a dilemma, trying to live in the choices that they have made for themselves. I agree , its important to retract and reflect on our own lives and destinations. We all need to make choices and find our own journeys which give us inner peace and happiness.
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