Wake Up Call

This is a tale of two people named Chris who don’t know each other but are about to to get a “wake up” call.

Chris #1 is a busy working mom who has learned to juggle with the best of them.

She’s the woman that everyone shakes their head in amazement about when wondering how she pulls everything off and always seems pulled together. That was, until the day that a ringing phone changed her life…she had barely said, “hello” when her mother sobbed, “your brother is dead”. Chris was in shock as her mother provided the details and asked her to take charge of the funeral arrangements.

While writing her brother’s eulogy, Chris had a profound realization – her brother’s life was over and hers never really started. She married young, took the first job offer out of college and just seemed to fall into every job afterward.  The profound loss of her brother was further deepened by the fact that he had taken work that he didn’t like in order to stay afloat and had never used his gifts as a cartoonist – now that hope was forever lost.  Chris couldn’t continue writing when the page became too wet with tears.  As she looked up from the paper she felt a wash of panic…would she too, die with her song in her heart?

Chris #2 is a busy sales professional whose territory is large and days are long.

Chris is  a high performer who always makes the sales award trips and maximizes his bonus allowing his wife to be a full time mother to their four month old baby. Chris works long days and is a very involved father leaving him with very little discretionary time.  He makes the occasional half-hearted joke about dreading Mondays but he really loves his job.

One particular Monday as Chris was packing the car and checking voice mail, he picked up a message from his manager alerting him of an ad hoc teleconference at 3:00 that afternoon. Chris rescheduled his 2:30 appointment and went to a local coffee shop to call in to the teleconference. It was then that he learned that he would lose his job due to a downsizing. Chris sat in stunned silence long after the call ended.  After taking some time to collect himself and gulping a cup of coffee to clear his head, Chris began to troubleshoot.  “At least the coffee shop was a WiFi hot spot -  if he could explore a few job boards and identify opportunities, it might soften the news for his wife” he thought. Then an after-shock set in; “Oh, man…I haven’t updated my resume for years” he remembered – then, for a second time in a short time, he felt his heart sink into his stomach.  Chris put his head in his hands.  He was flooded with emotion; dread about starting a job search from scratch and anxiety about how long his family might have no income.

Chris #1 and #2 are united in looking at life with fresh eyes. Life’s shocks have a way of shaking us awake.  Becoming a JobLife Architect means not waiting for trauma or drama but proactively answering the tough questions.

What is the unsung song in your heart?

Are you prepared to lose your job tomorrow?

What would you be thinking, feeling, or doing DIFFERENTLY …if you got those wake up calls TODAY?