Wake Up Call - Insights & Musings to Stir Your Soul

Napoleon Hill on why you should spend less time at work

April 18, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

Do you like your job? If you’re like me, this question gives you pause to think. Because as much as you may enjoy what you do, for most of us work is ultimately a means to an end—the end being the weekly or biweekly deposit that appears in our checking account. Given the choice, you’d probably prefer to spend your time in more leisurely or rewarding pursuits. But since most of us don’t have the option of devoting our lives… Read more

A guy did ayahuasca 4 days straight. Here’s what he learned

April 11, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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If you looked into the world’s most honest mirror, what would you see? The question above comes from the writer Sean Illing. In a recent issue of the online publication Vox, he wrote a story titled “What the psychedelic drug ayahuasca showed me about my life,” after taking ayahuasca for 4 consecutive days. The “honest mirror” he talks about is a byproduct of the drug. Are you familiar with ayahuasca? It’s a tropical vine grown in the Amazon and through… Read more

Do affirmations work like magic? Or are they nonsense?

April 4, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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Do you remember the fictional character Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live? Back in the early-90s, he had a mock self-help show called “Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley.” Played by Al Franken, Stuart would begin each episode with an affirmation he used to say out loud while facing a mirror: I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me. While Franken did it for humor, the fact is many people believe that affirmations—repeating the same motivational mantra… Read more

7 Quotes that Make You Stop and Think

March 31, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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I’ve long collected quotes related to spirituality and life philosophy and am always looking for new ones. When it comes to quotes, I get very picky. Not any old quote will do. I like quotes that get me thinking, where the words hint at something greater and more meaningful. Over the past year or two, I’ve been pairing quotes with images on my Wake Up Call Facebook page and post a new one about 5 times a week. (Like… Read more

3 good reasons not to kill yourself

March 24, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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You may be wondering why there’s a story about committing suicide on the pages of Patheos Spirituality. Read on and you’ll find out why. I’ve written before about the blues. I get them each winter and they can last for days on end. But I am fortunate. They don’t fall into the category of clinical depression, nor have I ever once thought about killing myself. But I do see how… Some people fall into a deep depression they see no… Read more

9 Life Tips from Steve Jobs’ Guru

March 18, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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He is the wisest who seeks God. He is the most successful who has found God. ~Yogananda, The Law of Success Before Apple founder Steve Jobs died a few years ago, he carefully pre-planned his memorial service. Among the special requests he made: that everyone who attended his service receive a copy of the book Autobiography of a Yogi by an Indian guru named Paramahansa Yogananda, whose ideas about self-realization had greatly influenced Jobs. Story here. I too have a book by… Read more

The Dude Abides: Wisdom from Jeff Bridges

March 10, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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This week marks the 20th anniversary of the release of one of my all-time favorite movies, The Big Lebowski. The lead character is a guy named The Dude and is played by the actor Jeff Bridges. While Bridges has acted in dozens of roles over his storied career, this may be the one he is most associated with. He was so convincing as a live-and-let-live philosopher/stoner that The Dude seemed to be an extension of Bridges himself. In some ways,… Read more

Unsure of your path? Try this prayer from Thomas Merton

March 7, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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Thomas Merton is perhaps the most influential Catholic author of our time, writing over 60 books including a best-selling autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain. Yet, his spiritual path was a crooked one. A graduate of Columbia University, Merton spent much of his early post-collegiate life partying in New York City. While he liked to spend his evenings drinking beer and hanging out at jazz clubs, a spiritual side began to emerge as well. He began reading religious texts, attending church,… Read more

Do you have the 11 traits of a person with character?

February 27, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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Who fills the void when leaders don’t lead, when those in positions of power and responsibility seem more interested in their own narrow self-interests than the greater good? We have seen others step up on a national stage (like these courageous teenagers in Florida), but what can you and I do in our everyday lives? On our own local level, plenty. You and I are the ones who can lead by example, showing our children, our family, our friends, our… Read more

Is your head full of noise? Or “inner music”?

February 20, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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We seem so frightened today of being alone that we never let it happen. We choke the space with continuous music, chatter, and companionship to which we do not even listen. It is simply there to fill the vacuum. When the noise stops there is no inner music to take its place. ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh I can recall an acquaintance once remarking that each of us is troubled by something and it becomes the dominant thought in our head—whether it’s… Read more