You are familiar with Thoreau's aphorism that "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." You may even believe it. 'Tis true that for far too many, day fades into night then into day again with no real joy, no excitement, no exhilaration. Existence is BLAH...if even that good. Boring.

Unfortunately, things are not that simple. In fact, just the opposite is true. Yes, there ARE boring, blah times in our lives - those may even make up the major portion of our lives - but what define us are those times that are anything BUT boring. The SHOCKS! And they happen to all of us. They might come on a global scale - September 11th or December 7th; do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard? How about when President Kennedy was shot? Do you remember? Probably.

Other…