Wake Up Excited

When we wake up in the morning, we are supposed to say modeh ani lefanecha and thank Hashem for giving us another day of life. We are to recognize what an opportunity we have to spend another day living life and perform mitvot . From the moment we get up, we have so many golden opportunities for mitvot , washing our hands properly, putting on tzitzit , saying birkot hashachar , and so on. We have endless opportunities to amass spiritual fortunes every single day. And it is with that attitude that we are supposed to get up excited to serve our Creator. A man I know, who we'll call Joe, told me he has a picture hanging on his wall that he looks at every morning when he gets up before he says modeh ani , and that picture gives him an extra special feeling of hakarat hatov to Hashem for the life that Hashem gives him. That appreciation extends to every moment of his day, and he lives life with enthusiasm and joy, happy to be alive and serving Hashem. His story begins on February 26, 1993. Joe worked for the Port Authority and his office was on the 88 floor on the North Tower in the World Trade Center. He was called down to a cafeteria on the lower level to deliver an envelope to his boss that day. Moments after he left, a bomb exploded on the B2 level of that building, killing 6 people and injuring over 1000. His boss, who he just delivered the letter to, was one of the casualties. Joe's entire body was filled with soot and he inhaled a lot of smoke, but baruch Hashem he was eventually evacuated, being led to an exit on the B1 level of the building. About 8 years later on September 11, 2001, Joe was in his office on the 88 floor of the North Tower when the first plane hit just five floors above him. After the initial shock, people began evacuating using the staircase as the elevators were out of commission. Joe was with another man there who was in his 90's. He told the man not to worry, he was going to stay with him. They went to the stairwell and saw that it was mobbed with people. Joe told the older man they would go back to his office and wait until the crowd dissipated and then make their way down. About 15 minutes later, they went back there and this time the stairs were clear. It took Joe and this older man about an hour and fifteen minutes to make their way down all those 88 flights. When they got to floor #20, a loud noise was heard and the lights went out. That must have been when the South Tower fell. When they finally got down to the bottom, firemen were telling them they couldn't exit from there. They went back up a few flights and they couldn't exit there either. They went back down again, finally, they made their way to the B1 level. The last time Joe was there was when he was evacuated in 1993. From that experience, he knew exactly where to go this time. They found an exit which led them out to a place which protected them from falling debris. Just a few minutes after they exited the building and took cover behind a larger building, the North Tower collapsed. Joe couldn't believe his eyes, watching as the horror unfolded. His life was spared a second time. He couldn't contact his wife and family but when he finally arrived home that evening to his house in New Jersey, there was a sigh of relief and celebration surrounding him. Unfortunately, he found out afterward that 16 of his coworkers did not make it out in time. He looked back at the tragedy in 1993 and said, Hashem was showing me the exit then that I needed to save my life now . A few days later, he hung up a picture of him and those 16 coworkers on his bedroom wall. When he wakes up in the morning, he looks at the picture and thanks Hashem for giving him another day of life. He has a reminder of how precious life is, but if we put a little thought into it, we could also have those same feelings of gratitude to Hashem every day and be excited and enthusiastic about getting another opportunity to live and do mitzvot and learn Torah and be the best we're capable of being.