Check Yourself, and Then Go Ahead and WRECK Yourself

Okay, all kidding and overdone lines aside, have you been WRECKED? That’s the question Jeff Goins asks in his book WRECKED out this week (August 1). And if you answer no, Jeff basically says, “Well, you should be.”

WRECKED is about taking off the blinders we all walk around wearing. It’s about finally seeing what’s wrong with the world; about acknowledging the pain and suffering of others and then doing something about it.  Jeff talks of stepping out of your comfort zone and truly becoming compassionate, which, as he explains, really means ‘to suffer with.’  He tells stories of people who have been WRECKED, couched in an overall theme that this world needs compassionate people, and he does so with eloquence and even some humor. He mixes in a wide variety of pop culture references (music, movies, books) and even calls himself a “word nerd.” I mean, what’s not to like?

Years ago, a friend told me (when she and her husband were about to be relocated yet again) that she believed God never wants us to get too comfortable. Because when we do, we become complacent, and we’re not as effective for His Kingdom. This doesn’t mean God doesn’t want us to be happy; it just means He wants us to be happy serving Him, by caring for others. I think this is what Jeff is talking about. It sort of reminds me of Don Miller‘s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. If you’re just going along in life, doing your own thing, focusing on yourself and what’s good for you, odds are you are never satisfied. You’re always searching and striving and working toward something and, even when you get it, it’s never enough. And it never will be, as long as your focus is on you. Being WRECKED means being ruined for only thinking of yourself, never being able to go back to the way you were. Realizing, as Jeff says poignantly:

“[W]e are not the heroes of our story.” p34

I must admit, I was a little leery of reading WRECKED. I have been there before – taken out of my comfort zone and forced to learn to rely on someone other than myself. My life changed for the better when I refocused on God instead of myself, but it’s something that I struggle with daily; I think that’s part of being human (at least I hope it is). But even though I say I was taken out of my comfort zone, it wasn’t as serious a situation as it could have been. So I was worried that when I read WRECKED, I might just simply feel guilty for not doing enough. But Jeff doesn’t deal in guilt. He deals in hope. Hope that we’ll all see what can be done to make this world a better place and that instead of waiting on someone else to act, we’ll actually do it ourselves. Hope that we’ll all be ruined for the way things are, and moved to make a difference.

So, what are you waiting for? Click here to get WRECKED.

*This review is also being published on the book’s product page at Amazon.com.*