Wake-up call
a telephone call made according to a prior arrangement to wake the person called.
"she nearly slept through her wake-up call"
a person or thing that causes people to become fully alert to an unsatisfactory situation and to take action to remedy it.
"maybe this will be a wake-up call for society to change"
- Definitions from Oxford Languages
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Sunday morning at 5:03am: the earth rattled and the house shook, and I was woken up by the motion. Ahh, it must be an earthquake!
Living in part of the "Ring of Fire" where most major earthquakes occur, we had many small ones in the past, but none of them felt this strong before to me.
From BC history, the largest earthquake at magnitude 8.1 happened on Jan. 26, 1700 off the coast. Per seismologists' estimation, we are due for the next big one anytime with high probability.
So, that early morning earthquake was a wake-up call literally and figuratively. It not only reminded me of the danger, but also put things into perspective.
Man plans God laughs. We all hope for the best, but in reality, we really don't know when our time will come. So stop worrying about trivial things and start to live life the best we can. To smile and say hello to people we pass by; To stop and smell the rose whenever we can.
That is what I will do. 
