CHAPTER ONE

The Black Tunnel

    Too much to do! I never get everything done!

    Too many interruptions!

    Not enough time with the family!

    So little control over my life!

    Life doesn’t seem to have much meaning anymore.

THESE WERE Ray’s thoughts as the train from Lower Manhattan tunneled to New Jersey under the Hudson River. As Ray looked out the window into the blackness, an occasional light flashed by to show him how dark the tunnel truly was.

How fitting, he thought. This is like my life. I feel like I’m in a dark tunnel. My life is underwater. The infrequent flashes of light reminded him of the few lights in his life—his wife, Carol, and their two children. Unfortunately, as with the lights flashing by, he saw them for all too short a time.

What have I really accomplished today? Ray took out his organizer and reviewed the day. He’d skipped lunch and stayed late at work. He added two things he’d forgotten to put on his to-do list. This made the list longer than it had been at the beginning of the day. He felt miserable.

In frustrating times like these, his wife was his beacon of hope. When he talked over problems with Carol, she always helped him come up with solutions. What a great partner he had! He resolved that he’d discuss his dark, underwater life with her tonight.

Ray looked at his watch. Nine o’clock already. Dinner would be over and the kids would be in their rooms working on their homework. The thought angered him. He pounded the time organizer as if it were the cause.

Life is too long on work and too short on real meaning, Ray thought. The muscles in his neck felt so tight they hurt. He couldn’t wait for Carol to help.

“I need things to change!” he declared.