A Better You Blog

I just had a brush with death. I almost did not make it home tonight. Out of nowhere, a car ran a red light and sped my way. Luckily, another SUV was beside me and stopped first, alerting me to danger (since the speeding car was out of my line of sight). I hit the brakes quickly, relieved my 4-year-old daughter in the backseat was okay. We were inches away from death. Shaken and relieved, I said a quick prayer. God must be trying to tell me something today, and I am better for it.

I am generally a safe driver, and near-misses do not occur very often at all. Today I have had three of them. I considered these questions: am I extremely distracted for some reason? Am I being careless? Could I have prevented them? I am definitely neither careless nor distracted today, and while I am certainly not perfect, today I did not contribute to the events in question. So now that I realize the sequence of strange happenings on this day, I consider them. I believe coincidence is an excuse to dismiss occurrences we do not understand. When mysterious events transpire, it is often God’s way of getting our attention. And I am listening.

My soul is stirred within, restless to discover the message. What are You telling me tonight, God?

Immediately after the third (and worst) “almost” car accident, I remembered a real accident where as a teenager I stopped in time to avoid a speeding car killing our passengers, but still crashed. I was driving to church on a Sunday morning (ironically), and it was a lesson in how fragile life really is (one every teenager needs to realize).

Tonight as I arrived home, I hugged my husband, my 5-year-old son, and my 14-month-old baby. I had only been gone an hour, but it seemed like eternity. My baby had been crying for me, walking around the house saying “mama”, and finally cried herself to sleep in my husband’s arms. Now I held her, and said “don’t you know that mommy always comes back?” My husband replied “except almost not tonight.” I closed my eyes and said a thankful prayer. He was right.

It happens everyday. People do not make it home. But more people make it home everyday than do not. If we focus on what tragedy might happen, we are stuck in negativity and frozen in fear. If we take these reminders as blessings, we squeeze more out of every minute and taste how good life can really be. You only live once, you only have this moment, so make it the best moment possible. This is not an excuse to fail to plan. To succeed, you must use this moment to propel you towards your future achievements, while simultaneously enjoying the journey of your life’s travels. Enjoy life as if this were your last minute, and as if you had an infinite supply of last minutes.

I love being with my children, and we joke that our littlest one is an extension of my hip since she loves to be held or carried. I am always glad she is there, but I take it for granted. Tonight when I arrived home, holding my baby was as amazing as it was when she was first born, struggling for her very breath as we prayed for her survival. My husband says she is a fighter: had to fight to come into the world, and will fight her way through it. I am grateful for every moment I get to watch of her life as she overcomes every obstacle.

“Carpe diem” (from a Latin poem by Horace, meaning “seize the day”). “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” (from poet Robert Herrick). I think the most profound lesson God is teaching me right now is to try what I am not trying, to seize the day in new ways. I can think of three specifics to begin tomorrow, and I wonder what else will come to mind as I keep myself open to new possibilities. What about you? Are there ways for you to make more out of your minutes? Remember life is precious, so live it.

Patricia