A Heart-Stopping Near Miss On a Typical Tuesday

Hmmm, what lessons should I take from those chilling few seconds on an otherwise typical Tuesday morning?

Earlier this week, on my drive to work on a rainy morning, I witnessed a heart-stopping “near miss” that gave me pause to reflect. I was stopped, on a three land road at a major intersection, behind a line of cars waiting for the stoplight to turn. I glanced to my left and saw a vehicle speeding toward the stopped cars in the adjacent lane. The driver was obviously distracted and unaware that he/she was approaching an intersection.

I was certain I was about to witness a terrible accident with serious injuries if not fatalities. Fortunately, fate intervened. The driver snapped to attention at the very last second and swerved violently missing the last car in the lineup by two feet at most. By the grace of God, the driver had quick reflexes and good tires that withstood the risky manoeuvre on wet roads.

I wondered if the driver of the car that was nearly rear-ended had any idea what had almost happened. Was she looking in the rear view mirror paralyzed with fear and feeling utterly helpless? Or was she completely unaware that she narrowly escaped a horrible, life altering experience? I hope it was the latter.

The experience reminded me once again that we are all living on borrowed time. Life can change radically in the blinking of an eye. Regardless of how carefully we navigate our way through life, one careless act by a total stranger can have a lifetime of consequences.

A heart-stopping near miss on an otherwise typical Tuesday – a random act of metaphor to remind me that life is precious and fragile and that I need to make the most of every day. There might not be a tomorrow for me to make up lost time.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog . Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

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