Close Encounters

Throughout my travels, I have had some decently close encounters with the end of my life; most pertaining to metal, moving objects with lights.  In 2003 I was crossing a New York City street when a FedEx truck ran the red light and whizzed by just a few feet behind me.  I don't know where I would have been going if it had hit me, but I am sure I would have gotten there on time.  This last May I was in Cambodia and to cross a street there was like parting the Red Sea.  Traffic didn't stop for you in Cambodia.  It just goes around you as you delicately place one foot in front of the other.  It was honestly one of the cooler sensations I have had.

However, the closest yet happened this last Tuesday when walking from my house here in San José, to the university.  Between the two is a four lane highway, split by a grassy median–think of it as a midway checkpoint.  On the rare occasion, you can walk all the way across without stopping if you time it right.  When it happens, it's an atop of the world feeling.  Tuesday night I thought I had it timed right.  It was right around 6:30pm and I was headed to the school to meet up with some friends in order to rehearse for a talent show we had coming up on Friday.  As I was crossing the first half of the highway I saw a girl I know from school named, Madison crossing from the other side.  Before I greeted her, I looked to my right to make sure no cars were coming, and that it was safe for me to continue my trek across the great divide.  It was clear, so I looked back to her and said hello as my right foot stepped off the curb.  She responded screaming at me to stop, as she covered her eyes in preparation for the worst.  I halted on my right foot, and as I turned my head a tour bus flew by inches from taking the skin off the tip of my nose.  Oddly enough, I felt no adrenaline run through my body and had an unexpected calm.  Enough to even be able to tell you that it was a very nice tour bus with some fancy, pink and purple lights along the top of it.  I casually played it off as if I was just trying to give Madison a scare, and went on my merry way.

The next day, I saw her during break at school and thanked her for saving my life.  She said sure thing and that she wouldn't have been able to sleep if she had seen the alternate ending.  I told her I probably wouldn't be able to either, and again went on my merry way.

I know this event is one that a few of you are wishing I had left unsaid.  But I write about it not for the purpose of evoking worry, or looking for the response of: be more careful.  It's more about the thoughts I have had since about life, mine in particular.

It's unfortunate that it takes such a near miss with death to get us thinking about life, but it seems so often that is the case.  Since that night, I have been analyzing what I am doing with my time, who I am impacting, what my motives are for what I do, and that each and every breath we take is truly a privelage.  I can't say that I have come to any conclusions about things yet, other than I know that my time is best spent not focusing on myself and the little things that in the end don't really matter, but instead on loving the people around me and doing everything in my power to better their life.  So, from here on out I want this to be my main goal, because I believe that if I am not working to make someone's day better, then I am wasting my time.

None of us is perfect, which means there is something all of us could be doing better.  My hope for you is that you don't wait for such a close call with your life before you take a look at it and find what could use some fixing.