smell the roses

Yesterday, my colleague, who has become a good friend, was hit by a car on her way to work. While crossing the street she was struck by a car making a left turn that must not have seen her as the rain poured down in the dark of the early morning. While she is indeed injured, suffering from what the doctors believe to be a cracked pelvis, I am most certainly relieved that she walked away from the accident requiring only rest and time to heal her wounds. I usually like to write about things that have made me happy or at the very least are positive in nature but in light of the accident, which I haven’t stopped thinking about, it only seemed right to reflect on how scary life can be and how fast it can change.
It’s made me want to hug my husband tighter and call my mom to tell her I love her. It’s made me want to tell all drivers to slow down and all walkers to be safe. It’s made me realize that rushing to get somewhere on time or speeding up just to make it through a yellow light may not be as important as it seems. As I got in my car last night, I felt a little more cautious and a little more aware of what was going on around me. With traffic accidents happening daily, some more serious than others, it only reinforces how precious life is and how all it takes is a second for your life to change. While bumps and bruises will heal and seem like minor hiccups in an otherwise uneventful life, it is usually the bad times that make you realize how good the good times really are.

While we all wake up in the morning fairly certain of how our day will more or less go, you can never predict that the unthinkable will happen or an accident might occur. I don’t believe we should live our lives in fear but appreciating what we’ve got is a lesson that I would hate to learn the hard way. As you go about your day, your weekend and the holiday season, please remember to take things slow, appreciate the life you are living and tell your friends and family how much you care.