Being in the moment

Last night, on the way to pick up my husband from work, I witnessed a terrible car accident. About five car lengths in front of me (with no other cars between us), a car traveling southbound (as we were) - clipped the front left bumper of an oncoming vehicle. The cars impacted so hard, the southbound car bounced up on two wheels just like the picture above - only it seemed like the bottom two wheels left the ground too. I was afraid the car would land on its roof but somehow it righted and bounced - hard - a few times before swinging into a neighboring yard and coming to a stop. By the time I reached the car, I was already on the phone with 911. We prayed for the drivers after we got off the phone. The two in the oncoming car got out and ran to the other driver, who appeared to be unconscious.

My first thought afterward was immense relief. My kids were in the car with me and I was so grateful that we weren't involved in the accident. The second thought was - how important it is to be in the moment when driving. I don't know what caused this accident. Did something medical or mechanical occur to cause him to lose control of his vehicle? Whatever the cause, I drove away a little more thoughtfully.

So, I wanted to send a reminder out to all my friends today. This time of year, there is so much going on, it's easy to be distracted while driving. For me it's little people talking (or whining), phones ringing, my list of things to do, running late and feeling tempted to speed. Yet, all those things are not nearly as important as the precious people in my car and the cars around me!

Be in the moment this week and have a safe holiday driving season!