I hate getting caught in traffic especially when there has been a wreck. The extra time and the delay are not so much the problem as the potential for perpetuating the situation. There is the obvious “onlooker delay” danger, but I have also noticed after being stuck in traffic everyone feels jilted. They see the car in front of them as an impediment and wants to go faster and get in front of them. Therefore, everyone starts a race after passing the wreck. They begin jockeying for position and create an even more dangerous position. What people don’t realize is that which is truly important. It’s not schedules, getting there first, or being on time. I learned what is truly important eight years ago today… the hard way.
Eight years ago today was the worst day of my life. February 17, 2002. It was going to be a typical day for me. The weather was not particularly memorable. It wasn’t raining it wasn’t windy. It was simply another day… or so it seemed. For some reason my mom was not in town. I think she was out of town on business and my dad and I were the only ones home. I went to school driving myself as I usually did and drudged through my typical day. Now I know that pride comes before a fall, but for some reason, my friends and I were talking about car accidents that day. I made the comment that I have never had a wreck and that comment will haunt me forever. I do not really think that it made any impact on what happened later that day, but it does make me think. At the time, I did not think much of it and went about my day.
I went to karate class that night, and on my way home, my life changed forever. I had two different paths to get home, each just as quick as the other, but this night I chose the main road. As I made that left turn that I had made a hundred times before, a Jeep Cherokee smashed into my passenger door. My car spun around, the accelerator locked and the engine revved, and my car plunged directly into a concrete telephone pole. It is by the sovereignty of God that no one was hurt and that my car did not hit any other vehicles and hit the telephone pole. I staggered from the wreckage astonished at what had happened. I kept thinking that these things happen to other people not to me. I proceeded to sit myself down on the curb and contemplate vomiting. Luckily, I had nothing in my stomach. A very nice off-duty sheriff's deputy came over to me and called my father. My dad got there quickly and helped put things in perspective.
As a 17 year old, he taught me a very valuable lesson. I was not sure how he would react to the situation, but upon arrival, he set the tone very quickly by showing concern for me and apathy for the car. He could care less about the car. I was relieved. He taught me about what’s really important in life is not stuff, but people.
People are what make life worth living. Without other people, life would not be much fun would it? I’m sure you have investments in things: a vehicle, a home, a computer, a television, furniture, etc. How, then, are you investing in people? What are you doing that increases your wealth in other people?
