I wrote this about five months ago and came back upon it today. Thought I should post it. From 9.11.08
This morning I was cruising southbound on I-95, just before the merge with the Beltway on my way to the Greenbelt Metro station for the daily commute. Without warning a car cut across four lanes of traffic about half a car length in front of me and t-boned the auto next to me. Both cars spun into the trees in the median. If I hadn’t been driving the speed limit it could have been me crashing into that copse of oaks. I stopped and ran over to the car that had caused the accident and the driver was out, his face a sheen of blood, his head against the windshield. Another driver stopped and helped out until the ambulances came. Thankfully, none of the drivers/passengers appeared seriously injured. So I clambered back into the car and the world spun madly on.
Events in the day often make me muse about connections. That this event occurred on September 11 was not lost on me. It reminded me that seven years ago I flew into LaGuardia airport on the morning of the terrorist attacks. Again, if I had taken a later flight, flown out of National instead of BWI, overslept, missed my original flight, etc…
Anyways, what I’m getting at is that our lives can change for better or worse in the blink of an eye. A thin thread is all that stands between us and complete joy or utter destruction. What I learned (or perhaps re-learned) this morning is that each of my actions and decisions either strengthen or stretch that thread, each has implications for good or bad, irrespective of how tiny those decisions may be. If I drive the speed limit, choose to lie or to be honest, kiss Patrick on the forehead or let him go without displaying my love for him, respect my sobriety, cuss at the driver cutting me off or simply wave him/her through – all of these decisions have import, at least in my life. So I am trying to choose to make the right decision every time.
This morning, I choose to tell everyone receiving this e mail that you are important to me and that I love all of you unconditionally.
Let this great world spin madly on.
Events in the day often make me muse about connections. That this event occurred on September 11 was not lost on me. It reminded me that seven years ago I flew into LaGuardia airport on the morning of the terrorist attacks. Again, if I had taken a later flight, flown out of National instead of BWI, overslept, missed my original flight, etc…
Anyways, what I’m getting at is that our lives can change for better or worse in the blink of an eye. A thin thread is all that stands between us and complete joy or utter destruction. What I learned (or perhaps re-learned) this morning is that each of my actions and decisions either strengthen or stretch that thread, each has implications for good or bad, irrespective of how tiny those decisions may be. If I drive the speed limit, choose to lie or to be honest, kiss Patrick on the forehead or let him go without displaying my love for him, respect my sobriety, cuss at the driver cutting me off or simply wave him/her through – all of these decisions have import, at least in my life. So I am trying to choose to make the right decision every time.
This morning, I choose to tell everyone receiving this e mail that you are important to me and that I love all of you unconditionally.
Let this great world spin madly on.
