That Fickle Finger of Fate
I caused a car accident this morning. It’s springtime and a beautiful day and I was walking happily to the city to grab my 7am coffee (yes – you heard right – 7am coffee).
Cars were lining up to get into the car park and I walked behind the last one to get to the coffee shop (it’s where the footpath is – so I was ‘legal’ as they say). As I was walking behind the car at the back of the line it began to quickly reverse. This is where five months of Wii Fit ski jumping came into play and I diligently sprung out of the way (like a spider monkey). The guy in the car saw me at the last second and slammed on the brakes. Now the lady in the car in front of him and the one in front of her were also reversing (for reasons that are unknown to humankind because they’re all supposed to be moving FORWARD!) so she reverses straight into him and the car in front of her reverses into her.
CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
Oops. Sorry. Check to make sure all parties are okay… Go grab my coffee.
This (like most things that happen to me) got me thinking about timing and synchronicity. If I hadn’t taken those three extra seconds to pull my sock from the dog’s mouth just before I left the house to get the coffee, I would have been three seconds ahead of time and not behind the car when it began to reverse. This, in turn, would have led to the car backing out successfully and the two in front backing out with no slamming of breaks or crunching of bumpers.
Several years ago a friend of mine (Bob, who I bought my beautiful German Shepherd from) was driving through Sydney in his truck. Two hundred metres away some guys were having a shootout at KFC (as you do) and one of the stray bullets went past some buildings, through trees, across a five lane highway and struck him in the head. Firstly, he managed to pull the truck over to the edge of the highway and secondly, he managed avoid hitting any other cars on the road. Unfortunately, the bullet killed him within those few seconds as he controlled his truck (a true hero in my eyes). This is synchronicity to the max. As one of his mates said at the time, ‘If he had so much as sneezed that morning walking to the truck – the bullet would have missed.’
There are amazing stories like this everywhere. When I hear about them I have to think – maybe it was just ‘meant to be’ – because there is really no other way my mind can comprehend the mechanics behind such incredible things.
Do you ever think of these things and wonder why they happen? Do you have a story like this? Or am I just a little too intense for my own good!
{BTW for those who are interested – I have added some more great blogger’s comments to my Memories and Dreams link above}
Photo courtesy of: darngoodyarn.com
Yes! I do think of these kinds of things often. It’s terrifying that but a second can make the difference in life or death for us. It’s terrifying and humbling. I’m glad to know that you are okay and that none were injured in the accident.
Thank you, Jessica! And I’m so glad I’m not alone thinking of these things
Wow. Another amazing story. Thanks for sharing. I love theses stories. I have one on my blog http://kimswhatsup.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/it-really-is-a-small-world-an-amazing-story/
Thanks – I’ll go take a look now
A very interesting read. Thank you for following.
Thank you as well for coming by to comment
Wo!!
Only just saw this – thank you for dropping by
wish I cud drop by more often
soon, soon!
P.S: dunno if I told you, loved ‘The Everything Theory’! (want morrrrrre!)
Oh, so glad!
Thank you
Wow. I think things like this all the time. This is exactly how I think!
So glad to hear from you, Daphne!
Great minds think alike!
Yes, Dianne, I, too, believe that there are things “stranger than fiction” that are real. I’ve had a few in my own life, though not so disastrous as for your friend. Sometimes they seem disastrous but in retrospect we can see them for what they are, bumps (or sometimes crashes) that get us back on the track that we might not have even realized we’d strayed from. Keep musing; it’s good for the soul. Sam
Thanks, Sam. You’re so right. Sometimes when things happen we don’t realise at the time that this has changed the direction we were heading in (and this can often be a good thing)
Thank you so much for coming by to read and comment
I do think of that a lot lately. I do not like it, but I feel very small and fragile. Does that make sense?
Absolutely. And with the things that have been going on around you, I don’t really blame you
Stay strong
While incidents like these can be hard to accept, I can accept that they just happen – not Fate, not Destiny, not God’s hand – just accidents, inevitable accidents.
Absolutely (unfortunately) – thank you so much for stopping by