Count Your Blessings

Sometimes there are days that clarify everything. All of the crap from work, the annoyances of traffic, the chaos of a typical morning gone awry... these are things that some people would give anything to be able to bitch about, in retrospect. It's usually not until after the fact that you appreciate being 20 minutes late to work, and realizing that it wasn't such a bad start to the day afterall.

There was a fatal car accident this morning near my home.

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=98602&catid=346

The news said it had been a hit and run, the person responsible for the death of another human being had fled the scene and was at large, possibly somewhere in the huge state park across the street.So people see this story on the news, yeah, that sucks, blah blah, the roads are blocked off, "now I'm gonna be late for work! ugh!" A lot were probably angry at the other driver. Probably not many were able to truly empathize with those who weren't at the scene at all.Unless you've been a family member or friend on the other end of the phone call about your loved one being the one in the car, the one that won't be making it to work to bitch about his or her boss, you simply cannot understand the magnitude of panic, the sheer debilitating fear, the rush of "OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT". The feeling of 'surely there must be some mistake- this wasn't supposed to happen!' before the realization, the impact of the information that you have to process through your brain, and somehow make your mind function, your body take action, to DO SOMETHING. You will find out just how MUCH you would trade for everything to be okay, just how determind you can pray in those moments when the outcome is uncertain.

Several years ago, my sister was in a very bad car accident. She survived, Thank God, and she is without permanent injury today by nothing short of a miracle. However, she had been critically hurt, the entire left side of her body-from her skull to her shin- pretty mangled. Cracked skull, swelling on the brain, broken orbital bone, broken collar bone, broken ribs... I'll stop, you get the picture. She was in unspeakable pain. She had been hit by a driver that had run a stop sign. That person did not in any way intend to have this happen, he simply intended to get home to his family. My sister was in the hospital for almost a month, over Thanksgiving. Talk about being reminded about how thankful we should be for the things we take for granted far too often. The lives and health of our loved ones being at the top of that list. But also, being thankful for just your typical crappy day... usually in a week you can't remember what had ticked you off so badly anyway.

The next time you see a newscast that throws a wrench in your plans for the day, please remember 2 things... the first, that actions you take may affect others in ways you cannot even fathom, and the second, when you see something like this, remember the victims. Remember their families. Be thankful you are not getting that phone call today. Sometimes, your shitty day... is really a blessing.