The lessons learned from driving 80 in a 20 mile per hour zone

In those fractions of a second you ask yourself the serious questions!! You wonder how serious your life is going to change!! Will I make it! Why? How bad is this going to hurt?

My car was spinning out of control heading right towards a busy intersection. I remember seeing the traffic light flying vertical in the air and the cars and pedestrians frantically moving out of the way.

My car finally came to a stop. All of my windows were shattered from the traffic light now dangling from the top of my car. My friend and I were in shock as we sat in silence. We somehow managed to escape without a scratch.

What's the mechanics and how does it work? How many times are we able to cash out on our merit bank? What if it's empty? What if we come up just short?

I remember feeling alive that night. It felt good to be able to walk, to be able to breathe that cold night air. I can't say I was very religious at the time, but I sure thanked G-d. I was in the palm of his hands, I was loved.

Than just like that.... it was gone.

I now had to deal with all the hardships. The insurance, buying a new traffic light, all the paper work and questions, having to deal without a car for a month. Why me? What did I do? Why do I have to go through all these troubles?

I was reminded of this incident when I heard that my brother fell off his ladder from two stories high. It doesn't take to long to reach the ground from two stories high. Gravity will always have its way and the ground will eventually break the fall. However the number of scenarios from point x to point y are numerous.

A sore ankle falls on the far right side of favorable outcomes on the bell curve. I'm sure he thanked Hashem and went in and kissed his two kids and wife and told them how much he loved them.

When someone does something extra special for us we want to express our thanks and gratitude. We feel something extra special towards that person. G-d doesn't need our thanks or praise! When we are put in these situations they are really gifts in disguise enabling us to connect to him. That's that feeling of being alive!!

May all our wake up calls be gentle