By Lorna Martinez Magill
Today started just like any other day. I automatically woke up at 4:00 a.m. and although I typically jump out of bed today, I decided I was going to ease into my day. I looked up a YouTube video on meditation and settled for a 10-minute video on having a peaceful day. I read about 10 pages in The Hotel Nantucket, an Erin Hilderbrand book I’m currently reading, scanned Facebook and then decided to get a few more minutes of shut eye. I set my alarm for 5:50 because I needed to be out of the house by 7:00 as I had arranged two separate coffee dates with friends, and I had an appointment with Nick “the trainer”.
I ground my coffee beans and brewed a cup of coffee for the road and cooked an egg and toasted a piece of bread to feed my body before my workout, per Nick’s instructions.
I had a 45-minute drive to the town where I was meeting my friends and doing my training. Although it’s a long drive, I love it because it’s a beautiful drive through the Virginia countryside. The drive gives me the opportunity to listen to some of my favorite songs and sing at the top of my lungs and it also provides me with some alone time. I took my time as I was singing up a storm to Morgan Wallen and enjoying the beautiful views.
I arrived in the town at 7:58 and swung into a parking space at the local Starbucks. My friend had given me a call a few minutes earlier to let me know where I should park so that I could make my quick getaway and not be late for my training. I’m a talker and many of my “goodies” help compensate for my shortcomings, like making sure I have enough time to get to my next appointment because I like talking WAY too much! I love my friends that know me and look out for me!
She and I had a wonderful time catching up, and I treated myself to a hot non-fat chai tea latte and then I was off to see Nick for my training session. I had a great workout and pushed myself and felt great about how much stronger I’m feeling.
I drove back to Starbucks and luckily was able to get my “good” parking spot and went in and grabbed a bottled water and sat down and started to work on a blog. I was sitting next to a gentleman that was reading what looked like a “serious” book. After about 10 minutes, I couldn’t help myself and struck up a conversation with him and discovered he was a preacher working on his sermon for Sunday. We had an interesting conversation as he shared what he thought his message would be. So, in true Lorna fashion I ended up talking and not working on my blog. Can you say procrastination!
About 45 minutes later my other friend arrived and he and I had a delightful and insightful conversation about a non-profit we both work with as well as Isn’t She Amazing and caught up on how we are personally doing. The time together went by way too quicky and I realized I was not going to make it back home in time for a 1:00 call. Since my drive is through the countryside, I don’t have consistent internet so knew I could not take the call in the car. So, I sent over an email to my other colleague to see if we could bump the call by ½ or reschedule. Turns out we needed to reschedule so I figured I would just enjoy my ride home.
This time I decided to listen to a Mel Robbins podcast because she gives me some good inspiration and she and I actually seem to think about a lot of the same topics. I’m listening to the podcast and just enjoying being present with no other distractions.
As I’m driving along, a big gray truck starts to come into my lane. I have no idea where he came from, but he seemed to come out of nowhere. My first thought is that I need to honk my horn, but I can see that the truck is getting ready to clip the front end of my car. I course correct to try and avoid being hit and luckily, I did not course correct too much because on my left side the median had a big dip. If I had course corrected too much, I would have no doubt flipped my car.
The interesting thing is that it all happened so quickly, and I feel like my car sensors may have just saved me because that truck was inches from my car. The other driver also corrected, and we just barely avoided what could have been a terrible accident. The other driver sped along after the incident, and I kept driving but my arms were shaking because it was a very close call.
Why am I sharing this story of my day? It’s because this could have been my last day on this earth. Yes, I may be being dramatic, but someone in our community recently died in a freak accident so it is possible. If I had over corrected or the truck would have clipped me, and considering the speeds we were both going as well as the dip in the median, my car would have very easily flipped over. And who knows how that would have ended. I was lucky that neither of us course corrected too much and that we were both were able to go on our way, but that ending could have been much different.
I have felt very much at peace today so it’s not like my last day on this earth would have been one of discontentment. My hands and arms were shaking as the truck speed by me and continued to speed up the road and it reminded me the importance of the message Marianne and I continually convey that it’s important to live you BEST life for the REST of your life because none of us know how long that will be.
Action Step: Pause and reflect on what a fulfilling day looks for you. Would you be content with how your day went today if it ended up being your last?
