We found a spot to pull over for her to play just outside of Zions National Park. She was ecstatic!
On the way down the mountain I was thinking what a great way to start the New Year... off on an adventure with my little family. I also thought to myself that I really need to relax & not be so uptight & expect the worst when we go out like that. Well not 1 minute later (no exaggeration) we turned a corner & there was a truck with a trailer sideways across the road. Brandon had to slam on his brakes & narrowly missed a mother & her 2 kids that were standing in the MIDDLE of the road. This forced us to slid off the side of the road into a big ditch with a bunch of large rocks and trees.
Brandon of course was instantly angry & rightfully so in my opinion! I, on the other hand, went immediately to tears. I kept them under control though & turned around to see my little girl wide eyed in her car seat which had been knocked crooked when we hit the rocks. She wasn't upset so I calmed myself so I wouldn't make it worse.
It took about 40 minutes for them to get the truck out of the rocks & surprisingly the truck was in better shape then I expected. It obviously could have been much worse had Brandon not been able to keep control of the truck enough on those slick roads to miss that mother & her kids. It could have really been tragic!
Later that day, after we were home I kept playing the events of the day in my head & feeling the same terror. Then it dawned on me right before bed.... What can I learn from today's events?
- Surprises can literally happen around any corner!
- We are not invincible
- We need to live each day telling the people we love our feelings so we have no regrets
I could go on & on but I think what I learned more than anything is that even though my paranoia & anxiety in this situation turned out to be right.... that is no way to live!
You cannot live your life afraid of what may lie ahead, around that next corner. Having constant anxiety & viewing the world, your life this way will only slow you down & keep you from achieving your dreams.
I also find it very ironic that this happened New Years Day. The day everyone sees as the day that will set the tone for the rest of the year.
Do I think this accident is telling me my 2015 is doomed? Absolutely not!
I think its telling me that 2015 is going to be a year to overcome many obstacles but if I push through & keep my focus on who I want to be then I will overcome. Just like we got ourselves out of those large rocks with minimal damage & came home to go about accomplishing our other tasks for the day. Which by the way we got a lot done after the accident around the house!
All in all it was a really good & satisfying day!
Did anything eventful happen for you the first day of the year? How would you react to this situation?!
