Roundabout Life Flashes

At about 10:30 yesterday morning, I rather excitedly hopped on my bike and hit the road.  I could explain why I was riding my bike to work, but an explanation might double the length of this post.  Anyway, it was fairly warm out and I was pretty much anticipating the gorgeous scenery at a slower pace.

Yesterday morning, I hadn’t even left my neighborhood when something happened that I only imagined happening to Jack Black’s  stunt doubles on a movie set.  While circling a roundabout at a fairly high speed after coming down a hill, I was hit by a car.

Actually, it was an SUV.  I had the right of way, the woman didn’t yield/see me, and I was hit.  It’s as simple as that.  It all happened so fast (too fast for me to think/do anything), yet everything felt as it was in slow motion.  After I was smacked to the pavement, I simply laid there for about a minute straight.

All of the typical occurred.  Right before I saw the incident happening, I thought my life was finished.  Immediately after I got hit, I saw flashes of random life scenes.  Finally, I came to my senses and the poor lady who hit me ran over.  I was feeling pretty resilient/embarassed when I saw her and stood right up.  I told her I would be fine.  I barely felt any pain and had only a few scratches.  If I had to guess, she hit me at 20 mph.

To the rescue:  Fire truck, paramedics, three police cars.

The damages:  My entire body is pretty sore, but that is to be expected.  I have a few abrasions and bruises up and down my right side.  My back tire/wheel is warped (run over) and my right shoe is torn from the sliding/impact.  That’s it.  No broken bones, no paralyses, nothing.

What I learned/perspective I gained:

I’m okay with dying.  I can honestly say that I don’t fear death after this.  I’m not sure I long for it like Paul, but I would have been happy to die.  Don’t take this the wrong way.  I’m just saying that my faith in my Savior is becoming stronger and as a result, I am beginning to fear/worry less.  I trust that He’ll take me when He wants.

Such is life!  Life happens.  Crappy things in life happen.  I know it could have been worse, but even if it was….such is life!  I wish I could better relay what I am trying to say.  Hakuna Matata.  There ya go.

Resilience/Composedness.  I don’t want to diminish the intensity of situations, but I am learning these qualities.  Though there is room for improvement, I think I handled everything considerably well compared to other minor emergencies in my past.  These are crucial.  Freaking out does no one any good.

Wear a helmet.  I already knew this.  Of course, this was the very first time I went helmet-less.  …I had a good excuse though.  That’s another story.

That’s it.  I’m a mess…a total klutz, but God takes care of me.