What's the Hurry?

I think I almost killed someone this morning. Now, I wasn’t angry, bi-polar, or out of sorts, nor am I a hit man or terrorist. I’m simply a normal Joe who was happily on my way to work. It was dark out because I like to be in the office by about 7:00 am.

I had just turned onto the main road that leads to the Community College where I teach. Now where I live we have two lanes of traffic going both directions separated by a center lane used for turning across traffic or merging into traffic. I was traveling in my formidable SUV in the lane next to the center lane when a little compact car darted across traffic on my left. A city bus barely missed the young lady and let her know it. Because of the speed she was going, she was unable to turn into the center lane. Instead she made a wide arc into my lane.

Now, I have to admit, my reflexes are not as sharp as they once were. Luckily for both of us, I was able to slam on my breaks and avoid a collision. She of course accelerated up the road, probably wondering just how close the grill of my SUV got to her little car as she eyed me in her rear-view mirror. Of course, I was relieved that no one was hurt… OK, I have to admit, the episode did not make me happy… alright, I was ticked. But there was no road rage.

As I reflected on the experience for the remainder of the drive, I came to a couple of conclusions. First, the young lady was probably in a hurry to get to work on time. Who knows, maybe she has a demanding boss that monitors her every move. She came out of a shopping area that only has one business open at that hour of the morning: Starbucks. Well, all of that made sense to me and I began to settle down.

However, the second conclusion that came to me gave me pause. Is there any job, appointment, or destination so critical that it’s worth testing your vary life to make it? What’s the hurry? It seems to me that the last thing you want to hurry to is the unintended end of your life. This young woman came within seconds of such an unfortunate end… twice! I hope she felt it, because if she did, maybe it will serve as a warning. Maybe next time, she’ll hurry less and count her blessings.

What’s the lesson? Well, life is dang fast. It moves almost effortlessly through its twists and turns, highs and lows, and good times and bad. Too often we slip into the flow of things and let life control the pace. Wouldn’t it make more sense to choose the pace ourselves as best we can? In doing so, we’ll have more control over our own lives. So, what’s the hurry?