Hit and Pray

To know me is to know that I am a very proficient, yet somewhat aggressive driver. One who occasionally uses curse words and hand gestures, to get her point across. Whatever gets the job done, right? A nonsense type of gal who gets to where she’s going swiftly and safely all while trying to stay in her own lane. Somehow this sounds like a metaphor for my life, but anyway, I digress. Last week I had the experience of being hit and swiped by another driver. A car accident, of course is definitely not the most efficient way to get anywhere and slowed me down to a screeching halt! “It’s time to take a deep breathe” I heard the universe whisper, and so I did. I got out of my car with an amazing sense of calm and determination not to yell at this person behind the wheel. I was to remain in complete control, or at least that’s what I told myself. When the driver got out of the car I couldn’t help but be compassionate. I mean, it was an 88 year old woman and clearly she was shaken up. No, really, when she took out her license she was in fact 88 years old. I love to say everyone on the road is 100 and fucking slow, when I’m driving, but she really was!

I thought to myself, “Why are you behind the wheel?” Which leads me to my next question. Should we be driving at the ripe old age of 80 and older? Would it be age discrimination to say that I find this way to old to be on the road without a driver??? There are so many ways to get around now, with the convenience of Uber, Lyft, Taxi, etc. Why put ourselves in jeopardy when it could so easily be avoided? Or maybe eye and reflex testing should be mandate every year after you reach a certain age… Whatever the solution may be, it got me thinking about the fact that I am always, moving way too fast, and for what? The old lady driving wasn’t in a hurry at all, hell it took her 20 minutes to find her driver’s license, She was simply appreciating her surroundings and glided into me. As a matter of fact she got out of the car and told me to slow down. “Isn’t that rich,” I thought, didn’t she hit me?  Now, she may have been at fault, but the message was clear. In bigger terms and on a larger scale I need to slow down, I get it. She didn’t hit me because she was speeding. She hit me because she couldn’t see. Ridiculous, but true, you get the point. What are we all doing running around trying to kill ourselves while checking off every, and all, items on our “To do list”? Do we need to get to 80 to realize that we should be enjoying our time here and living our best possible life in this present moment? I say no, do it now. As inconvenient as this has all been, I believe it was the universe’s way of saying, “hey, slow down, you’re moving to fast.” So on this beautiful September day, we will put a blind bitch in your path as a reminder to self examine and take inventory of your life. Amen, Because in my forty plus years on the planet I’ve found that whatever is going on in the inside is only going to manifest itself in your everyday life. So pay attention before you get swiped too, and slow down!