Monday, March 14, 2005

Man Unsatisfied With Failure Of Car Accident To Change His Life

A man told some friends over desert that he was disappointed in the failure of his recent car accident to have a long term effect on the way he lived his life. He said that while he personally had been only slightly injured, a person in the car behind him had died, a fact that initially shaken him severely. He said he really been forced to confront the fact that any given day could be his last and had assured himself he would live accordingly. However, in the month since he said he'd largely returned to his usual routine, a job he didn't care for, an excessive amount of TV, and a lack of concern for time wasted. He said it was disturbing to see how quickly the effects of what, at the time, seemed like a near death experience could wear off.
His friend suggested that perhaps car accidents weren't the best source of motivation. That perhaps it should be the love of live rather than the fear of death that he used for propulsion.
The man said that seemed to be his problem.
He couldn't seem to remember he loved life unless death was in the car behind him.

2 comments:

Ned said...

Following the attack on the WTC on 9/11, America was suddenly a society of considerate, thoughtful, patriotic, polite and purposeful people. We were stunned and shocked that anything of this magnitude could disturb our hectic yet superficial lives. It drove the smugness right out of us. But, sad to say, the effects were short-lived. Truly, death has to be in the car behind us to make us think about how we live.

Unknown said...

The problem in living with a gun to your head is that eventually you adjust to the gun. I'd tend to agree with the friend, extracting the most from our time here probably requires that we learn to rely on something internal rather than external.