I don't read the newspaper very often in the morning, but this morning, when I brought the paper in I noticed a front page story about an explosion downtown (in a boiler room) that has changed many lives... those injured (and their families) and those in shock. Their workplace probably doesn't seem all that safe any more.
Yesterday's newspaper also had a front page picture that made me stop and read ... about a house that had burst into flames in the middle of the night when a drunk driver crashed ran into it, hitting the gas meter (and gas line), causing a sudden, massive fire that destroyed everything the family owned. Fortunately the family escaped unscathed.
These sudden "changes" remind me of something that happened to a friend I saw a few days ago when she came by to pick up some hosta plants I had dug up for her. I noticed she had a cast on one hand.
What happened?
She told me that she had been standing at the side of a busy street, looking left, watching oncoming traffic - wanting to cross - and hadn't noticed that a truck parked on a driveway beside her on her right had begun to back up. Had she heard it beeping? If so, it didn't register ... until out of the corner of her eye she realized a white shape was right beside her, and was going to hit her. Before she could get out of the way, it knocked her onto the street, where the driver saw her and immediately stopped. Had she fallen backwards- or had he not been looking in his rear-view mirror, he would never have known he had hit her until he had run over her...
The bone she broke in her fall reminded her - and me - that everything can change in a moment.
Maybe I'm writing all of this because I need to remind myself to appreciate life when nothing changes - or appears to change. So often I'm impatiently waiting for everything to be perfect ... for every problem (or perceived problem) to be fixed.
The truth is that life as I know it is pretty perfect the way it is right now... (messy desk, linty floor, dishes in the sink, and all...)
And when changes I would like to see around me aren't happening as quickly as I would like them to, I should still be grateful ... because sometimes changes happen quickly, and that isn't necessarily good!
So today I'm really thankful... Thankful for all the good things in my life - And especially that my friend Janet (with her broken wrist) is fine...
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