Wednesday, February 05, 2014

The Crash and The Aftermath

It's been many weeks since my last confession...at least that is what I feel like I should start with after such a long hiatus! 
So 34 days ago I was driving along on Ontario's famous toll highway ( the 407) which as we speak is being extended right through my home town. Currently however it comes to an end and re-blends with good old Hwy 7 just west of where I live. 
I had been driving back from a town West of the city,  with my wife and daughter and had started to have a sneaking suspicion that "the flu" ( influenza ) was closing fast upon me.  I usually get some kind of a mental "tell" that somewhere in the near future I will be having an appointment with a porcelain bowl.
I have a saying that here in Canada, "Christmas is the season that brings the best out of people; influenza is the season that brings the Christmas out of people!" 
So I had been trying to block the idea out of my mind ( if you don't think about it it won't happen) when 100 meters from the lighted intersection, that is the end of the 407, I suddenly felt violently ill ( this is different from a pacifist illness theoretically).
I knew I was in distress but to this point I had not mentioned a word about how I was feeling to either my wife or daughter. I decided now would be the time to enlighten them so I said three rapid fire statements ( while driving at 100 km an hour) " I don't feel well/ I need to pull over/I'm going to pass out".
Within a minute I found myself listening to Janine yelling at me while she stood outside of the car in the middle of an ice and snow covered field and cars were stopping on the shoulder of the road I had been driving on seconds earlier,  yelling questions like " are you OK?" 
"Did I pass out?" I asked , and then preceded to submit to  the flu ( on the snow) being careful not to get anything spewed in my car which I had yet to ascertain had bigger issues. 

I will skip the details of how fortunate I am that none of the three of us were harmed, how I did not even touch another vehicle let alone injure any innocent bystanders/drivers. It was an outcome for which I definitely believe involved divine intervention, I also know that really good people die in car crashes all the time.  While I believe that God did spare us I don't pretend to have an explanation why. 
I have been thinking about a different kind of lesson in the 35 days since. The lesson is about anger/ frustration/patience.
Here in Ontario they frown on things like passing out while behind the wheel. As a result , no matter what your excuse may be they simply and quickly revoke your privilege to drive. Then it is up to you to get cracking, get to your physician and undergo extensive testing to determine the cause of the incident and they likelihood of a recurrence of the same thing happening again. 
Once you have completed all of that, you submit your medical report and then you wait, for at least 6 weeks. 
At the same time 34 days later my car has not yet left the repair shop.
What I am surprised by is how non- frustrated I have been by 5 weeks going by just waiting, you see I am not a very good waiter.
I have been more frustrated, distracted, discouraged by forced delays of a much shorter less expensive type many times in my life, why have I lost so little sleep over this one? 
It's a number of things. Gratitude for one. Of course I can't avoid feeling anything other than fortunate. any of the other alternative scenarios once I lost consciousness that I can easily imagine are far worse. This is the "count your blessings" factor I suppose. 
There is something else I believe at work in my psyche...none of it is in my control.
I am not tempted to get angry at the auto shop for taking "so long" because I don't have a licence to drive anyway.
I don't have a licence because there is an MTO protocol that I have no valid reason for believing I haven't earned ...I am the one after all  that was careening down a public highway unconscious. The extensive testing the 6 weeks to get my report evaluated, there is nothing i can do to make that happen faster. 

Like I said, I am not a naturally patient person. How much of my frustrations , anger , moodiness, bad attitudes that I justify are because  I am addicted tot he illusion that I am in control of many more things in life than I would like to admit. 
I don't think of myself as a control freak yet the main reason in this case why I have not felt inclined to freak out is that I am aware that I am not in control. 
I used to have a fridge magnet for years ,  it quoted a Psalm ( 31)
"... I trust in you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;"

Maybe after years on my fridge, that verse is finally starting to stick. 

I like to hope so. 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I realize that you can't scout for repair shops anymore, but that must have been a massive repair for it to escalate like that. At least you seem to have a working car now again, which is good. It really is better to have your own ride for work and for trips.
Taleen Kizirian@ JimAndJacks.com