Talking about free will, God’s plans and Darwin‘s comment about fatal car accidents, I thought about an incident that happened to me back in May 2003.
It’s a common misconception that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. I know there’s a term in psychology for this, but I can’t remember it now. We’ve all seen terrible things happen to good people and great things happen to bad people. People often ask: If there is a God, why is there so much bad in the world? I like to think that there’s a reason for everything good or [seemingly] bad. It all depends on your perspective. Here’s my story:
About 3 years ago, I was studying cramming for an exam with a couple of girls about 2 hours before we were going to write. We eventually decided we would drive over to the school and study there. I had my car and they had theirs. They left before me so I started off following them down the road. At one point, I changed lanes, passed them and was now driving in front of them.
As I drove along without a care in the world, out of the corner of my eye I suddenly noticed that a car (in the opposing lane) was making a left turn into my lane without looking. I realized I didn’t have my seatbelt on (not smart.), so I gripped the steering wheel tightly, pushed myself as far back into my seat as possible and slammed the breaks. CRASH!!
My car after my first accident. It obviously wasn’t my fault, so the insurance covered it.
I got shaken around a bit, but I knew I was fine. I checked my head (that had hit the side window) to see if I was bleeding or anything. Once the smoke cleared, I looked around. The impact of the crash had caused the car to spin out, the back hit and my car had been pushed about 3 feet onto the sidewalk. I looked out and less than 5 feet away from my front bumper stood a little old lady …she was trembling.
I got out of the car and the two girls (driving behind me) had already come running out. One of them was crying. The first words that came out of my mouth were: “Whoa. I’m glad that wasn’t you guys.” She looked at me stunned and gave me a big hug. I walked over to make sure the old lady was OK and then sat on the sidewalk and continued studying until the cops came. A few weeks later, one of the girls came and said: “Do you remember the first thing you said was that you were glad it wasn’t us? Why did you say that!? I thought that was amazingly selfless!”
I’m not sure if it was selfless, but as you may know, I’m a very logical and rational person, so this was my thought process the second I got out of my car: IF they were still driving in front of me, they would have been the ones to get hit and the situation could have been far more different:
- The car she was driving (a Toyota Tercel) was MUCH smaller and lighter than mine; it would have definitely been pushed much further onto the sidewalk and that old lady may have not seen another day.
- Assuming she had slightly slower reflexes than me, the car would have smashed into the driver’s side door.
- There were 2 of them in the smaller car, thus more chances of either of them getting hurt.
Yes, all these things crossed my mind within those first few seconds and I thought: “Thank God it was me and not them.”
The story ends on an even better note because since I was not at fault in the accident, the insurance paid to get my car back in top shape (even better than it was pre-accident). Oh, I also aced that exam! 
Before I finish, please keep in mind that I realize that “bad” is a very relative term. I’ve led a pretty comfortable life and I’m aware that other people have gone through MUCH worse life circumstances than I have. However, I also know people who live much more comfortable lives than I do and still complain regularly. The question to ask yourself is:
When “bad” things happen, how quick are you to stop freaking out, take a step back, try to see the bigger picture and come up with a positive perspective of the situation?