The Car Accident: Attitude is the Difference

The difference between a wildly dramatic situation and just a sucky situation is all attitude. 

This morning I was in a car accident on the freeway. Three cars were involved and I was the middle one. Lucky me. Everyone walked away, and at least two of the three cars drove away- not sure about the car in the back of the pile up. 

There we were three shaken people who were just in an accident. That's just what it was, an accident. No one maliciously ran into anyone else. We were from three very different backgrounds all pulled over to the side of the freeway. As calmly as we could, only because we were all literally shaking, we exchanged information and decided to call the CHP to file a report right there. Mostly out of concern that the back car wasn't going to be able to drive away. 

No one raised their voices. The first thing we all did was check in with each other's physical beings. "Is everyone okay?" Which of course actually means "does any one need paramedics?" Then we all went about figuring out what information to exchange. And most of all we were kind to each other. Even the CHP officer that responded was kind. 

We were all different ethnicities, different ages, going to different places but at the core we were all just three humans that were involved in a shocking and "yucky" experience. We chose to be grateful. We focused on the fact that no one was "ambulance hurt," that we were all single riders, and no kids were involved. We didn't focus on the material objects. Yeah, there was plenty of damage between the three cars but fretting, crying, or screaming on the side of the freeway wasn't going to change that fact. We chose our attitude and thus our response. 

As a result the situation remained at a simple "sucky" status instead of escalating into a dramatic situation. 

If Life was a Dream...

In my dream, this is a reminder that we can still connect as human beings. That we are able, even in traumatic situations to choose our attitude. We can still choose to be kind to one another. If I had to guess, I'd surmise that both the strangers I met today practice choosing their attitude about life's situations. It takes practice to choose to be grateful, to choose to focus on the tasks at hand and not to spin out into a rabbit hole of "what if's." 

Be intentional about choosing your attitude toward every situation you face. Keep practicing.