On a rainy, foggy night in January, the four of us were going to a concert.  We were all very excited and as the concert was a two hour drive, we set out early.  The mp3 player was loaded with music to get us into the mood and we were in great spirits as we set out on our drive. The weather was gloomy, but not too bad;  more fog and mist, than pouring down rain.  We set out and the ride was smooth, we sort of knew where we were going, but had maps set up to take us through. We arrived at our destination, about three hours early, which was our intention.  We have a favorite restaurant that’s becoming sort of a tradition when we’re in the area.  We found the restaurant, had a lovely meal, lots of laughs, and some silly conversations.  We all have such a lovely time when we’re together.  There’s lots of witty quips and clever comebacks and we really enjoy one another’s company.

After dinner we headed to the show, which was even better than we anticipated!  The band was great, the venue, perfect, our seats close enough to make eye contact with the performers. There was even some really interesting people watching to enjoy.  The nearly three hours flew by and when it was over, we set out to go home.

The weather had become a bit colder and it was still raining, misting, and foggy.  There was almost no traffic and we pretty much flew home.  We go through the forest, and it’s very dark, but we’re used to it.  I did see quite a few animals on the way back and we were remarking about it, trying to figure out what one of them was, coyote?  Small bear?  But that’s pretty usual for the forest.

Less than five miles from home it happened. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two deer.  They were very close, right outside the passenger window, I sped up and swerved to possibly miss them, but I didn’t make it.  There was a tremendous thud, and I knew one of them had hit. The deer ran off and I knew there was nothing we could do for the poor thing, but I was beside myself; both with the thought of what the animal was going through and also worry for my car.  It’s the only car I have and losing it would be more of a hardship than I could deal with.  It seemed to be driving fine, and no one in the car was hurt, so we just continued back home.

When we got to the first drop off, we opened the passenger side door and it opened ok.  I stepped out and walked around and there’s a pretty large dent, but not as bad as I had envisioned.  Also, there was no blood – so it made me feel slightly more hopeful that the deer was only stunned. Although honestly, there’s no way to know.  There’s nothing I could have done differently and honestly, it could have been so much worse.

I think I was stunned and upset and we continued to our house, pulled in the driveway and just went inside. I figured there was nothing I could do about it, at that point and it was almost 1 AM.  The next day, I went outside and really the damage wasn’t too terrible.  All cosmetic, it seems.

It could have been so much worse.

If I had not sped up and swerved, it’s very likely both deer would have crashed into the front end, making it worse for them, and us.  It could have sent us off the road, maybe into a tree, it could have spun us, even flipped us…. that’s a stretch, our deer are pretty small here in Florida, but I really started to think about how lucky we were that the incident was so minor.

There’s nothing like that split second of decision to make you realize that we need to live in the now, as much as we possibly can.  I truly believe that everything is a teachable moment and I’ve been doing my fair share of worrying lately, some might say, more than my fair share.  This put things in perspective for me.  It’s been a glorious, freeing, beautiful, terrifying, difficult, wonderful past thirteen months or so, and it has taught me that I’m more capable than I ever thought, that I’m more resilient than I ever could have imagined, and that I’m creating this big, beautiful, amazing life, on my own terms.  Are there glitches?  Yep.  But I work them out, each and every time.

How about you?  Are you living how you want to live?  Are you getting what you want out of life?  Are you struggling?  Let me know, I’d love to hear from you.