How Living in the Moment Can Save Your Life

There are some activities that naturally fine-tune your ability to be fully present and living in the moment. Any activity where truly intense focus is necessary to avoid the threat of death requires that you learn to be fully present in each moment. Skydiving, rock climbing, motorcycle riding...

If you happened to read my previous post, then you know that my oldest son bought a motorcycle just over a year ago. Needless to say, while I was happy for him, there was an underlying sense of panic...a fear that one day I'd get one of those phone calls every parent most dreads...telling me that my son had been in an accident.

It required every bit of my live-in-the-moment skills to let go of that fear so that it didn't consume me. Had I not been practicing living in the moment I could have spent much of the last year missing out on my life, driving myself nuts with worry, but that would only have served to make me miserable, and probably to make my son miserable with the relentless nagging to be careful that would likely have resulted. : )

It would not, could not, have prevented my son from being in an accident or prevented the dreaded phone call that would follow if he were.

That dreaded phone call came last Friday morning.

My son was riding his motorcycle home late Thursday night when a large flat-bed truck ran a stop sign and made a left turn directly in front of him. He was traveling at 45 mph and had only a split second to react. He swerved hard to the right, missing the flat-bed of the truck by mere inches, only to realize in the next moment that he could not avoid the curb that he was then rapidly approaching.

He hit the curb with such force that his butt flew three feet off the seat of his bike. It was in that moment that he let go of the handlebars. The last thing he remembers was looking down at his bike five feet below as he flew through the air, then the flash of white light he saw as his head hit the ground and he began tumbling, coming to a stop about 40 feet from where his bike lay.

Thankfully, all things considered, he suffered only minor injuries...a few broken ribs, a badly sprained wrist and ankle, a mild concussion and many abrasions and bruises.

Had he not been fully present in those moments, had he not swerved in that split second, had he hit the truck, or had he not let go of his bike in the moment he hit the curb, had he gotten tangled in the bike, the result could have been much, much worse.

It was precisely because he was living fully in the moment during those split seconds that he was able to take the instantaneous actions that saved his life.

Comments

[Brett Legree]

Wow. I am very happy that this story turned out okay. And it is a lesson each of us could learn, about being present.

(This is why I do not listen to music or talk on my cell phone when I drive. Because you never know when you will need full and undivided attention.)

[Lisa]

@Brett - Oh, as you can imagine, I'm very happy it turned out okay, too.

It's a potent reminder of how important it is to stay present when we're spending time with those we love. Every moment is precious.

I'm sure your loved ones are very grateful that you give your undivided attention to your driving, making it that much more likely that you'll be sticking around for a long time to come. :)

[Pam]

Lisa, I am so glad to hear that your son is OK!! Thank you for sharing your story with us and the powerful reminder that living in the moment is where we all should be.

[Lisa]

@Pam - Thank you, Pam. This is just one example of the endless ways in which living in the moment can transform your life. The benefits of staying present, of fully engaging in your life are too numerous to count.

As a mother, I'm incredibly grateful that I've learned how to really be present with my sons. It means, that although the time does seem to fly by, I'm able to really cherish my time with them instead of feeling as though I've missed out on it.

It's in moments like the one when I received that call (and was reminded of how tenuous life can be) that I become even more aware of how grateful I am for every moment with them.