Green Means Go Cautiously

One of the scariest moments of my life happened about two weeks ago. As I was approaching an intersection while driving, the light turned green, and I continued driving into the intersection. I had barely made it halfway through when a larger SUV barreled behind me, barely missing me, as the driver ran the red light. I am very fortunate God has provided me with exceptional guardian angels and that He has His hand around me, because that was too close of an encounter for me; I did NOT want to be t-boned that day (or any day really).

However, this incident got me thinking about how often we act on our own selfish or egocentric ambition, and we never realize the affect it could have on others. The driver who blazed through the red light (as I have mad it completely through that intersection on a yellow light coming from the same ways as that driver) was either not paying attention to the light change or chose to just make it through the light (maybe he/she was late for work?). Either way, the driver was solely thinking of him/herself and not about any other driver who could be driving according to the laws.

How often do we think "I can get away with this small thing because I want it or I should be able to do it"? The actions we take can affect innocent bystanders without them ever crossing our mind. In a world where we focus solely on ourselves and how our actions will affect us, we need to take a step back and realize who else we are affecting. This is not a controlled experiment where we are the only changing variable in this world. There is a myriad amount of extraneous variables in life, and all of those people are thinking about themselves and how they can get ahead in life.

I learned two lessons that day:
1. When driving, I have to take an extra step to make sure every one else is abiding by traffic laws solely for the purpose of my own safety. Has everyone stopped at a red light before I enter into the intersection? It doesn't matter who's at fault if you're dead.
2. I need to start thinking about other people more and how my actions affect them. When I try to cut the corner, am I causing someone else pain? frustration? danger? When I try to make it through on a yellow light will I hit someone who pops the clutch when the light turns green?

Just because we can, doesn't mean we should without taking proper caution. Look out for yourself AND others in ALL the actions you take!

~Rachel