About Last Night….There Are No Accidents (names and places have been changed to protect the innocent and not so innocent) maybe it’s true, everything is Perfectly Planned…

Thursday evenings I see clients in my office at iParent Plus.  I got to the office early yesterday to get some administrative stuff done and after about an hour I was feeling an overwhelming sense of exhaustion.  Since I had an hour and half before my client I decided to take a 20 minute power nap and then my plan was to get something to eat before my sessions began.  Well, I woke up an hour and half later! Thank goodness my client was running behind so I had enough time to wipe the drool off my face.  Perfect.

I had three back to back to back sessions scheduled. After the first session, my next client had to cancel. Perfect.

I would be able to tune in to the Thursday meditation of  Dr. Shefali’s Year of the Awakened Heart , a class I’m enrolled in. Usually I have to watch the replay but I guess it was my lucky evening,. Perfect.

As always Dr. Shefali’s wisdom wowed me . During the meditation, perhaps especially since we had newbies joining, she repeatedly reminded us to stay with our breath. “On the Breath” Dr. Shefali always says. And so I did.  I meditated before my last client for the evening arrived. (Which by the way is wild to me because 5 months ago I truly believed I was incapable of meditating…but that’s another post that I will save for another time). Perfect.

Anyway, as I was in my last session, my stomach was starting to growl. I realized I didn’t eat lunch and so after session I went across the street for some yummy Persian food.  It was almost 9pm and I don’t often eat that late at night.  After my sessions I usually just want to get home, but it was Perfect.

As I started driving home, I realized I didn’t turn right to get on the freeway as I always do to go home. Hmm, I guess I’ll take streets home I thought to myself, which was Perfect.

I was starting to get annoyed because I was getting every red light, but that too was Perfect.

At a major intersection I debated turning right and catching the freeway so I could just get home already, into a hot shower and my cozy jammies. But another car pulled up next to me so I couldn’t switch lanes, which was also Perfect.

As I came up to the light to turn left, 2 blocks from my house, the light was of course red. Perfect.

As I waited, a car on my right zoomed through the red light. And my thought was “Wow. Someone is in a hurry!” And then I heard it. A scream like no other. I had no idea where it was coming from. I turned down my radio which was blaring, The Shape of You by Ed Sheeran. Perfect.

The screams. The horrible screams. I rolled down the window and that’s when I saw the shape of him- a man in a black hoodie rolling around on the side of the road screaming.  I couldn’t process. Was he joking?  Was he on drugs?  Was he dangerous?  And then in an agonizing desperate scream I will never forget he yelled, “HELP me!!” At the exact same moment the two drivers in the two cars next to me and I all jumped out of our cars. I think they pulled their cars over first, which was probably smart.  I flipped on my hazard lights left my car in the turn lane and ran across the street like Frogger dodging oncoming traffic to get to the desperate man.

He had been hit by the car that ran the red light.  The gentlemen who got out of his car to help, I’ll call him George, because I swear he looked just like George Clooney, who I have a ridiculous crush on. Ah, Mr. Clooney…hubba hubba! But that’s not the point.

So, George is on the phone calling 911.  The other lady who left her car to come over and help, I’ll call her Milla, cuz I like that name, she is asking the injured man, we’ll call Johnny, who she can call for him and starts to call his emergency contact-  his grandpa.

That leaves me and Johnny.  He is in so much pain. He’s screaming and yelling and just in so much pain.  I centered myself, put my hand on Johnny’s belly and told him with all the power I had and all the calmness I could harness to “Breathe.”

“I can’t!! It hurts too much, I can’t!!! My leg!! Oh my God it hurts so bad!!” he screamed at me. I looked in his eyes and said, “I know and still, Breathe. Breathe from your belly. Let the pain be. Focus on a sunset. Picture the ocean. Breathe. This is the only way. You will be ok. Help is on the way.”

Finally he was able to take a couple deep breaths. Then he would scream again, I would bring his mind back to focus again, and then he would belly breathe deep again.

As all this is happening a lady came and stood on the curb next to me, we’ll call her Jennifer, because Jennifer is a pretty popular name and Jennifer could have been any of us.

“Oh my Gosh. Oh my Gosh. He’s in shock.  Here’s my jacket.”  I kindly let her know he didn’t need her jacket. And then she says, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry!” She looks terrified and like she’s about to pass out.  I get her to sit down on the curb and put her head between her knees then I look her in wide eyes and tell her, “You did the right thing by coming back.” She says, “I think I should go. Should I go?” “No,” I responded firmly. I put my hand on her back and said “Just Breathe.”

So with one hand on Johnny and the other on Jennifer, I took a deep breath, filled the energy space between them and simply said, “On the Breath. Stay on the Breath.” Perfect.

The Grandpa arrived, Johnny’s brother arrived, the Utopian Police Department arrived, the Paramedics arrived and the Firefighters arrived.  Everyone did what they were supposed to do.  And I was supposed to be there to help calm these two strangers. Everything that led to that moment was Perfectly Planned.  

And when it was all done and I got home, I called my Person to recount my night.  I expressed that I felt such calmness, “like someone took over my body,”I remarked.  And because she knows me better than I know myself sometimes she simply said, “No. It was all you. You had it in you.” I let that land on my heart. Paused for a moment before exclaiming, “Hey! I’m kinda a Bad Ass!”

I think Johnny will be ok. I’m no doctor (yet) but I think he had a broken leg and some lacerations.  While Jennifer had pieces of her car fall off in the collision, Johnny’s skateboard was Perfectly in tact. Jennifer will have to face the consequence of her actions…and sleep knowing she did the right thing by staying at the scene.  Milla said she needed to breathe and remarked I was the calmest person she had ever seen. Ha! And George…well, while it would not have been appropriate for me to ask if he was single at the time, hopefully he is and perhaps we’ll meet again!  Perfect.

As for me, I was reminded of what I knew to be true…everything is Perfectly Planned, I am where I am supposed to be (as long as I don’t resist it) and so are you. There Are No Accidents. It’s all simply Perfect.

Lessons Learned: Wear a helmet when you skateboard. Drive safe. Be a helper. And Breathe.

This was the meme I had posted yesterday morning on Facebook and Instagram yesterday. Before all this transpired. Perfect.

 

 

Stay (Perfectly) Positive,