The Car Accident: A Wake-Up Call - Essay Example

?The Car Accident: A wake up call There are instances in our lives that we least expect, but could have greater effect towards our perspective about life. I have always been a busy person; a student and an employee at the same time are additional struggles towards being a son/daughter to my parents. It has always been a fast-paced life for me; the need of being self-sufficient and to be proactive with my studies almost left me with nothing but my existence and my worries about the future. The night of February 3, 2007 changed my life. It has changed the way I view the world and life itself. The car accident in which I was involved with offered me realizations that I never thought I would have and shed light on the things that I should prioritize first other than my career and goal setting. My life is always in the fast lane ever since I tried working for me to enroll in the university I wanted. I began to miss family dinners and forget important family events. Fortunately, my family understands this and tolerated me because of what I want to achieve. The realization came all of a sudden when I woke up in a soft-lit room with my mother and father all looking towards me. They smiled and sighed of relief and asked me if I were alright. I had a heavy feeling when I regained consciousness and feeling slightly dizzy. My arm was wrapped with tourniquets, and I could see that there was heavy bleeding on it before I was sent to this hospital. I was driving towards home around nine in the evening. Although the night was young and there were still people doing their business, going home after eight o’clock was not the usual thing for me to do. However, my job calls for it and I would be more than willing to stay late for it to get done, at least, there would be something in store for me and could help with my savings for my dream university life. The car seat was not so comfortable, as it was an old model from my father bought when he received his retirement fee. It was quite old, but I felt that I was older than the car I was driving. I was so tired and my eyes were sleepy. It has always been like that since the first day I started at work. The cars passing by were already like light bulbs racing as I see it. No matter how tired I was, I still preferred to drive since transportation allowance was not in my budget list. I remind myself all the time that I should be cautious when driving, little did I know that that caution has less to do when the body could no longer be awake. I remembered that night in February when I almost lost my life in pursuit of a dream. While I was driving, lights flashed suddenly into my tired eyes while my hands are holding lightly the steering wheel. I was from an overtime job. The sound of which an exploding-like sound resonated in my ears, and I realized that I have just encountered an accident. I could only remember few things with the crash itself. Maybe because I was too tired to drive that I mishandled everything inside the car. I could say that my vision at that time was not already suitable for driving, but because I was already on the road and I was quite near from my home, I decided to go on. The light-headedness I felt disappeared suddenly when I realized that there was a car approaching my direction. I tried to avoid it by moving the steering wheel away to the car’s direction, but it was too late. The car also ran very fast; it seems to me that the driver was losing control of his vehicle. Soon after, the light coming from the car’s headlights became too strong which blinded me and caused me to lose my control as well. After that was a complete darkness. Me and the driver of the other vehicle were lucky enough to have survived the accident as the police said that the crash was fatal. Although he was also confined in the hospital because of serious injuries and wounds, I was happy to know that he was alright. The police said that the man driving the other car was drunk. Instead of being mad at the man, I was thankful to him somehow, because he led me to the way of realization. I was not in the proper condition to drive anyway, so I decided not to do any action. My family was both thankful and afraid. Thankful, because I survived the accident despite the bruises and wounds I obtained, but afraid because they might think that this would discourage me. They were wrong. This did not prevent me from achieving what I wanted, however this time, I already know the most important things in life. I already know what to prioritize and how to balance things for my family and for my future. The accident served like a wakeup call for me or for anyone who was too busy to forget the most important possessions in life. Life is too short to spend all our time and energy to just one thing, and would lead us to forget more important matters. My family, of whom I disregarded when I was at work trying to save money, were the first people to be there in the hospital for me. It is unfortunate that I wasted too much time thinking about the future and planning strategically to achieve my goals. I put too much effort into it that I forgot to value the people around me and their concern towards me. Living up to your dreams is not a bad thing, however, we should keep in mind that these are just secondary things in our priority. Valuing family, giving time for your loved ones, and showing them that we are always there for them are more than any university degree that life can offer. Read More