Monday, November 9, 2015

Precious.

I have had some moments of epiphany in my life. Yesterday, I was driving to Kamloops for the Interior Wellness Conference, and was truly enjoying the morning. It was bright and sunny, traffic was flowing smoothly, and I was belting out a Kiesza song. There was enough water on the road that it was coming off of the cars in a superfine mist, and I took comfort that the roads would not be icy, but just a little wet.
On the left hand side of the road, in the opposing traffic, there was a large yellow truck stopped, and three people walking north. As I turned my full attention back to the road in front of me, it took me a moment to comprehend that there had been an accident up ahead. A transport truck was stopped and the man was waving his arms at me to slow down. I immediately applied the brakes.


But nothing happened. I panicked, and stepped on the brakes harder. Nothing. I heard something locking up in the car, and at that point I was visualizing what would happen if I wasn't able to stop. I was saying "No, please no. Not like this. Oh god, please no ... " and then I said it "I'm not ready to go". I heard or felt a deep inner voice say "Nicole, you have to let everything go." I took my hands off the wheel, I took my foot off the brake, and I must have felt the car regain control. Then I gently applied the brakes and they took hold. I came to a fast and solid and full stop.


At that point I was able to actually see the scene in front of me. There was a dually truck on it's roof, and the attached, enclosed trailer it was towing was on it's side. I put my hazard lights on, turned off my engine and walked onto the scene. My feet were slipping on the frozen, black ice of the Coquihalla, and I realized how lucky I was to have been able to stop. As I walked over to the scene, the lady who had been driving said there was a horse in the trailer.  I asked the good Samaritan who was helping her if the horse was moving. She said she didn't know. So some men pried open the door, and the woman said the horse needed to be able to stand up, or it would have to be put down. I looked into the trailer and saw a sweet little miniature horse. I knew I had to help, so I climbed in with her and we got the horse to stand. This poor woman was in shock, and as soon as she saw that the creature was okay, she left the trailer. I had to stay. The poor little guy was in shock too, and I smoothed and petted him all over. His heart was racing and the sounds of the highway were making him feel pretty uncertain. But he seemed to calm down quickly, and when I started giving him Reiki, he immediately leaned onto me quite heavily. I gave him Reiki for quite some time, and finally decide that he would be okay, so I climbed out of the trailer. Just as I opened the door to leave, he pawed at the bar in the trailer and whinnied at me. I told him he would be okay, and I got out of the trailer.


I walked past the overturned truck, and noticed the antifreeze dripping like syrup from beneath the hood. I approached two bystanders and told them the horse was okay, and they both sighed in relief. We started chatting about the icy roads, and how we both had difficulty stopping on the slick surface. It turns out they were from Merritt, and were also heading to the conference. We talked and talked while a few other people were assisting with the scene. Pretty soon the police cars, tow truck and ambulance came, along with a highway maintenance truck and a snow plow. The scene was cleared in 20 minutes, and the highway was open once more, with more salt to melt the nasty ice.


Upon reflection all day yesterday, I realized how incredibly lucky I am to have been able to stop my vehicle. It really spooked me, and I realize that nothing happens by chance. The Universe had a master plan to pluck each person involved to learn a lesson, to have poor judgement, to fill up a water bottle and get one more hug from each family member before leaving the house. I was meant to meet that little horse, and those wonderful ladies from Merritt, and the kind police officer who said "120 km's probably isn't the right speed limit in these conditions". The woman who was involved in the accident probably had something she was meant to realize because of the accident - something that only a very big scare could make obvious enough. ( I don't know her story, and it wouldn't be fair to assume anything!)


All in all, I cannot lie, I was incredibly shaken all day as I walked through the conference and chatted with some amazingly beautiful people. I value this life so deeply and feel that this moment that I had will continue to affect me profoundly. I feel that now, more than ever, I must make the most of this life, and continue to simply share myself with the world ... from simple interactions to this blog to my work teaching yoga. It is all so precious. Life is so precious. I am precious, and You are precious. Make the most of each moment ... I know it is hard sometimes, but with practice you will get there more often, I promise you that.


The Light in Me sees the Light in You.
Sincerely, Nicole

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