Collision Course: Lessons Learned From Totalling my Car

If no one told you....car crashes are a bit jarring.

More than likely you've seen a nasty crash, looked at it and went "whew...glad that ain't me...."

Well, last October it was me. Without going into the the details of what led up to it (there were a few and no, none of them involved alcohol, drugs or texting) I ended up totaling my car. The same one I got the summer after I got hired in Omaha. The same one I had while I was going through my process for Omega Psi Phi. The same one that got me too and from the gym...gone in an instant.

But I was alive, so that's a good takeaway.

As you can see in the picture I crashed head-on into a tree. I pretty much thought my life was over and I was in a seatbelt. But in those brief moments before the crash, I had a bit of an epiphany....

Goodbye Mach-5

 Little shit don't matter. Your anger, jealously, all that type of bullshit don't matter. We all out of here in the same box, so whatever issues you have with work, people and other shit....it's all for naught.

I also learned that you have to recover. Luckily I wasn't that injured. I only got a nasty gash on my shin, but other than that, I was fine. I actually went to train back and participate at D9 day at a local university.

In retrospect, should I have relaxed a bit? Yes. I was in a jarring experience and still needed to process the totality of what happened. But my mindset is that of a hard head motherfucker, so I just pushed through. Don't be like me. First is be thankful that you're alive...and then get back to the grind of life.

For some reason, I have the tendency to feel like a failure. More often than I would like some days. When I lost my ride, my mode of "freedom", I was devatated. How was I going to to get around? I hate leaning on people and it frustrates me when I have to. But luckily I have a good group of people around. The crash made me realize how important people are. People who genuinely care for you as a person.

It's human nature to think of yourself as a tough monolith. But we are all fighting some type of battle.  I know after this crash, I had more frustration with myself, still do to an extent, but another lesson I'm learning is that you have to forgive yourself for bonehead mistakes. My crash didn't have to happen, but it did....so no use beating myself up about it.

                    And no Chow.......I didn't die. But I learned. I learned like a motherfucker.