First experience- No fault of mine (everyone thinks like that, you may say)
I was in my car at a traffic junction. The place was really a crowded one on a rainy Saturday evening. I was tired and returning from a journey of around 100 kilometers.
Suddenly I noticed that a car (bigger than mine!) came out from a nearby street and took a turn to join the cars standing at that traffic junction. There was not a much space to accommodate it besides my car, yet the driver tried to get in a narrow space.
I found him very restless. Through my closed window I waved him and asked him to wait till the traffic moves from that signal point. As he noticed that the red light turned into green, he could not wait but to accelerate his car.
As I told before, there was no space for him to go ahead and he finally scratched the side of my car.
Now I opened the windows and reacted by telling him that he was quite impatient and has created a damage to me.
There was a real blast from him! He got angry, started shouting and abusing me for no fault of mine. I saw that there was impatience, urgency, irresponsibility and lack of character with him.
I saw his wife (I assume!) sitting beside him. I could perceive that she knew what was going on with his husband but was seen as a helpless spectator (I think she might have had similar experiences many times before).
Realizing that there won’t be much achieved by getting more involved with the person who was not in his senses, I decided to move on.
The feelings that later on emerge inside me were:
Did I deal well with the situation?
How could he abuse me when there was no fault of mine?
What a lack of character in him as he used slangs even though his wife was sitting besides him?
Was I insulted?
Should I have protested, fought and made my point clear to him?
Was a scared as I leave the place? Could I have acted with more courage?
These questions remained with me for a day and then slowly disappeared.
Second experience- There was my fault!
This time I was going for a call to attend in a hospital. I was near a fly-over bridge and about to ride on it.
Suddenly I realized that I don’t have to take that bridge for the hospital I was heading towards. I showed a signal and took my car towards left. Bang! A motorcyclist was riding his bike very nearer to me and got beaten by my car. I heard a loud noise.
I immediately stopped my car and got out of it to see a person (struck by my car)lying on the road with a bike fallen over his right leg. I went towards, lifted his bike and helped him stand up. Fortunately, he was safe. I took a deep breath and felt a relief. I took him and his bike at the side of the road.
People gathered around. To my surprise, nobody reacted to this incidence except one gentle-man helping me support the affected motorcyclist. I said sorry to him, introduced him about myself and asked for any more help I can offer to him.
He tried to explain that he was not at fault and I accepted that too. There was a small wound over his right toe but he was comfortable with it. I saw that he was able to ride his bike and could go well with it.
I told him about where I work, said sorry again and left.
The feelings and questions I was then faced with were:
What would have happened if the incidence could have been more traumatic?
Why did I take the left turn at the last moment?
What a gentle-man he was?
How reckless and impatient the person in my first experience was? and how totally opposite this other one was!
I was really fortunate that the things did not get more serious.
What more help could I have offered to him?
Did I really fulfill my role as a fellow human being?
I still feel that I could have done more there. I now pray for him. May god bless him with everything!
Third experience- Again no fault of mine. Truly a learning experience!
This time my car was parked on a side of a busy street. I was waiting for my son’s school-bus to arrive.
Suddenly a person on a scooter (carrying some household material) lost his control and banged with my car (which was parked in a safe place).
I could not understand how it happened. I got out of my car and caught that person before he could run away. I saw scratched and wounds on my car! I saw him carrying a luggage full of household material on his scooter which was legally not allowed.
I started blaming him for the damage he had done to my car and threatened him to take to police. He was scared, said sorry and explained that he lost control because the other motorcyclist came in his way.
I kept on reminding him about his fault of carrying a luggage on a scooter and that he could be fined for that.
Suddenly, the gentle-man from my previous experience came to my awareness. I thank him for reminding me of how rudely I was reacting to that man. I regained myself back and the perspective about the event changed!
I warned him not to carry such a load on a scooter again and let him go.
How good that motorcyclist was! And how much reactive I was!
I had always considered myself as a sensible and compassionate person, but I realized that I needed to learn and practice more for being compassionate when things go out of control.
Were these events necessary for me to learn the lessons and gain the insight?
Were these just random events that I am tying together for creating a meaning out of it or were they really opportunities designed to come into my life for me to learn?
Whatever may be the case, those events did not just happen! They grabbed my conscious attention. I looked into them more consciously and tried to see what was there for me to learn as a human being.
I am thankful to that motorcyclist who came into my life to help me consciously choose my responses from now onwards.
Have you ever encountered such repeated experiences in your life? If yes, please share them in the comments section below and help others to learn from them.
Living Consciously,