Have you ever felt your life is like a novel, with twists & turns and sometimes ridiculous plot lines?

I have.

In my 64 turns around the sun I have lived multiple lives and reinvented myself over & over again.

It’s been quite the Journey.

I feel like I have had so many adventures and so many amazing opportunities. From a gal who started out life in a railway shack in a street and suburb with identical pastel coloured weatherboard (clapboard) cottages (that makes the houses sound cute & romantic, they were not) with the train line running behind the back fence and falling asleep to the sound of trains on the tracks.

A high school drop out who ended up as a university professor and a doctor (not medical, the PhD kind) then ditched all of that to work at her local Bunnings store as the well-being & safety officer. A skinny kid from the wrong side of the tracks whose expectations of life were limited at best and then blew all those expectations out of the water!

I have been married twice, the first time in my teens, the second in my 40s. Widowed once, divorced once. Then throw in a couple more relationships along the way. Some ok, some painful and emotionally abusive.

And one, right now, that is just right, the Goldilocks of relationships that feels better than winning the lotto!

Add in the mix one amazing, awesome, gorgeous, loving and wonderful daughter and I know I have been truly blessed.

But with each iteration of my life’s journey I found that some of it I have loved, some of it not so much. But that’s ok, it’s all part of the ride and sometimes you just gotta hang onto your hat when the roller coaster flies up, down and around sharp bends.

This morning I was heading to the gym for my 6am spin class. I was driving through a roundabout and I had right of way. I was most of the way through when I got hit by a large SUV. The impact was forceful enough that my car spun around and I ended up facing the opposite direction. That was the most frightening part of the crash, no control and not sure where I’d end up.

The girl who caused the accident was incredibly apologetic, very young and told me she was just heading home (from a night shift). She said she was really tired, half asleep and not concentrating. She literally did not see my car until she hit me.

She kept apologising and she ended up in tears, so I gave her a hug and told her it would all be ok. She was fine, I am fine. Insurance would sort out the damage to our cars. Clearly it was a traumatic incident for her and I didn’t want to make her feel worse. There was no point in my being upset or angry, that really doesn’t help. She needed reassuring. I told her to drive home real careful.

She got home safe.

I’ve spent the day making police reports and insurance claims. I had to swing by my doctor as my lower back was feeling a Bit Stiff and sore and this evening my neck is also feeling a bit stiff and sore.

I’ll see how I pull up in the morning, hopefully I’ll be fine after a good night’s rest (and a soak in a hot bath).

I often think about how our lives intersect with the people on our journeys. Some people are part of our journey for minutes, others months or years. Some people leave an impact both good and/or bad, others ghost in & out quietly and sometimes you don’t realise they have faded out of your life until you notice their absence. Some are so noisy and obtrusive & painful to your life and emotional wellbeing, then they depart on another branch of the train line, usually suddenly & jarringly. You look back and watch them move off into the distance and breathe a sigh of relief and with a sense of sorrow for the other folk that will be damaged by them.

Car accident girl and I will always be linked by this incident. Hopefully she has learned to not drive tired and hopefully she is mindful that it could have been a whole lot worse, I am grateful it was not worse.

Damaged cars can be fixed or replaced. People can be fixed (mostly, more or less) but they cannot be replaced.

Hug your loved ones and be kind to the people that cross your path, even if that crossing is traumatic, you don’t know what is happening in someone else’s life. Then get back on your train carriage and see where life’s journey takes you next!

image credit: mei yuan