attention

My favorite quote is “Energy flows, where attention goes”. You would think that I understand the importance of attention. I thought I did.

Obviously not. Today, I found myself jolted into a state of high attention.

On the freeway, traffic had come to a stop….or almost. I started, stopped, started, stopped and started again- by taking my foot off the brake before it was time. Bump. I braked and looked up. There was a hand in the car ahead of me “what”? I could hear the gesture of the hand staring back at me from the center console. Before I could even realize what had happened, a man in a business suit was out of his car and pacing back to the space between my front bumper and his rear bumper. I saw him scowl and rub the bumper with his hand. I really took a look then. I saw a sleek black Audi coupe. I saw a man in a tie, close cropped hair, a wedding band and an exasperated look walking to my car window.  Immediately, I offered “let’s call the police” and “I will follow you to a safe location”. After all, we were in the middle of four lanes of bumper to bumper traffic. I watched him, resigned to being the “driver at fault” and then he shocked me more than the accident had.

He shook his head and said, “Just pay attention” as he strode back to his car and disappeared into the mass of cars. No, I have no idea how he was able to get away from me, but I assure you he did. It could have been natural that the traffic opened up or it could have been a special dispensation of grace. Either way, I was left with his three words reverberating in my head. “Just pay attention”. It replayed and repeated. What was I doing for that to happen? It’s never happened before. I was distracted, fiddling with my phone because I was trapped in traffic. Bored and restless, totally not paying attention. I should have been focused on the duty of driving, but I was not.

The whole thing was my fault. I admitted it. I was willing to rectify it. Evidently, there was more of a jolt than damage. When I got to the parking garage, I didn’t see anything on my car. I assume he didn’t see anything on his. How lucky? More than lucky, I was fortunate to learn a lesson without paying a huge price. I could have been hurt, or someone else could have been injured. I could have damaged his vehicle and had a ding on my insurance. I could have been delayed when I needed to be at work. I could have run into a less agreeable person who would have made me pay dearly.

Just pay attention. It is engraved on my mind. Those were the only three words he said. I can only imagine what he wanted to say. I had already said it to myself!

It was as if someone had “flipped the switch”. I am on alert and won’t be repeating that mistake, even if the words keep repeating in my mind.