Are all accidents preventable? If we had only taken our time or planned ahead, could they have been avoided?
From the breaking of a glass to the major accidents that cause disability and even death, we question our judgment, our timing, or fate itself.
I was reminded of this recently at our showcase presentation for the play-writing class I’m taking. One young man wrote his play about the tragic accident that paralyzed him from the waist down. He had made one bad decision years ago that caused it. His life could have turned out very differently.
I’ve done many foolish things in my life and taken many chances I shouldn’t have. I was lucky nothing terrible happened.
The preventable accidents I’ve had are mostly minor.
I remember one time at Cooper Union when I worked all night on an art project—a carefully constructed assemblage with many small pieces. But after staying up all night, I was groggy when I brought my project into the empty classroom and set it on a table to be presented in class later that day.
As I left the room I turned out the lights, but at the last second I went back and pushed the project a little further—thinking it would be safer that way.
What I actually did, because I couldn’t see in the dark, was to push it off the edge of the table onto the floor. It was destroyed.
I had to start over and turn my project in late.
I was young then. Over the years, I’ve learned that I have a tendency to do things too fast without thinking them through.
Maybe the wisdom of getting old is learning enough about ourselves to keep a bit of a rein on our worst tendencies.
Accidents happen, and we can’t undo the past. I don’t think I really know that, because I keep trying to change the things I wish I hadn’t done.
But at least I know that about myself, and catch the misguided process sooner.
Slowing down, knowing when not to tackle something, and letting go a little sooner—a few perks of aging.
