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"I&amp;#039;m having a stressful couple of weeks right now. Some big higher-ups are in visiting at work, there&amp;#039;s a large conference going on that I&amp;#039;m in charge of, and I&amp;#039;m rolling inevitably toward both Easter and Anna&amp;#039;s birthday without a whole lot saved up in the bank. Add to that tax season, David flunking his last three spelling tests (despite heavy studying and drilling from me, his aide, and his teacher) and it&amp;#039;s sort of a perfect storm of stress. This morning was just the frosting on the sucky stress cupcake. The big boss had a meeting set for first thing this morning and I was rushing to get out the door a bit earlier than usual because it was raining a monsoon and traffic was sure to be terrible. I rushed the kids around, barking orders and frantically herding them out the door, then I climbed in my card and floored it once I hit the highway. And about halfway to work, the Universe said &amp;quot;slow down, Ellie.&amp;quot; It did this by making my car fishtail on the very wet road, veer toward the concrete divider wall on the highway, and narrowly miss both it and the car in the next lane that I swerved toward while avoiding the wall. I straightened out (thank God) with no harm done to me or anyone, but the adrenaline rush left me shaking and lightheaded. Whew. I was that close. That close to not making it to work. That close to maybe coming home today. Or ever again. All because I&amp;#039;m so frantic about stuff that pales in comparison to all I could have lost. And my kids would have lost. Was it worth risking all of it, for that extra five minutes? Really? So, I slowed down a bit (thank goodness I automatically left extra room between me and the next car - I may have been a bit careless but I wasn&amp;#039;t stupid) and decided that arriving in one piece outweighed getting there a bit early. I had time. And when I pulled into the parking lot and stepped out, I didn&amp;#039;t even grab my umbrella. I wanted to feel the rain on my face, and smell it, and be really, really grateful I could do both. Have you ever had a close call that reminded you to slow down and re-think your immediate priorities? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/relationships/dating-marriage/a47426/universe-sends-a-message/>