Thoughts on a Close Call

A few hours ago, my wife and I had one of the those "we probably would have been seriously injured or even dead if that happened five minutes earlier" experiences that typically only happen a handful of times in one's life. Due to the sensitivity of some of the details of the experience, I'll refrain from explaining what happened, but a few general life lessons come to mind as I reflect on it:

• It would be wise to ensure redundancy with activities that can carry a huge cost to yourself and others if failure occurs. "Never bet the farm" and "two is one, one is none" are phrases that are deeply resonating with me after this happened. If you are ever doing something that could put you or those close to you at a huge disadvantage if things go wrong, make sure you have a backup plan or something in place that softens the blow in the chance that things actually go wrong.
• If you ever find yourself in a risky situation, make sure you actually want to be in that situation. In other words, don't die doing something you never really wanted to do in the first place. You never really know when you are going to die, so try to make sure you're living an intentional life as much as possible.
• While we are still gathering information on the cause of the dangerous incident we encountered, I am confident it was at least partly the result of an inattention to detail on something that should have been handled more carefully and thoughtfully. When choosing the individuals you want in your life, consider those who care about details when they really matter, like when they affect the safety of other people.
• Life might not always be fun, and sometimes you might die, but that's what makes it dope! Death would be a genuine party-fowl if life were awesome all the time, so just relax and enjoy the bumpy ride.

Onward!