NICK WRIGHT
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Close call

18/10/2021

20 Comments

 

‘Carpe diem. Seize the day. Make your life extraordinary.’ (Dead Poet’s Society)

I had total brake failure today – a near miss. I had bought a car at the weekend and the garage assured me it had been through all the standard safety checks. It turns out they hadn’t tightened a new brake pipe correctly. It almost cost me my life. Out-of-the-blue experiences like this can have a way of putting other people, relationships and things into perspective. What if I had died, or been seriously injured, or caused death or serious injury to someone else? Does my life matter enough that, to have lost it, would have been a significant-enough loss to the poor and most vulnerable?

I read a biography of Lord Shaftesbury, an 19th century social reformer in the UK known as ‘the poor man’s earl’, who worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor and most vulnerable in Britain. He was a passionate follower of Jesus who selflessly and relentlessly devoted his life, resources and influence to make a tangible difference. I can think of numerous other similar examples since including Martin Luther King, Teresa of Calcutta and, in the here-and-now, Jasmin in the Philippines. At Lord Shaftesbury’s funeral, the streets were lined with literally thousands of the poor.

By contrast, my own life is sometimes too shallow, too cautious or too self-serving. I can get too-easily distracted by people or things that, on the surface, I hope will make my own life easier or happier – yet invariably, over time, leave me feeling painfully empty inside. I get tempted to give out of my excess, out of what I tell myself I can afford after I have satisfied my own needs and wants first, rather than allowing faith to bite to the core. Perhaps today was a wake-up call, a near-death experience to be transformed by God into a more life-giving experience. I truly hope so.
20 Comments
Hilary Price
18/10/2021 10:52:53 pm

Oh no! hope you are ok.

Reply
Nick Wright
19/10/2021 01:10:19 pm

Thank you, Hilary. Yes, I'm fine - and thankful it didn't turn out to be a more serious incident..!

Reply
Anna Wilkens
18/10/2021 11:03:00 pm

When you wrote about the brake damage today, I didn't think about the extent that could happen. God was visibly by your side today that nothing happened to you or others. Something similar happened to me on Saturday when a car came towards me on my side. If I'd only driven a little faster beforehand, I might have been exactly where he was on my side because he was cornering too fast and couldn't keep his lane. So I'm sure God has other plans for me. On Saturday and today it was a moment of horror, awakening and gratitude. And the certainty that God is by my side.

Reply
Nick Wright
19/10/2021 01:12:16 pm

Thank you, Anna. That sounds like a scary experience too! I'm pleased to hear that you are safe and well after such a near-miss on the road. Yes, it sounds like God does have other plans for you. :)

Reply
Richard Simpson
19/10/2021 09:54:33 am

Hi Nick - just know that your blog brings pleasure, insight and new perceptions to your followers. I'd be disappointed if your near-death experience made you stop writing and publishing. Perhaps God loves a blogger.

Reply
Nick Wright
19/10/2021 01:18:58 pm

Thank you for such warm encouragement - as always - Richard. This incident gave me more to reflect on and to share in writing. For some reason, it brought Gordon Holloway (former CEO of the Shaftesbury Society) to mind. He was a visionary, passionate and humble leader who 'adopted' me as my mentor when I was a young and enthusiastic Christian activist. Gordon achieved so many remarkable things in his life and career for those who were poor and vulnerable, and yet - at his retirement - he simply stood up, bowed his head, and said, 'I wish I had done more.' That inspired, challenged and moved me deeply.

Reply
Richard Simpson
19/10/2021 01:57:22 pm

Interesting, Nick. Gordon Holloway would have made an interesting coachee. I think we are so privileged (or cursed) to live in a world full of opportunity. We have so many paths open to us. Even if we choose just one we may never reach its end, as all paths are connected anyway. I feel slightly sorry for Gordon (if I'm allowed to be judgemental for a moment). To achieve what he achieved and to feel it was not enough sounds like satisfaction was perpetually out of his reach (as the Rolling Stones sang) . Like the donkey following the carrot suspended in front of his nose. Or like a person on a journey of eternal self discovery.

Nick Wright
19/10/2021 06:28:27 pm

Hi Richard. That's a deep reflection and reveals an interesting paradox. Just like Stephen Spielberg's emotional scene at the end of Schindler's List (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhA5GIx51Kg), those who do most for the poor and oppressed out of a profound sense of conviction are often the same people who can see the scale of need and what more could be/have been done. When it comes to such painful existential situations and related ethical questions, 'When is enough enough?' is not always an easy question to answer.

Chris Lever
19/10/2021 10:08:24 am

You asked are you living in the edge? I am. 3 days ago I had a massive heart attack. Brings stuff into sharpe relief. If I live, life has to be very different. In hospital waiting some critical test results that will determine the future. My choice is how I live this life however long.

Reply
Nick Wright
19/10/2021 01:20:45 pm

Hi Chris. Your note left me completely speechless!! That must have happened just after we spoke last week. I called Jasmin in the Philippines and we immediately prayed for you. I will call you at the hospital now...

Reply
Sue Heatherington
19/10/2021 11:25:27 am

Today…

Reply
Nick Wright
19/10/2021 01:21:46 pm

Hi Sue. That sounds very mysterious... Can you say more..?

Reply
Sue Heatherington
21/10/2021 01:47:51 pm

We can only do these things today. Not tomorrow, nor yesterday. Yet we kid ourselves that we don't have to do it now, in this present time. But we do. Today ... 🌿

Nick Wright
21/10/2021 03:36:18 pm

Thank you, Sue. You reminded me of my grandmother who, when she was very old and in hospital waiting to die, she commented that since she had been a young girl she had always yearned to go horse riding. She had always planned to do it 'one day' but had never got around to actually doing it. She had a deep look of sadness on her face as she said, 'I missed my moment.' I too was a child at the time and this had a deep impact on me. There is wisdom in Nike's strapline: 'Just do it.'

Jenny Rayner
19/10/2021 01:41:54 pm

Dead Poets - my favourite movie of all time. RIP Robin Williams - he left us much to think about in all his work - even Mork and Mindy! God uses the craziest of people. (So glad you're living to fight another day.)

Reply
Nick Wright
19/10/2021 06:30:55 pm

Thank you, Jenny. Yes, it's one of my all-time favourite films too. I remember showing it to parents and youth leaders engaged in a secondary school. There were starkly different opinions about whether the teacher played by Robin Williams was positively inspiring or negatively reckless!

Reply
Peter Young
21/10/2021 02:51:02 pm

A word to say how grateful I am for you Nick, and for the wisdom you share so generously in your blog. Your ‘Close Call’ post has been a nudge to me to express this to you.

A similar theme had touched me in a recent blog post from the ‘Daily Stoic’, copied here:

Do you know what one of the last things Abraham Lincoln ever said was? As he sat in the box at Ford’s Theater, as he waited for the play to start, Lincoln turned to his wife and said, “How I should like to visit Jerusalem sometime.”
Within minutes, an assassin would fire a bullet into his brain. Within hours, he would be dead.

There were many reasons why this great man never found time in life to visit Jerusalem. He had to teach himself to read, he had to work himself out of abject poverty, he had to conquer depression, then the gravest threat to freedom yet known in the United States. He freed the slaves and made sure that democracy would not perish from the earth. These are all reasons why he had to put that trip off till a later date, just as you have many reasons while you are waiting to do this or delaying doing that.

And yet life has a way stripping all our reasons bare, of humbling our plans and assumptions. We must live, as Marcus Aurelius said, as if death hangs over us. Because it does. We cannot put off until tomorrow, he said, what we can do today—whether that’s being good (our highest priority) or telling people we love them or going the places we wish to go. No one knows what the future holds. No one knows how much time we have left.

Do not delay. Do not wish. Do not wait. Do it now. While you still have time. While there is still a chance.

Reply
Nick Wright
21/10/2021 03:42:07 pm

Hi Peter and thank you for such warm words of encouragement. I can certainly feel the sense of imminence and urgency in those reflections from the Daily Stoic. Thank you so much for sharing them. They resonate well with Robin Williams' words as the profoundly challenging and inspiring teacher in Dead Poets Society.

Reply
Clive Bacon
27/10/2021 12:04:39 am

Don't be too hard on yourself Nick. I think you're pretty remarkable and you have served many people extremely well over many years. Yes you can do even more for others like those lives you describe but though our lives often feel rather small in comparison I believe being faithful in serving those around us, and nurturing others to fulfil their potential is of great value and has an impact beyond what we can see. I can assure you that you've impacted hundreds of lives and they in turn are impacting hundreds if not thousands of others because you took time to listen, encourage and impart wisdom.

Reply
Nick Wright
27/10/2021 02:13:03 pm

Hi Clive - lovely to hear from you again after all these years! Thank you for such heart-warming words of encouragement. That really brightened my day. Let me know if you would like to catch up sometime? It would be great to see you again. :)

Reply



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    ​Nick Wright

    ​I'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? ​Get in touch!

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