The voice of reason. My rise to the top...

Hitting rock bottom is the worse feeling in the world. You feel worthless, and things can spiral so far out of the norm that you begin to wonder if it will ever end. Once you've made the necessary changes, you slowly make your way back to the top. You feel that nothing can stop you but this is your arrogant side shining bright. Anything can bring you down if you let it. When I was on my rise to the top I had a few hiccups. One hiccup turned into a belch that almost cost me my life. It's the rash decisions that put one in a place where they might not come back but I swear someone was watching out for me that night. Before this incident I was on my way up to where I am today. I was kicking life in the ass and well...life was about to kick mine. I had gone out with a good friend of mine to a local sports bar to play pool and have a couple drinks. We took down a pitcher and decided to chill for the rest our time since he was driving. It was a good time and we met a few people. I started to noticed that my friend was having a few more with them and although I was asked, I decided to remain sober. Something didn't feel right from then on. We continued to meet new people and hours passed. I had been guzzling Pepsi since I had stopped drinking hours prior and my stomach began to hurt. I felt nervous for some reason and my friend was having a great time with everyone else. He too, had stopped drinking and didn't act like he had as much as I thought. My nerves began to settle but there was this voice that kept calling to me. Now, you know what voice that is right? It's the voice of reason that tells you something is off but you're too stubborn to listen.

As the voice continued to echo in the back of my head my buddy had decided that we should go to a club to meet a couple of the girls we had met at the sports bar. I had told him to stop by my house on the way so that I could get some more money and in all reality I had no intentions on going. I was on the schedule for dispatch duty at 2pm the next day and I needed to get some rest. When we arrived at my home I told him I wasn't going. He was cool with it and was going to head there himself but I noticed that he got a little hazy. The initial drive to my home was fine. There was nothing out of the ordinary but now he seemed very tired. He worked midnights and had been up for 24 hours already. The combination of bar play and work had proved to be too much for him but still he wanted to go to the club. I couldn't let him go alone. I went for the keys but he wouldn't give them up. After going back and forth for a while I jumped in the passenger seat. What was I thinking? Why did I get in the car when the voice in my head was telling me not to?

We took off and everything was fine. Once we hit the highway something changed. The car was getting going faster and we were weaving in and out of traffic. I gained tunnel vision from fear of what would happen next and all I could hear was my friend telling me to chill and that everything would be fine. As I looked around I noticed that the highway was wet and I asked my friend to slow down. I was sick to my stomach and the voice was no longer there. I had missed my chance to really listen and now I was headed for whatever life had waiting for me. I glanced over at the speedometer and I swear it looked to be over 100mph. I could see the water jumping from the road through the tires and past my window. I began to pray and held onto the handle above my door. We were quickly approaching a semi and once we passed on the left it happened. I was numb to the world and for a moment I couldn't hear anything. There was no voice, the music in the car had disappeared and all that was left was life showing me what can happen to those who don't listen to their voice of reason.  Everything from then on was in slow motion. I see this as life giving you a chance to take everything in. You see exactly what is going on in order to remember every moment. It's a way of learning a lesson.

We hit a patch of water in the highway and spun out of control. I saw the world spin around us and my friend kept telling me that it would be ok. We spun off the highway, down into a ditch and into some trees. When we hit the ditch the car went up on two wheels and we almost flipped. Had we gone over I'm sure that I wouldn't be here typing this story. I closed my eyes for a moment as the sounds of the car breaking apart filled my ears. I prayed and prayed until we finally stopped spinning. A few cars stopped but never checked on us. The car was somewhat drivable and we made our way to the highway. My friend changed one of the tires that had gone flat and we decided to head home. We didn't talk much on our way back. The car was still falling apart and the front passenger tire went flat. We drove on the rim the rest of the way and sparks flew up. I was still in shock when we stopped at a friends house to call my mom to come pick us up. The car was destroyed. The axel in back of the car was pretty damaged and I was surprised we were able to drive it as far as we did. When I finally got home I thanked God that we made it. I remember crying because I could have died that night. I was working hard to get back to the top in life and one decision almost cost me my life. It's funny how one can feel like they are on top of the world and life can take that and slap you in the face to bring you back to reality. Life is interesting that way is it not? It seems that nothing gets through unless it's some drastic and altering experience. Just remember that when facing a decision that feels off, don't ignore the voice of reason. That voice, along with life can teach you a lesson. It's up to you to make the right one...