24,000 people are injured in bus accidents every year. 283 of those aren’t lucky enough to walk away with a few scratches.
I’ve always imagined getting hit (and killed) by a bus like this: You cross the street, hear a noise, look to the side and in the last split second you realize what’s going to happen.
You only have time for one, last thought. What’s it going to be?
I like to think that there are only two, universal thoughts people would have in this situation:
- Thank you.
- F**k.
One resembles the fact that you’ve lived your life to the best of your ability, that you’re grateful for the incredible experience of living a life as a human and that you’d do it all over the same way again.
The other shows you’ve left chances untaken, words unspoken and potential unfulfilled. You know you could have done so much more. But you didn’t.
And it is only in that last second, much like the bus, that it hits you.
Many great lives are full of failure, but no great life is filled with regret. Failure is an external event that happens to you, regret is an activity you choose to spend your time doing.
One is inevitable, the other just a waste of time. Failure > regret. Always.