Near-Death experience has opened my eyes

[Noa]

I'm not really sure how else to say it, but there was a very VERY close chance of me not being alive right now.

Just to give you guys a quick glance at what had happened:

Driver lost control of the car while on a sharp curve on the highway. He panicked and completely had no control of the car, with incoming traffic coming from the other way + people right behind us. We were going about 50mph, maybe more. As we spin out, I switched the gear to low gear since driver was frozen. Our speed dropped enough to not have as bad of an impact when we crashed on a railing and tree. The railing penetrated my side door just above my knees and about 3 inches from my chest.

When I told the cops about it, they said had I not done that there was a good chance I would have been crushed by the railing and died in a not so pretty way.

That got me thinking. If I died today would I be happy with the life I've been living? No, hell I dont even think I've lived yet.

I realized there so much I WANT to do, but I don't take initiative to set myself up to do those things like learning how to fly a single engine airplane.

Now's a good time as any to just make my life one worth living. I want to be able to die and say "I lived a life I'm happy with" and as of now I can not say that.

Funny that now I that i think of it, a lot of the "fears" I had before, like approach anxiety, seem so miniscule and stupid compared to not living the life I want.

[DJNinja]

Glad that you're ok!

Also happy that this has inspired you!

[Noa]

Typed this up late last night and I didn't have time to really look back and reflect on some choices that may have saved my life until today.

Truth be told, I actually would have not been alive if it weren't for the bravohood and here's why:

A few months ago I took a car crash safety seminar that showed and explained different ways to handle potential car crashes, spinouts being one of the topics. I would have not gone to that seminar had I not read a few posts on the bravohood:

Some of these posts I haven't been able to find, but will link them when I can, but here are some that I read:

http://bravopua.com/blog/2012/07/28/the-warrior-creed/
http://bravopua.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2749
http://bravopua.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8591

There's also a quote I remember seeing that went something like "If you can not protect your loved ones, you are not a man."

^This and a combination of other posts I have read, encouraged me to go out and learn new things. At one point I was very into safety and how to be a protector of loved ones so I took different courses in that regard. Some were car crash safety seminars, CPR courses, couple of BJJ classes and kickboxing(currently doing still) and another course that outlined procedures for physical emergencies(like if some one was bleeding out, best effective ways to slow down the blood loss and things of that nature).

Had I not been on here, I'm not sure if I would have even bothered to do any of that and hell if I never did that I may not have been here right now.

This place isn't just somewhere that we come to get better with women and social dynamics. This is a place where we continuously help each other to improve ourselves as a man and as a person.

There are a lot of GREAT posts on this forum that resonate with me and I'm sure resonate with others. Check em out, there may be one post that inspires you to do something and that something may very well save your life.

[Ice]

Truth be told, I actually would have not been alive if it weren't for the bravohood and here's why:

A few months ago I took a car crash safety seminar that showed and explained different ways to handle potential car crashes, spinouts being one of the topics. I would have not gone to that seminar had I not read a few posts on the bravohood

This is AWESOME.


Some things you learn you may only use once in your life, and knowing it that one time could save your life.

And as Bravo says when shit goes down, you don't rise to the occasion, you fall back to your training.

You went back to your training, acted right in the situation, and now you are alive today because of it.

Glad you posted this, a lot of guys can learn from it including me. And I'm glad you're OK.

[Bravo]

Wow, thanks for sharing this Noa.

Glad you are OK.

And proud of you for realizing, as a man, this was stuff you needed to work on and you put in the time and effort doing so.

I would always rather have the skills if I need them...than not and just be a victim of the circumstances and my environment.

-and my have to share this with all my guys on my email list.

[Voodoo]

Great to hear you're alive Noa. It has been awhile since I have reflected on whether I'm living a life I'm happy with. In the past I would have said yes, though today I don't think so. Never thought about taking a seminar on car crash safety, thanks for posting.

[Noa]

Happy to share my experiences, especially if it helps someone in the process.

I received a few questions asking if the driver was drunk, he was sober and just happened to be an unfortunate incident. A few bruises on my side, but overall I'm okay.

[Noa]

Just found out a really close friend of mine passed away, via suicide.

Left a note explaining why and honestly it was very unexpected(especially considering we planned a camping trip YESTERDAY for next week). Pretty laid-back fella, but basically did not enjoy the life he was living and felt it was better if he just left on his own terms.

In a way I feel at fault for his decision in some capacity. I told him about my own experience and how i'm going to enjoy life more. I told him "If you aren't happy with the way you're living, then do something to change that." IDK if me saying that possibly triggered something, but this does seem like it was planned ahead of time and not a spur of the moment thing.

So I just want to reiterate that If you AREN'T living the life you want, then start making positive changes that will make you happy.

[Bravo]

Heavy.

But you can't think that anything you said is at fault.

This is what my GF specializes in, and we've talked a lot about it.

I've never been able to wrap my head around how others do that...but they do and it's not the fault of a friend who was cool.

Never.

[Noa]

Trying not to blame myself, there's always that part in the back of your head that starts to think of what ifs and stuff.

Same here, I can't seem to understand what trigger makes them go to that extreme, but in the end only they know why.