Remembering things: Live But once
A small event can sometimes exert a deep influence on your life. This is one such incident, which taught me a very important principle of life.
This incident happened in August, 2004. The unit in which I served was stationed in Guang Dong province at that time. Early one morning, the unit received a command that asked us to leave for Guang Xi province by truck. It was a long distance from Guang Dong province to where we were going in Guang Xi province, and we would take at least 20 hours to reach the destination.
At 5 o’clock in the morning, thousands of military personnel formed up by companies on the barrack square. About 7 o’clock, after all of the equipment was packed into the trunks and people got on, the unit started out. Hundreds of trunks run on a string in the road at a speed of about 60 miles an hour. At the beginning, it was clear without some clouds. In the afternoon, it began to rain. At first, it was barely noticeable, only a few light drops and nothing to worry about. But, as time went on, the rain did not stop, and it rained more heavily. Then the thunder started. And after the thunder the lighting started. After 5 o’clock, it was getting more and more black enough to shut out everything and only about 50 metres of road can be seen from the light of the lamps. In addition, as far as the drivers were concerned, they felt very fatigued physically and mentally after 10 hours driving. Although it rained heavily and drivers were exhausted, it was impossible to halt without commanding.
As far as I went, I did not suggest that driving was a dangerous thing under such weather, because it was not the first time that our unit experienced such situation. However, something out of control happened suddenly to the trunk in which I was riding. After the trunk past a mild slope in the road, the driver found that the truck was slipping toward a deep valley on the left side. As soon as the driver found this, he slammed on the brakes but failed to stop in time. At that time, the person beside the driver pushed on the brake hard pedal. And then, two wheels of the truck began to lift the ground and the truck turned laterally about 360 degree in the road. Finally, the truck stopped at the edge of the road with one of the rear wheels suspending over the valley.
There were 6 people including me in the back of the truck. When the truck stopped, all of us were under equipments. Two people’s arms were fractured and I suspended outside of the truck with two hands holding firmly to the railing of the truck. I kept the posture quietly, and after a while, I sat on the ground under the help of other people. At that time of the truck rotating, I thought I might die from the accident. But, fortunately, I survived without any hurt.
Though I was not hurt, one thing is sure for me that the incidence changed my attitude to the life. The first is that it is impossible for a person to predict the future. You will never know what will happen tomorrow, so we should live everyday well for ourselves and other people. The second is that the death might be a terrible thing, but we should know what we died for and whether our death is significant. Life is most precious and so valued. At the same time, life really is too short. It is given to people to live but once. Therefore, we should cherish life.
