What Is aSplit-second Decision You Made that Changed Your Life

绘◎Vere

Last year, on 31st December,I met with①meet with 符合；偶然遇见；遭受 ②not in the mood 没有兴致；没有心情a major accident. This accident totally changed the way I used to look at things in my life.Like every day, it was time for my offi ce for which I used to go on a two wheeler vehicle. And that day I was not in the mood②to wear the helmet. It's very common to ride a two wheeler in India. And one of the important things that most of the Indians are ignorant about③be ignorant about 对……一无所知is wearing a helmet.

So I was riding the vehicle at an average speed of 30-40 mph when I thought to go ahead of a scooter④scooter英 ['skuːtə] 美 ['skutɚ] n. 小轮摩托车；速可达；单脚滑行车；小孩滑板车being slowly ridden(on the left end of the lane) by a middle-aged man in parallel.The only problem here was the wrong timing. The man without any hint or even looking at the back to check if any vehicle was approaching, indicated with his hand and immediately took a right turn to cross the street.

Unfortunately, just a second or two before this I had speed up my vehicle to overtake the man. 3 seconds after, I knew our vehicles would bang⑤bang [bæŋ] n. 刘海；重击；突然巨响adv. 直接地；砰然地；突然巨响地 vt. 重击；发巨响as we were in a close distance. In the very next moment, we along with⑥along with 沿（顺）着；连同……一起；与……一道；随同……一起our vehicles skidded for some distance. I got hit on the road directly on my back. It was a terrible jerk and the suddenly developed pain gave me a serious nauseating⑦nauseating 英 ['nɔːzɪeɪtɪŋ] 美 ['nɔsɪetɪŋ] adj. 令人恶心的；厌恶的feeling.But for that moment I could only think about two things. "What would have happened if I hadn't worn a helmet today?" "Was the other person alright?" Thankfully,the man was alright as he too was wearing the helmet.

That split second decision of wearing the helmet changed my entire life, and turned this major accident into a minor one. I really thank God and myself for the decision I made that day. After this incident, I promised myself I will always wear a helmet in any condition. This idea may seem trivial⑧trivial ['trɪvɪəl] adj. 不重要的，琐碎的；琐细的to many of us, but it saved my life and the biggest of all, it made me realise how important small acts can turn out to be! I have learned to be extra careful.