I almost died today.

I was finishing my run. The light was red, but the traffic was still. I looked left, right, then left again, just like my parents taught me when I was a kid. Then I remembered that I am in the UK, so I looked right and left, then right again. The cars stopped dead in the traffic jam in front of me.

It seemed safe to cross. So I decided to go for it. As I almost finished crossing the road, a blue Toyota appeared, seemingly out of nowhere (as it always does). It zoomed past me; the wind coming from the car throwing me back a step or two. I finished crossing the road as if nothing had happened and then stopped.

My heart was racing but not from the run. I was terrified. It took me a while to fully reset and wrap my head around what happened.

I almost died.

A second or two later, and I would not be writing this. This led me to think about three things.

One — life is random. You are never really safe. Death follows us at every step. What a stupid death it would have been. What a stupid life it would have been. Life happens as you plan for it. It’s important to be grateful as much as possible and not take things for granted. Just because you’ve planned for something doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed.

Two — we worry. That’s what we, humans, do. But what you usually worry about is not the worst things that might happen. We usually worry about the wrong stuff. It’s the stuff we’ve never anticipated that gets us.

Three — I know, it’s London. But I better not be jaywalking anymore.

It’s good to be alive.