A Wave on the Sand

Coming home from work today, I experienced something that took my breath away. In one blink of the eye, I realized how fragile and vulnerable my life is. I was almost hit by a driver on the highway who crossed over in my lane, and narrowly avoided hitting me head on. I was a few inches from dying tonight.
Such a near encounter shook me up immediately... I was shaking the remainder of the drive home. But since then, I can't shake from my mind the scariest part of it all: I was powerless to stop it. For a split second, my life was plainly shown to be out of my hands. That is a scary thought for someone who lives her life as if she is the one in control; as if I hold my life in my hands, and can protect it as I desire. No, my life is not in my hands; every precious second I draw breath could be my last- and I won't have a single word in the matter. Our lives are indeed a fleeting shadow... a breath of wind, and candle snuffed out. A wave on the sand lasts but an instant; our lives too come and go like a whisper on the wind.
How can I come to grips with this? How can I, or any other human being, come to realize that our lives are fragile; that we are mortal; that our lives are not our own. It is in revealing instants like the one I experienced tonight, that we realize to the best of our abilities our fleeting existence on this planet. To live as though we would live forever is foolish. Yet this is how almost all human beings choose to live their lives. We ignore the fact that our time allotted is winding down... we too will die, and it doesn't have to be at 80 or 90. It could be at 20; or 12; or 45.
The question is: am I ready to go? Are you ready to go? I need to begin living my life with an eternal perspective: an eternity outside of this world. Stop concentrating on the fleeting shadow of this life, and focus instead on the eternal. God has our lives in his hands. And considering He is all powerful, I think they are slightly more capable hands than my own. I thank God He held me in his Hand tonight, and that I can live my whole life protected by His loving arms.