A few weeks ago, I came off my pushbike. This wouldn’t
normally be considered an unusual occurrence, but as the people who know me
would readily agree, I’m no Crusty Demon of the pedal-power persuasion. As the fibre damage to the acromioclavicular
ligament, the hairline fracture at the shoulder end of the collarbone and the
many scrapes and bruises continue to heal, my mind wondered, as it has a
tendency to do while I’m in the shower. I began to ponder what possible
complications this might produce for me, later in life. It led me to question: In years to come, would I look back and
consider this a defining moment? A defining moment! That moment, (or
moments, if you are really lucky), when a seemingly innocuous event occurs, only
to have repercussion which radiate out into your life, rippling change, usually
for the better … but not always.
And then the core question popped into my mind: because I
had identified this moment, shone a spotlight on it, would it be capable of
being a defining moment? Like cutting Sampson’s hair, had my acknowledging it
robbed it of the power of its potential, regardless of that potential being
good or bad? I guess it all depends on if you (or I) subscribe to the whole
multi-verse theory, in which case it would not be a case of was it still to be
a defining moment, but more a case of how have the repercussions changed due to
my acknowledging it. And if it comes to only postulating what could be the
possible results of the ripples, then
my mind can become a freshly tilled garden-bed of imagination ready to propagate
a blooming display of alternative outcomes.
The obvious, and negative, horticulturally horrible outcome
is that I’ll be plagued with every increasing and aggravating joint and
muscular issues that will cause pain and restriction in years to come. Other
possible flowering fates could be that in an effort to stave off these future
agonies, a renewed and inspired interest in the gym could grow, bearing such
flavoursome fruits as a buffed and lean harvest of a muscled me, or researching
foods which aid the speedy recovery of muscular and ligament injuries. Maybe a
massage business for the fibre fractured. Or perhaps the development of a
concept sling for the single, live alone injured.
Of course, like the pharmaceutical companies, that’s just
addressing the symptoms: what about the cause? Maybe I could design bike frames
with air-bags; automatic steering correction for tram-track detection;
self-inflating impact clothing; shape-shifting bicycle tyres?
Or maybe it isn’t the defining moment I’ve imagined … and in
multi-verse terms, what implications could THAT have?
So can defining moments be recognized as such when they
happen and their outcome predicted? Or can a moment only be classified as
‘defining’ once time has passed and a series of consequences come to bear? Can
I see my bike accident as a defining moment now, or sometime in the future? Or
will the scars on my shoulder just remind me of “That time when …”? We’ll just have to see.
