Have you ever avoided an accident or tragedy due to a decision that seemed insignificant at the time?

Saw a bunch of blacks get on one subway car and I chose the next car down.

A bunch of people got robbed on that very car I chose not to get on. It was in the news even.

Not me but I have a close friend that was supposed to go to the Batman movie at the Aurora town center theatre when it got shot up. Luckily she got too drunk and decide not to go. I lived only a couple miles from it. We heard all the sirens responding to it. She freaked out when she found out what was happening.

Indeed I have avoided tragedy or death. Some years ago I was scheduled to drive to a job location near Minneapolis; that required me to drive across a bridge spanning the Mississippi river.

An associate called me to tell me that he would handle the work that was scheduled. So I left and went home instead of to the job location.

When I got home, I turned on the news and found out the bridge had collapsed at the same approximate time I would have been crossing the river on the bridge.

Some call this luck. Others refer to it as divine intervention.

It was not his karma to suffer that accident, his soul just moved away from the event. The materialistic world will never understand these little things.

It's actually cause her problems over the last few years. She's convinced she was supposed to die that night and that someone else did instead of her.

When I was six years old, my dad had some errands to run and asked me which grandparents' house I wanted to stay at while he took care of some business. My cousin was staying at his parents' house, so I chose to go to their house, and asked him if she could spend the night and if we could pick up her bike.

It was a sunny Friday afternoon, and I was happy and excited that she would be spending the weekend with us, so it was very strange that I suddenly became tired and laid my head on my dad's lap. It wasn't more than 10 seconds later a hit and run driver hit the truck and knocked us into the side of the bridge. My head hit the dashboard and I was unconscious for a few seconds. When I woke up, I had blood in my eyes and couldn't see.

Luckily, I only had to get 13 stitches. Who knows what injuries I would have had if I hadn't laid my head down on my dad's lap.

My son (7-8yo at the time) and I had just left my parents' house for the 2 hour drive back to our place.

About 3-4 miles away from their house, I get a strong smell of dog poop in the car and think that one of us stepped in some. I pull over and check both our feet. No poop. The smell goes away so I start going again.

I get to the next major intersection about 5 seconds after the light turned green...however, I see a big jacked up pickup truck barreling through their red light and am able to stop in time.

If I had been at the intersection when the light turned green, I would have been in the middle when the truck ran the red light and both me and my son would have been seriously injured/killed.

Whitewater Kayaking in the early spring in Canada. I skipped a run on a local river because I had a bad feeling about it. A 12 y/o kid dumped and went under the ice. He was a skinny kid and somehow swam about 30 meters under the ice through a rock garden and out the other side to safety.

I would have followed that kid under the ice and died right there if I was leading on that run. As it was the leaders let him go and it worked out.

Coming out of a store with my wife, I stopped to comment on the wind waving a traffic light, caused a delay of at most two seconds on our walk to the car in the parking lot, at that moment two thugs on a motorcycle passed us and stopped for us steal. We get in the car and we left in time, she did not even notice the event. That same night I saw the two on the news, stole a gas station on the same street, and shot the attendant.

Those two seconds saved our lives, because here thugs kill, without cause or reason.

I was surprisingly early for leaving for work one morning. I leave very early so it's dark and nobody on the street was ever up. A guy usually passed my car as I was loading the kids a little late.
I decided to load up my purse, diaper bag and something else prior to getting the kids in. I did so, the kids were at the front door all ready to be loaded up.
I closed the door to the car and the car locked itself. Just like that, out of the blue. With my keys in my purse.
So, I had to wait for the guy who always came by. He had to call for me a tow truck. I had to wait for him. After that fuss and $45 later, I was on my way. Dropped kids at daycare. I had jested on my FB while waiting that I was probably avoiding an accident ahead as something had prevented wrecks before. Because I was a little late, I was held further by a train passing on my route.
I got up to the interstate and the HP and EMS were working a big rig accident. So, I would likely have been there at that time had I been a little early for work as I thought I was going to be. You just never know.

About 4 years ago I was driving home from some work engagement. I had a sudden urge to get off the freeway to look at motorcycles. I pulled off and then into a lot next to the dealership, not wanting to go inside. I then had a thought to check my wheels(I had done my own brakes 2 days prior). Sure enough, one of the front tires had all 5 lugs very loose, almost backed off completely. I know that if i continued home, that tire would have flown off at 65mph and I would have been in a major roll over.

Well, I got into a taxi in Guayaquil, Ecuador. I made contact- asked the driver about his wife and kids and told him that I hoped he was done working soon to go see his family.

Well, he was part of a para military drug group. We were kidnapped in the taxi- all of our belongings taken... When the gunman asked (with a gun in my ribs) what I had to live for, I answered I was a single mom whose husband had died and my kids were waiting for me at the hotel. The driver promised I would see my kids again- and I doubted hiim- he swore on his mother's life.

During the next period of time, the driver stopped me from being raped more than once, while my male friend that was with me was badly beaten- with broken bones, shards of glass in his eyes, etc.

When their boss ordered us to be killed, the driver argued with him for me - but lost. So, the driver told me (in English), "Gringa- there is a corner up here. When we slow down for the corner, my buddy is going to roll you over his lap and throw you from the car. Try to land on your feet and run straight. do not turn around at all or you will be shot."

God was with me. I somehow landed on my feet and ran crazily down the hill.

I heard the car stop a bit farther and could hear yelling and then gunshots.

The gentleman with me's life was spared, though they had nearly beaten him to death.

They had dropped us in a very dangerous spot- where police wouldn't go- and the woman that helped me warned me that if anyone there saw me, I would be re-kidnapped.

The embassy knows of this specific group and was amazed that I was left alive and not beaten or not raped. When they went into our whole conversations, it became obvious that my decision to wish well upon his and his family had saved my life- both of our lives.

They killed a 12 year old girl days befkore me and left a Asian American couple shortly after in a coma.

Kindness and consideration wins.

When I was in college, at closing time a friend asked me if I wanted to go with him to get a gyro. I love gyros, but that night I "wasn't feeling it" and said no, I'm going to walk home. That was not something I would say no too, but that night I did.

Next day I find out he ran a red light, and his passenger a girl I also knew was killed and he was charged with manslaughter and DWI. He spent some time in prison.

I would have been a passenger.

Just out of high school, my parents were on vacation in Europe, and I was getting laid for the first time! She asked me if I had one of those plastic things to put over it. Nope! So I started to get hot and heavy. The doorbell range! Dammit... Hey it's my old friend that moved away years ago and had come back to visit. I hated to get rid of him but, "Uh....sorry dude, kinda busy right now if ya know what I mean." So I go back to my lady and she's getting dressed.... DAMN!
Could been married with kids that year!

Mine are more about timing

A hurricane was on its way up to the northeast US when I was working on a golf course. I was in a gas powered utility cart picking up giant branches that fell down from all the wind. I usually would have my buddy drive while I scooped up the branches all in one shot. I decided to pick up a bunch of branches all at once at this one dense spot. As I was pulling them to the cart the largest branch that could have been a tree itself dropped right in front of me and stuck into the ground.

The same day a large short and round tree was at a corner turn on the car path and a large branch was being pulled back by the wind. The gust died down and thwapped me good on the face.

Liverpool fan, was gonna go to a semi final of the FA cup, being held in Hillsborough Sheffield, here in the UK, back in 1989

was nagging a friend of mine, 'come on, we'll get in easy!', but we decided against it eventually

96 Liverpool fans died.

was gonna nip out into heavy traffic, and there was a big enough gap, but I hesitated for a microsecond, and the moment was gone

nipped out 3 cars later, and was behind the car I was gonna nip out in front of, when a car came around the bend, misjudging it totally, and wiped it out full on head on crash, which flipped the car right over

luckily for that car, it was a very compact little smart car, and quite miraculously the driver was up and about almost immediately

i was driving a van, much less wieldy, if you know what I mean? It wouldn't have taken the impact anywhere near as well as that little car did. it would have killed me IF i'd nipped out in front of it.

Good one!

Great thread! Great stories!

Yes, I was scuba-diving at a dangerous dive in the Red Sea in 1981, or rather, the Gulf of Eilat at the southernmost point of present day Israel.

The dive is called "The Blue Hole", a narrow cave dive on the east coast of the Sinai Peninsula off of Dahab in present day Egypt. The Blue Hole is "known as one of the world’s most dangerous dive sites due to the number of lives it has claimed" [Wiki]. (Had I known of this fact at the time, it is questionable whether I would have made the dive.) A complicating risk factor is the inability to "turn around" and abort the dive due to the cave's confines. Once in, there is only one way out to make it alive and safely back to the surface.

The cave opening starts at around 40 feet and travels diagonally exiting at about 90 feet which is close to the upper limit for advanced recreational diving due to the severe water column pressures involved. Such pressures exponentially increase the safety risks for divers due to various factors.

Well, I was making the dive with two buddies. We had one underwater flashlight with us which my friend entering the cave first logically carried. We had planned that I would bring up the rear.

It was my first "cave dive" so I was nervous to begin with. Things started smoothly at first but the increasing water pressure as we descended required periodic inflation of our "buoyancy compensating vests" or "B.C.s" in order to remain buoyantly "neutral". This is VERY important as extreme and constant effort is needed to dive if you begin to sink or rise if they are not properly inflated. Such undesirable effort takes your concentration off the dive while causing you to expend excess and vital air from your tank due to the physical effort involved.

Unfortunately, I was about a quarter way through the dive when I discovered that I had a previously unknown phobia. Diving UNDERNEATH anything scared the crap out of me! After the dive, I came to believe this phobia was subconsciously planted after watching a movie in my misspent youth about someone who became trapped under the ice when he fell through a frozen lake surface.

My heart and breathing rate started to rise dramatically and I was physically and mentally unable to take my mouth regulator out to manually inflate my vest by blowing air from my lungs into the vest's rubber hose (these vests are now antiquated as all B.C. vests now are directly connected at the tank. One only has to push a button to either inflate or deflate a vest).

Im my panicked mind, it was imperative to keep my regulator in my mouth as I believed that I would drown if I dared followed the standard procedure by properly adding air to my vest to compensate for the loss of buoyancy due to the ever increasing depth. I was like a deer caught in the headlights! I started sinking and floundering to the bottom of the cave which just stirred up muck which reduced to nothing any light in the cave. Since I stopped diving, my buddies AND THE LIGHT FROM THE FLASHLIGHT were completely out of sight!

Lights began flashing before my eyes as I hyperventilated, breathing from my tank like there was, literally, no tomorrow!

It was THEN that there true crisis occurred (which I had been taught about). My breathing rate exceeded the capacity of my regulator and I suddenly sucked sea water in around my regulator directly into my windpipe! I began choking and realized that I was drowning!

Sorry OP, but this is where I have to deviate from the exact question in your Post's subject line as "I" didn't decide anything. After 40 years have passed, I have learned that I was experiencing a "Near Death Experience"at the time. As I resigned myself to dying, all the flashing lights and noise from my breathing/choking suddenly stopped. Everything went absolutely dark and THEN a quiet, very clear and calm "voice" in my mind simply said "Steven....if you do not relax and calm down now, you will die."

Without a pause, I followed the "voice's" instructions, closed my eyes, stopped flailing and sank to a rest on the bottom of the cave. I became completely relaxed, pulled the regulator out, choked out the sea water and replaced it in my mouth. I then started meditating with my head on my chest, in a kneeling position and my breathing began to slow. I don't know how much time had passed when I found myself able to begin inflating my vest. I soon became "neutral" and began diving in the pitch black, feeling my way "out" with my hands along the sides and top of the cave.

To my amazement, I saw light at the end of the tunnel!!

When I exited, I saw my buddies who just stared at me with their eyes wide as saucers! One pointed at me and made the universal "slash movement" across his neck and then gave the "thumbs up" signal to begin our ascent. It was then that I looked at my air gauge and saw that it was empty. I showed my nearest friend and we immediately began the "buddy-breathing" emergency technique where two divers trade their regulator back and forth.

When we surfaced, I was unable to talk to answer their non-stop questions. They had just given me up for dead the moment I emerged from the mouth of the cave, they later told me.

Sadly, later in the afternoon we witnessed two other divers bringing up/out their lifeless friend. "The Blue Hole" had claimed its victim for the day, well on its way in earning its infamous reputation.

P.S. I posted some weeks ago about waking to a "voice" giving me information about a coming event. I've since realized that it was the same "voice" that saved my life so long ago. Scoffers comment in that thread had asked me about other "examples" of such phenomena which I had referred to there. I was going to post this story but knew it'd be too long.

Again, sorry for going off topic a bit O.P. Great Post!

Bob (Steve) or "Steve Bob"....lol....

Thanks everyone for participating. Great stories!

Bump for more stories.

Absolutely, more times than I can count.

God is Great.

This thread is amazing! the longer this thread is, the more obvious that there are higher powers at work...call them/it what you wish.

When it happens, it is pointed out that it was going to be me, but I was protected.

Still

supposed to go to a work conference for the weekend. my mom said no (when i was a teenager). on monday at work we heard the news that all the people i would have been riding with died in a car accident. thanks mom!

It was their time.

You are immortal till your time is up.

I'll just leave this here:
[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

Yes! No denying it for me.