Richard Feynman talked about light and light waves in some pretty famous lectures and interviews and noted that we see things - light waves - that come directly at us. All the while there are other waves passing unseen; out of our field of view and telling events we never ever will know about. How many close calls zipped right by us - left to right, down to up - that never entered our eyes?
Silly, actually, when you think about such things and maudlin at best and of no interest to others at worst. But it gives me pause to consider, as Feynman says in this clip, that looking at that bright light (not so much a bright light for me but a steady evaporation of all other things with color so to be left with only the light) gave me a choice. I could continue looking at it through the rest of my very limited (then) eternity or I could look around and hopefully see something else for my mind or soul to grab on to, fixate on that, and go towards it. Simply, the choice came to look at it or look for something else.
Anyway, it wasn't my time and the experience was to say the least, motivating and perhaps the most personal experience one could have in a lifetime. I never saw the train coming and luckily for me looked away when I did.