decision point

what determines whether we react selfishly to a situation?

i was driving from new hampshire to new jersey today. at one point, the cars came to a complete stop on one of the interstates. my initial reaction inside was to think "this sucks! now we are going to arrive 30-60 minutes later than expected". for some reason, something (my conscience, God, my memory, something) inside of me raised the idea that a horrible accident might have occurred.

quickly, i shifted my thoughts toward praying for the person or persons who were suffering as a result of the accident. (i thank my sister for this because she always prays for people in ambulences whenever they go by)

5 miles down the road i saw a massive tractor trailer off the side of the road on its side. there were countless medical personnel as well as many distraught observers. i realized right away that the person who drove off the road would not be around for Christmas this year and that his or her family would not have him or her present.

back to my original question. what determines how i react to a situation like that traffic jam? will i ever have an immediate selfless reaction or will i always think about myself first? can God work in and through a person to move them to a point where his or her immediate thought is "i should pray for the person who was in the accident"?