Blog by: Lata Advani Viseu
This train carries saints and sinners
This train carries losers and winners
This train carries whores and gamblers
This train carries lost souls
I said, this train carries broken-hearted
This train thieves and sweet souls departed
This train carries fools and kings
This train, all aboard
I said, this train dreams will not be thwarted
This train faith will be rewarded
Land of Hope and Dreams – Bruce Springsteen
I love the analogy about the train and life.
Life is like a one-way train ride with no return ticket. We all get on the train of life when we are born and along the way we get off at whichever station we choose or stay on till the end of the line.
There are sometimes accidents along the way, and we must board another train or wait for the one to be fixed and continue along the way. Although we travel with other people along the way, each person’s journey is unique.
Sometimes we meet interesting people on our journey when new people get on the train, and other times, we must bid farewell to those who are travelling with us on the journey for part of the way. We may never see them again or we may decide to stay in touch and catch up again at another station.
We can get off at any stop or choose to stay on the train and continue along with the passengers who are going in the same direction. All the people we meet on the train become part of our life whether for a moment or for part of the journey.
Every time someone new gets on the train, you judge them and they judge you, the human instinct to protect themselves from danger then when you hear their stories, the connection happens and we accept them for the ride.
There are some people that we form deep connections with along the way, as if we’ve known them all our lives even though they just got on the train. There are others you may have been travelling with for a long time and they are there to remind you where you’re headed and to protect you from yourself.
If someone who looks and dresses very different from us gets on the train, we may think we have nothing in common but when we start a conversation, we learn we do have a lot in common. We may also learn from each other, perhaps questioning our beliefs, looking at things from another perspective.
A musician going from carriage to carriage may stop by ours and play us a song on his guitar and awaken something deep in ourselves.
You may meet the love of our life, your soulmate or soul sister on the train or you may not want to share your train ride with anyone, but people will get off and on throughout the journey whether we want them to or not.
If you keep your heart open, you’ll realize all those people that crossed your path were there for a reason whether to teach you a lesson or someone who needed to learn something from you.
They are all connected to us and we carry their energy within us even when they are long gone. We can choose to remember them or push them way to the back of our memories.
Along the way, we may realize that some of the things we brought with us we no longer need and are bearing us down, so we toss them out of the train and immediately feel lighter.
We realize that we are not too different from one another. Everyone is trying to get to their destination safely, hoping to enjoy the ride along the way and, in the end we may realize, no one is right or wrong, we all see things differently because of our experiences along the journey.
On this train of life, whether we get off at the first stop or last, we always have a choice how much baggage we want to carry with us and how we want our journey to be while on the train of life.
“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” – William Shakespeare
“Sinners judging sinners for sinning differently.” ― Sui Ishida
“Nothing forbids man to enjoy himself, save grim and gloomy superstition” ― Baruch Spinoza
“I saw that all the things I feared and which feared me had nothing good or bad in them save in so far as the mind was affected by them.” ― Baruch Spinoza
Lata! This is wonderful. A good thought/ philosophy to begin the coming year with. We usually are aware, but have to remember these as along the way we/I forget it. You have put it across so well!
Beautiful analogy. It really makes sense.
Springsteen’s verse was a great start to the blog.
Good observation of one’s journey through life in its many situations through time..’alone’ or with ‘connections made’ and their long or short influences on our own psyche!! and in our own lives through Good times and bad.
Interesting indeed.
Once again such an inspiring read ! Thank you Lata for these wonderful blogs.
Wonderful as always Lata…..Happy New Year and hope that the train that you and yours are on is first class!
Very well written ::your entire life unfolds in this train journey: : sweet and sour experiences : good and bad : pleasant and not so pleasant: a package : We all get life in a package :
Good work keep it going :
What a great perspective from which to view the nature of life! Perfectly captures that while we may not always have choice over who enters our life, we can always try to capitalize on the connections we feel – and learn from those people when we don’t feel it. We truly are here to complete this journey on our own, but it’s nice to realize that we are all here essentially doing the same thing. Thanks so much for this 🙂