The Journey

“There. Listen to the sounds of the train passing. Some compartments are full, some are half empty and even some more are empty. This train will be gone and will take all its passengers to wherever they need to go. A new train shall pass by here tomorrow. Some of the passengers could be the same ones who have traveled today. There will be some new ones”

“Will the train ever stop here?”

“It does but only briefly. And then you will see some old faces and some new. Treat the old ones ever so gently. Give them respect. Speak softly. They are the ones who will yell at you about yesterday. They might even shower praise and affection. Do not get swayed by any of those emotions. Just be aware that them being emotional only means that you matter in their lives. So be gentle with your words to them”

“What about the new faces? Do I matter in their lives too?”

“Not yet. You matter only to their minds when they are new. They will assess and analyze you. Be yourself. Do not put a show for them. And when, despite you being yourself, they come back in the next train and see you again, take a bit of them into you. Change ever so lightly for them. And if they come back in the next train, take a bit more of them and so on. And one day, they will become an old face and you already know how to deal with an old face”

“All I have to offer them all is a cup of tea when the train stops. Why should I matter?”

“You might not matter to them in a material way now or in the future. You will matter when they stop using that train. And then, when they sit back and reflect, they will think of you. They might come back to you, even. But this time they will get down at the station for you. They will talk and listen and take back a bit of you with them, if they have not already. And as for you, they matter because they enrich your life, mostly by letting you to be a little of them. And if they enrich you materially too, that’s a bonus”

“What about the train itself? Is it not the most important of all?”

“The train is of course most important. It connects people but then leaves. It comes back and then leaves again. It makes rounds because it should. It comes in because you need it. It leaves because it doesn’t need you”

“Why am I not in the train? Why am I on the platform?”

“You are on the train too, it only seems like a platform because you look at everyone else and think they are moving away. You never think that it might be you who is moving away”

“Am I moving away too?”

“Ask those faces in the train”

As the train of time leaves yet another station, here is wishing you all a happy journey to the next station.