I’ve learned a great many things in the last 15yrs. I’ve learned to keep an open mind, I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut more then I keep my mouth open, & most importantly, I feel; I’ve learned that more often then not, the best lessons come after the deepest hurts.
I’ve learned that it is indeed possible, to slow each moment to it’s utmost crawl, & by this drain each particle of life worth living from that moment.
If you found yourself in a common room over this past few days, you may know the “automatic coffee machine” I’m referring to here. If you paused to look to your right while using said coffee maker, you may have noticed a small essay on the wall.
It is this essay I hope you take the time to read here, as yet again, I hope to allow a wiser man then I, inspire you.
One surely does not fill a map of the U.S. w/ destinations met, or a few kilometers of county road with loved ones, in procession unless they’ve paused to see the bigger picture, to be half the man, would be something, indeed …
Love; S.
THE STATION
By Robert J. Hastings
TUCKED AWAY in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long, long trip that almost spans the continent. We're traveling by passenger train, and out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls, of biting winter and blazing summer and cavorting spring and docile fall.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. There will be bands playing and flags waving. And once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true. So many wishes will be fulfilled and so many pieces of our lives finally will be neatly fitted together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damming the minutes for loitering, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.
However, sooner or later we must realize there is no one station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.
When we get to the station that will be it!" we cry. Translated it means, "When I'm 18 that will be it! When I buy a new 450 SL Mercedes Benz, that will be it! When I put the last kid through college that will be it! When I have paid off the mortgage that will be it! When I win a promotion that will be it! When I reach the age of retirement that will be it! I shall live happily ever after!"
Unfortunately, once we get "it," then "it" disappears. The station somehow hides itself at the end of an endless track.
"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. Rather, it is regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today.
So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.
(This version of "The Station" made its first debut in Ann Landers' Column on May 17, 1981.)
"Dear Ann Landers: I wrote a little essay that appeared in theIllinois Baptist and I am sending it to you with permission to share it with your readers if you wish." Robert J. Hastings, Editor.
"Dear Robert Hastings: It's a beauty. Thank you for sending it on." Ann Landers
