All Aboard!
We are surrounded by trains, did you know that?
They are everywhere. They're on TV. They're in books and magazines. They're in the background of the decor at the food court in the mall, and on the back of the orange juice carton. Everywhere I go I find myself surrounded by trains.
How and when did this happen?
Blame it on my two-year old son. He is the train spotter. He has a limited vocabulary of words, even for his age, but there is one word that cannot be mistaken, and I hear it dozens of times a day.
"Choo Choo! Choo Choo!"
He doesn't just recognize trains - he exclaims trains!
"CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!"
Yes Shepherd, a train.
"Yeah!" Then he moves on until the next train is spotted.
If Waldo were a train, we would never have to ask where he is. If trains were currency, my son would already be a top counterfeit specialist. He is that good.
For me, I had no idea we were surrounded by trains. Did you?
Is this new, or have they been there all along?
"To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish." -Yiddish expression
That pretty much sums up the life of my son. Somehow, his life has become a world of horseradish, except his horseradish is trains. No matter where he is, or what he is doing, all he sees are trains.
And the truth is, he is not seeing things. The trains are there. I had never noticed the train hidden in the design on the back of the orange juice carton, or the train painted on the top ring of the food court mural.
They were there all along, I just never saw them.
So, what else might I be missing?
This seems to be a good question to sit in as we approach yet another year, and a monumental year at that.
2010 - can you believe it?
What are you seeing? What trains are you noticing?
In reality, at any given moment we are surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of different things that we could focus on. These might be actual physical images that are around us, or they might be thoughts, feelings, or emotions that seem to bounce and dance around our head from moment to moment.
All of these things are around us everywhere we go - so it then becomes up to us to decide which ones we CHOOSE to focus on.
If you are not careful, or rather, if you do not take control of what you actually choose to focus on, your emotional peace can get knocked around like a pinball.
In the recent film, "Invictus," starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, Mandela shares that it is this poem that gave him great comfort through the bleakest times during his imprisonment. The last stanza of the poem by William Ernest Henley reads,
"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."
Many of us will never know what it is like to be behind bars and experience the kind of loneliness, helplessness, or despair that one might feel, but we can all relate to being in situations when there doesn't seem to be anything around us except darkness.
In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy writes,
"When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious - as Life eternally is - can destroy any painful sense of, or belief, in which Life is not."
What strikes me about this quote, is that again, it proves that we all have a choice. We all have the ability to "cling steadfastly" to what we choose to see - regardless of what the situation presents. Or, as described in Invictus, "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul."
The choice is up to us. What does your horseradish look like?
As the new year approaches, take some time to spend with the question, "What am I seeing?"
Carry a notepad around with you for a day or two, and jot down thoughts that seem to continually pop in your head. Do you catch yourself being critical of other people? Do you find that you always find something to be grateful for? Whatever the thoughts, jot them down and take stock of what your horseradish of a world looks like.
My son has been doing this for weeks now, the only difference is, I get to be his notepad. If you were to ask him what his horseradish looks like, he would probably respond, "Choo Choo!"
Have a wonderful holiday everyone, and if you look into the near distance you can see the light of 2010 quickly approaching.
All aboard!
Much love,
Travis
They are everywhere. They're on TV. They're in books and magazines. They're in the background of the decor at the food court in the mall, and on the back of the orange juice carton. Everywhere I go I find myself surrounded by trains.
How and when did this happen?
Blame it on my two-year old son. He is the train spotter. He has a limited vocabulary of words, even for his age, but there is one word that cannot be mistaken, and I hear it dozens of times a day.
"Choo Choo! Choo Choo!"
He doesn't just recognize trains - he exclaims trains!
"CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!"
Yes Shepherd, a train.
"Yeah!" Then he moves on until the next train is spotted.
If Waldo were a train, we would never have to ask where he is. If trains were currency, my son would already be a top counterfeit specialist. He is that good.
For me, I had no idea we were surrounded by trains. Did you?
Is this new, or have they been there all along?
"To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish." -Yiddish expression
That pretty much sums up the life of my son. Somehow, his life has become a world of horseradish, except his horseradish is trains. No matter where he is, or what he is doing, all he sees are trains.
And the truth is, he is not seeing things. The trains are there. I had never noticed the train hidden in the design on the back of the orange juice carton, or the train painted on the top ring of the food court mural.
They were there all along, I just never saw them.
So, what else might I be missing?
This seems to be a good question to sit in as we approach yet another year, and a monumental year at that.
2010 - can you believe it?
What are you seeing? What trains are you noticing?
In reality, at any given moment we are surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of different things that we could focus on. These might be actual physical images that are around us, or they might be thoughts, feelings, or emotions that seem to bounce and dance around our head from moment to moment.
All of these things are around us everywhere we go - so it then becomes up to us to decide which ones we CHOOSE to focus on.
If you are not careful, or rather, if you do not take control of what you actually choose to focus on, your emotional peace can get knocked around like a pinball.
In the recent film, "Invictus," starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, Mandela shares that it is this poem that gave him great comfort through the bleakest times during his imprisonment. The last stanza of the poem by William Ernest Henley reads,
"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."
Many of us will never know what it is like to be behind bars and experience the kind of loneliness, helplessness, or despair that one might feel, but we can all relate to being in situations when there doesn't seem to be anything around us except darkness.
In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy writes,
"When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious - as Life eternally is - can destroy any painful sense of, or belief, in which Life is not."
What strikes me about this quote, is that again, it proves that we all have a choice. We all have the ability to "cling steadfastly" to what we choose to see - regardless of what the situation presents. Or, as described in Invictus, "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul."
The choice is up to us. What does your horseradish look like?
As the new year approaches, take some time to spend with the question, "What am I seeing?"
Carry a notepad around with you for a day or two, and jot down thoughts that seem to continually pop in your head. Do you catch yourself being critical of other people? Do you find that you always find something to be grateful for? Whatever the thoughts, jot them down and take stock of what your horseradish of a world looks like.
My son has been doing this for weeks now, the only difference is, I get to be his notepad. If you were to ask him what his horseradish looks like, he would probably respond, "Choo Choo!"
Have a wonderful holiday everyone, and if you look into the near distance you can see the light of 2010 quickly approaching.
All aboard!
Much love,
Travis
4 Comments:
Love it buddy! It was worth the wait!! I'm on board! CHOO! CHOO!
Glad you're are back! Love your blog...it brings me back to the Truth!
Keep writing! That was impressive
Thanks for the write. It's a good start of Lunar New Year. :)
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