I am quite sure that majority of the readers have travelled in a train at least once in their lifetime. If you have travelled by a local train in Mumbai during peak hours then you are already a SPIRITUAL ATHLETE because you have to run for it, jump for it and when you are in it, you have to be really patient till the destination arrives. So essentially the experience is akin to an Olympic Event combining Sprint, Long Jump and Ballerina (well that’s exactly how you stand in a packed train!).

Now coming back to the title of this post – The Train of Life.

What exactly is the Train of Life?

Well just like a train journey (imagine a long-distance journey) from the boarding station to the final destination has a number of stops or halts, so do our lives with successes and failures. The important point to note is that the train always moves ahead and so does our life! Therefore it is best that we remain equanimous in our successes and failures and keep marching forward!

Every train journey has co-passengers. Now you expect your co-passengers to behave in a certain manner but the truth is that there is always going to be that crying toddler, that larger than life inquisitive uncle, the Humanoid teenager glued to his latest I-Phone and earpods but we also find that helpful porter or co-passenger who helps you with your luggage, the steward who serves you tea and breakfast with a warm smile. These co-passengers are your friends, family, colleagues etc. They come in all varieties of helpful, kind, fun-loving, indifferent, angry, sad etc.

You must have noticed that some of the co-passengers board with you and alight before you, some board after you and alight with you and so on. For you, they are a part of your train but for them you are part of their train, what I essentially mean to say is that although each one of you are on the same train of life, each individual has its own boarding station and destination i.e goals, desires and ambitions. It is best that we stay focused on our own goals and not get too attached to others because then the doors of disappointment are not too far off when are our expectations aren’t fulfilled. Some achieve their goals faster, some slower but we ought to keep on trying!

When the train travels through the country side we see farmers working on their fields, the farmer follows a step by step process of ploughing, sowing, adding manure and fertilizers, irrigating and harvesting when the crop is ripe. Likewise even we need to follow a step by step process to achieve our goals although success is never guaranteed!

You must have seen cows grazing and ruminating, although humans can’t ruminate their food, they often do ruminate on their negative thoughts. Well rumination is a futile exercise unless you are cow! Cow does MO, we can do OM! A Positive mindset coupled with action is our biggest asset!

As the train runs through its course we witness birds basking in the glory of rising sun, vast green meadows, gentle streams and gushing rivers, dark tunnels, fresh refreshing breeze, sunset, dark cold nights which is only followed by the breaking of dawn! Similarly everyone goes through the ups and downs of life, the best thing we can do is to KEEP SMILING and work our way to achieve our goals! It is equally important to enjoy both  the journey and the destination!

I hope you enjoyed reading the post, feel free to give feedback and support!