The Express Train

Express Train

Following on from the transport theme. Have you ever stood on the platform of the train station and listened to ‘stand well away from the platform, the London to Glasgow express about to pass through the station’?

The mechanical monster passes by at 100 miles an hour. Moments later your senses attempt to return to normal, at about the same pace, as the scattered litter and debris settle down to await the next disturbance.

This potentially dangerous situation, is taken for granted by all who watch. It is almost as if the train is expressing the statement ‘get out of my way. I’m coming through’. We accept the danger, the inability to stop the train. We are stunned by the wake of the movement of the air. Our hearing overwhelmed by the immense volume of the thundering caravan.

This observation has many branches of thought connected to it. We can correctly observe that to become really successful we have to travel a long journey and be focussed upon the final destination.

We could consider the great entrepreneurs. Branson. Jobs. Gates. Ford. The Brothers Lever. Who have become the pinnacle of human success and or endeavor. They have had to be as driven as an express train to force through their desire to succeed and prosper. These unique people have become conduits of wealth and employment to many millions of people and have transformed the way in which every person on this planet lives.

This blog asks us to think about another type of human express train. Certain situations and occupations turn people into express trains of self importance and or superiority. They travel so quickly due to the impatience of their desire. They fail to notice the other passengers of life.

I was talking to a person who was about to have a life saving operation. She told me that she had asked the surgeon if he would tell her, whilst she was still asleep, that the operation had been a success and that she would make a full recovery.

His answer was ‘No, there is no point’

She was devastated by these few words. To her, it really mattered. His reply had really effected her and if you do not comprehend why she was devastated. Go back to human compassion square one and start again.

Could the surgeon have agreed to the request? Should he have agreed to the request? I do not have the answer. My personal feeling is, I would not want him to be my consultant.

The point of this meditation is this ~ Have you or do you ever become too important or superior in your opinion of yourself that you fail to listen to the needs or feeling of others?

A beggar for a few pence. A Legion collector for the price of a poppy. A child for a smile, hug, a few words of encouragement or a partner for a ‘I love you’ Do you watch or listen?

Or are you an express train? In too much of a hurry to get to your destination?