Stop This Train

I feel like this week has been running past me... as well as this month, this year, the past 10, 15, 20 years... Is it just me, or does it seem that time keeps slipping away, with no way to stop it?  There are times that I feel like just screaming: "Stop!  Let me enjoy the moment!"  There is a song cleverly written that describes my feelings precisely.

Stop this train

I wanna get off

And go home again

I can't take the speed it's moving in

I know I can't

But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

In this song, he doesn't seem to grasp why his life is going so fast.  

For understanding, he turns to his father.  The advice he received was this:

 
"Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
And don't think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we'll never stop this train"

Ten Years ago, if asked what I'd be doing with my life or where I'd be when 25 rolled around, a pretty picture of myself, a husband and at least two little ones would have come to mind.  I guess I have half of it down... but where are those darling children of mine?  It's interesting to me how different our lives turn out to be from the way we planned them.  Another image comes to mind:  in this one, I am a puppet.  I am not guiding my own course - rather, letting the puppeteer decide where I am to go next.  When I trust him, and know that he knows what's best for me, I will be safe.

Experience has shown me that things don't always go as planned.  For me, hardly ever.  While it's important to have a plan, it is equally important to let those plans change when they need to.  We need to be willing to play along when the puppeteer decides to turn us another way.  

"It is sometimes in the winds of change that we find our true direction."  While along that pathway of change, we ourselves change.  We grow and learn who we truly are.  It's in these moments, when things don't go as planned, that we learn our true character.  Learning to enjoy the moment is something I am continuously working on.  However, I know one thing for certain - that I wouldn't for a minute change the place I'm in.  Even if it takes a bit of sacrifice.