I’ve been thinking about two proverbs.
The first is Japanese: “If you get on the wrong train, get off at the nearest station. The longer it takes you to get off, the more expensive the return trip will be.”
The second is Indian: “Sometimes the wrong train takes you to the right station.”
At first, I saw how beautifully complementary they are. But they left me with a swarm of questions. When I make a decision-when I get on a “train” how am I supposed to know if it’s the right or wrong one? How do I know if the result is what I truly need?
What if I’m cursed to always pick the wrong train and end up at the wrong station, bearing the cost alone? What if I never even realize I’m on the wrong train? Or what if I do realize it, but I have no idea where the “nearest station” is to get off?
And what about the other side? What if the wrong train does take me to the right station, but I don’t recognize it when I arrive?
It all makes me wonder. Isn’t the purpose of life simply to not give up? To just keep trying? If that’s the case, why should I care so much about what train I’m on? Maybe I don’t want to know. Maybe I just want to keep going, trusting that in the end, I’ll figure out what I need.
~Dee
