October 2014 – Page 3 – The Lisa Chronicles

I didn’t write this piece, but a friend posted this and I thought it was a great read and analogy.

The Train of Life

At birth we board a train and meet our parents. We believe they will always travel by our side. However, at some station, our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone.

As time goes by, other people will board the train, and they will be significant – siblings, friends, the love of your life, children, and many others. Some will step down and leave a permanent vacuum. Others will go so unnoticed that we won’t realize they vacated their seats.

The train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, good-byes, and farewells. A successful ride requires having a good relationship with all passengers. We must give the best of ourselves.

The mystery to everyone is, we do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So, we must live in the best way, love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are. It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.

I wish you a joyful journey on the train of life. Reap success and give lots of love. More importantly, thank God for the journey.

Lastly, I thank you for being one of the passengers on my train.

This time of the year is at time for thought and introspection. As the photo says above, on Rosh Hashana it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed. I was just in the car this morning and was in my own thoughts and I thought I would share this story of forgiveness on the eve of the Day of Atonement.

A few months ago I received a private message on facebook from someone that I was no longer in contact with. The message was a very personal message that I know took a lot of thought and introspection to write to me. It was a time to realize how far we have come as people and that time does help us move forward. The things that I was once very angry about, about what was done “to me” moved to be something now that I can look back on as that was one moment in our lives. Moments in time can change our paths and direction but they don’t define us.

I did tell this person that they can move forward from this time in their life as well. That even though we may not be in each others lives the way we once were, that the time that we once had we learn from.

It is okay to ask for forgiveness and accept it when it is asked of you in return. It doesn’t always mean that you will rekindle a relationship with that person, maybe you will and maybe you won’t. It does allow you to move forward in your own life and putting each chapter of the book of your own life into perspective.

On this eve of the day of Atonement I will end with this:

“To all those who I hurt or offended in any way, gave you too much or not enough attention, disrespected or didn’t judge to the good– please, please forgive me. I am trying, but always imperfect. Here’s to a year where we all rise!”