Conference quark::human_relations-v1

436.0. "The Station" by BUSY::KLEINBERGER (Have a MAXCIMum Day!) Wed Dec 09 1987 20:49

I have wanted to take the time and type this in ever since I read it in Ann 
Landers on the 2nd of December... I decided tonight to make the time, since 
I wanted a copy to put on my bullentin board in my office...



				The Station
			    By Robert J. Hastings

	Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision.  We see 
ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent.  We are traveling by 
train.  Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby 
highways, of children waving at a crossing of cattle grazing on a distant 
hillside, of smoke poring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and 
wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of 
city skylines and village halls.  

	But uppermost in our minds is the final destination.  On a certain 
day at a certain hour we will pull into the station.  Bands will be 
playing and flags waving.  Once we get there so many wonderful dreams will 
come true and pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed 
jigsaw puzzle.  How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for 
loitering -- waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

	"When we reach the station, that will be it!" we cry.  "When I'm 
18."  "When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!"  "When I put the last kid 
through college."  "When I have paid off the mortgage!"  "When I get a 
promotion."  "When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever 
after!"

	Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place 
to arrive at once and for all.  The true joy of life is the only trip.  The 
station is only a dream.  It constantly outdistances us.

	"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with 
Psalm 118:24:  "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice 
and be glad in it."  It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad.  It 
is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow.  Regret and fear 
are twin thieves who rob us of today.

	So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles.  Instead, climb 
more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more 
rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less.  Life must be lived as we 
go along.  The station will come soon enough.

					Reprinted without permission o'course