Catch That Train
What Train Are You Taking?
Quick! Catch That Train! – Destiny Awaits!
They travel through our mind at lightning speed it seems, like a train going through town. One thought starts the engine, then zips along with a line of boxcars attached, adding momentum and concluding with the caboose reinforcing this train of thought.
I’m not sure where the term “train of thought” came from, but it’s an apt description.
Every thought is leading to a certain destination and if left unchecked, undirected or uncontrolled, it takes you with it.
What track are you travelling on? What’s the destination of that track? You can have the greatest of intentions for reaching a certain destination, but if you’re on the wrong track, you need to get off the train ASAP and catch the one heading to the desired destination.
You cannot stop thoughts; they are core to our being – expressing ourselves, changing, learning, developing in every aspect. We are not our thoughts. We have the ability to think about what we are thinking, change and redirect our thoughts.
When someone “changes their mind”, they are not changing their brain. They are not exchanging a physical mind for another mind. It means they have changed their thoughts on the matter. When someone says “never mind”, they mean stop thinking or paying attention with your thoughts to this and direct your thoughts elsewhere. When people refer to “minding” something it means paying attention or giving attention to. You cannot pay attention without thoughts. When we say we want someone’s mind on the matter, or the “mind” of Christ, it means we want their thoughts, their understanding and their perspective.
Are you on the right train? Check your map (intentions and desire). Check the landscape. If I’m leaving Calgary for Vancouver on the train (a very scenic journey in real life I might add), at some point I need to see some mountain ranges ahead or around me. If I’m travelling for hours and days and all I see is prairies and fields of wheat, I need to check the destination of that train. If the trip is so many miles and technically you travel so many miles in an hour, there should be a checkpoint of time. Another checkpoint is awareness of the people around you. If everyone is saying they can’t wait until they get to Toronto, you’d better check the destination of that train.
Thoughts lead you somewhere. They will line up with the destination. Happy thoughts are NOT going to leave you feeling depressed. Sad thoughts are not going to take you to the land of passion and fulfillment. Absolutely no way can the train going to Vancouver take you to Toronto. It’s a different track and direction. Now you could go to Vancouver and then go from Vancouver to Toronto – but you will be going to Vancouver if the train is going to Vancouver and you’re on it. That’s how powerful thoughts are – they are the driving force in our life.
Where are you going? Some may say they don’t know. They only have to go as far as their thoughts.
I was amazed by a conversation I overhead the other day. This lady and her husband (no where near retirement at this point and seemingly in good health), are building their house so that when they have to use a walker and are in wheelchairs, the house will be already be prepared. I thought, you got to be kidding. Guess where that train will take them? They are thinking “disabled”. When they think “disabled”, what’s the chance their thoughts will start to dis-able them little by little, maybe bad habits, poor choices in food, health, fitness, etc.
How about your destiny being a happy, healthy and well-off retirement, doing what you love to do, going to places you enjoy and being active? Thoughts line up with their destination. Thoughts create your focus. Those thoughts would create awareness of what you love, enjoy and perceive as “active. Those thoughts will en-able you.