The Coming Train

Near Clio, South Carolina
It's a clear fall day, 1960
and I'm eight and I've never
been so far from home.

I'm outside my uncle's house
that badly needs paint
in the hot dry country
that's desolate and remote.

And in his front yard,
if you can call it a yard
since it's all dirty white sand
and tall scattered weeds

There's an old railroad track
crossing the yard too close
to the porch and you can stand
on it and gaze for miles each way.

And then I see a distant train
coming toward me with its light
dim in the distance but I know
it's really bright and it scares me

And I want to cross the track
if I have time to get back again
on the side by the house before
the dark awesome force arrives.

It's an urge to run across that
no-boy's land if I dare, but why
should I care about it at all? And
as the train approaches closer

I feel the pressure inside me
to cross or not to cross.
Will I do it or try it, as the
opportunity rushes on by?

Can I catch it—the chance, not
the train—or will I wait a second
too long and dash just to be dashed
and end my world in that strange place?

And now I know I can cross tracks,
but it’s not always good, and not
ever healthy to wait too long to make
the choice if you might want to return.

The Secret of Time Management

One of the greatest challenges in life is to manage our time well. And we can’t do that unless we manage our emotions well. That, in turn, requires managing our thoughts. 

Most people seem to assume that our thoughts and emotions just come to us, and we have no control over them. But the truth is that we can have great control over them. And yet, like many things, mental and emotional self control is an art, a skilled activity. We get better at it by practicing it. Conversely, if we don't practice it, we won't be very good at it. And we'll find that we're often wasting our time.

When we govern our thoughts properly, that allows us to do the same with our emotions. And since philosophers and psychologists have long understood that it’s mostly our emotions that cause us to make our decisions, choosing this activity rather than that one, saying yes to this and no to that, then governing our emotions well allows us to govern our time well. 

The busier you get, the more you realize the importance of this.

Trust The Process

We have this tendency, most of us, to want things in the world to operate like a classic light switch, on or off. You want to change a bad habit? Cut the switch off. Done. You want a new skill? Click the switch on. You got it.

But, of course, life is mostly about process. As Aristotle realized long ago, we're all in a state of becoming. As we pursue goals, we're engaged in a process of transformation, altering not just the world around us, but ourselves, along the way.

If you want a light switch image for making things happen, try the modern dimmer switch, where you can start seeing positive results with the least little bit of illumination and gradually, over a sweep of effort and time, however brief in this little symbol, increase the results to a blaze of light where you then glow, along with your circumstances.

Almost everything in the world is a process. We're in a hurry for results. But if we're moving in the right direction, there's one thing we need, one thing we often forget. We need to trust the process, however slow or indirect it might seem. We can certainly improve the process, in many cases, and where we can, we should. But in order to be motivated to do even that, we need to trust the process. We need to honor the truth, or reality, of process itself.

We value doing. Most of us value being. More of us need to value becoming.

Trust the process.

That's your thought for today, as your process unfolds.

The Very Short Tale of the Hare on the Chair

“Where is the hare?”

“Oh, no! On the chair!”

“You swear?”

“Over there!”

“With his nails and his bunny tail bare?”

“You care?”

“Oh yes! Beware! An Impending Nightmare!”

“A rip or a tear?”

“Or worse! We need some small underwear!”

“I’m afraid, alas, there is none to spare!”

“The things that I bear!”

“But this is so rare!”

“It’s just not fair!”

“Should I chase him away, and right down the stair?”

“Oh me! Oh my! Do you really dare?”

“There’s no other choice of which I’m aware!”

“But, this is a job that we should both share.”

“Yes! First, you stand right over here,

and shout and wave your arms in the air.”

“I will! I’ll give him a jolly good scare!”

And they did, with really no further fanfare,

Which took all their brains, with none left to spare.

And, when it was done, the new fabric would wear,

not one single stain, but truly, a pair.

It looked like two bits of chocolate éclair

had dropped on the cloth and, in the sun’s glare,

had melted and soiled it beyond any repair.

And now, when guests are told, "Sit anywhere,"

they tarry a bit and try not to stare.

The use of this seat is, sadly, too rare,

which leads to the lesson we need to declare:

Never to scare a hare on a chair.

© 2014, TomVMorris.

A cautionary tale, of course, on how we deal with challenges. Did you ever dare to scare a hare on a chair?

*First comment, from a little child: "Berry Bunny."

shhhhh