The Next Stop!
It was a beautiful afternoon and a busy one at Metro Center train station in Washington, DC during rush hour as I was heading to church from work on this day. It was one of those days I decided to board the train to work to maximize the time to read a book I had just picked up a few days back. I stood a few steps away from the train platform amidst hundreds of people ready to hop on the train as soon as it arrives, while I read on. Imagine being in a train station like Metro Center during rush hour. I was so engrossed in this book that I was unperturbed by the noisome distractions flying around me. I think it suffices to say that no distraction should be strong enough to beat a focused mind on a journey to achieve a goal. The sharper your focus, the stronger your walls of barricade against distraction should be. Distractions are by the way a natural phenomenon positioned to challenge the very definition of your focus on your goal. Oh! That’s a message for another day.
So, as I was saying, I stood there maximizing every moment to lick every word out of this book and at the same time positioning myself to jump on the train as soon as it arrives. Finally, the train arrived, and I jumped in, but unfortunately, the car was so full that people were standing and positioned so tightly that I could barely breathe. The sight of the proximity is almost like giving each other an embrace with the two hands hanging down. It was so tight! I felt a strong urge to not get off the train as I wrestled with the idea of getting off the train to go wait for the next one. It was the easy thing to do, but at the same time, I would be late for church. Finally, I decided against the urge and just as I was trying to make my way through the thick crowd to exit the train, the train departed. I was now left helpless amidst the dark moments of waiting for the next stop. It was an awful feeling that beset me throughout the passing moments before the next stop. One voice was tormenting me that I had made the wrong decision to get on this train full of people, while another voice was appraising my decision as the right one.
Finally, that chit-chat in my mind was over. To my greatest surprise, right at the next stop, almost everyone on the train exited, leaving just a handful of people. I now have every inch of space I needed to relax and continue with my fellowship with my book. It was a great relief to me! As I sat down to pick up my book, I could vividly hear the narrative God was playing in my head as it relates to my experience. I heard clearly from within me, The Next Stop!
Our journey through life is flagged with situations like my experience on that day. You may have a goal to be the best you have been created to be, but there is this noisome distraction fighting every bit of your resolve to stay focused. Fighting those distractions is one herculean challenge that you must conquer if you must move forward. Maybe you now have a slight opportunity to move forward and every intention to do something productive with your life, but there is this dreadful situation you may have found yourself in that is now choking the air out of you. You must leverage on the testimony of your past conquests to fuel your can-do spirit for the next one. You cannot afford to give up now; giving up is too costly at this stage. Giving up may be easy, but the glory of finishing far exceeds the pain of holding up. Life is a battle that only the strong wins.
Think about the glory and freedom that awaits you at the next stop. Let the joy of finishing mesmerize your mind throughout your somewhat painful journey. For every pain that you have to endure, make them count as building blocks of your determination to never stay behind but keep pushing on. You must not give up in-between stops, in-between phases of your life because you just never know, the next stop may be the breakthrough you have been waiting for.
See you at the next stop!
Olu Efunwoye. @oludreambig