Slow Roller, Fast Track

Fast track. Slow track. On the rails. Off the rails. Sounds like daily life and how it can go. It also sounds like how my mind works. Or doesn’t work, as the case may be.

We live close to railroad tracks and our puppy Gracie is already used to the sounds of trains as they come and go, loudly whistling their way by, or rolling slowly and almost quietly down the track.

One recent day as Gracie and I walked, there was a slow rolling train nearest our vantage point-on a rail set up higher than the more numerous tracks that run behind it. Beneath the cars of the slow roller Gracie and I watched a fast mover cruise by on the tracks further away from us. It was an interesting visual. The dichotomy struck me. Life unfolds on both the fast track and the slow. Sometimes my thoughts and feelings are on the rails, and sometimes they are off the rails. It can be a smooth ride or a bumpy one.

I was on the fast track to becoming an alcoholic when I started drinking at age 14. And on the slow track to becoming a spoken word performer, only embracing this way of bringing my words to life in front of others in the last ten years or so, and especially the last three.

I am safely on the rails when I take time to care for myself across physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual realms and have reasonable expectations of what I will get done in a day or week. On the rails looks like enough sleep, meditation/quiet time, exercise, journaling, honest conversations with myself and others. When I go off the rails, I have lost balance and things crash and pile up.

The image of the two trains returns to me. Life can have us on both a fast track and slowly rolling through a day. The key is rail maintenance. Noticing when speeds should be reduced or repairs made. Is my train too long or too short? Do I need to leave some cars behind and go pick up new cargo?

The picture below, taken from a different vantage point than Gracie and I had the other day, intrigues me and brings comfort. Various rails, sometimes busy and sometimes quiet. A peaceful lake in the background reminding me that the pace of nature is always a wise one. Blue sky, wide open and full of possibility.

Where will my day take me today? Rolling slowly and safely on the rails, I am off to a good start. Onward!