LIFE IS LIKE A JOURNEY BY TRAIN
Do not waste your time admiring your own image in the reflection of a false mirror, or staring at your lifeless phone to see how many “likes” you have received.
Lift your eyes toward the real world around you. Open the window and look at the endless view unfolding before you as the train of your life moves forward.
At birth, we board the train and meet our parents, believing that they will always travel beside us.
As time passes, other people board the train. Some become deeply important to us: our brothers and sisters, our friends, our children, strangers who touch our lives, and perhaps the love of our life.
Yet, at certain stations, our parents will leave the train, and we will continue the journey without them. Others, too, will eventually leave, creating a permanent emptiness in the seats they once occupied.
Some people, however, will leave so quietly that we barely notice when their seats become empty.
This journey by train will be filled with joy and sorrow, dreams and imagination, hopes and disappointments, hellos and goodbyes, meetings and farewells.
Success lies in building a good relationship with all the passengers around us—and that requires us to give the best of ourselves.
Some people, however, will leave so quietly that we barely notice when their seats become empty.
This journey by train will be filled with joy and sorrow, dreams and imagination, hopes and disappointments, hellos and goodbyes, meetings and farewells.
The great mystery for all of us is this:
We do not know at which station we will leave the train.
Therefore, we must live as well as we can. We must love, forgive, and give the very best of who we are while we are still on board.
Yet not everyone understands the journey.
The passengers on the train may appear to be travelling toward the same destination as we are. But depending on what they believe, whom they trust, and whether they believe the train will take them where they truly wish to go, they may remain on the journey—or get off somewhere along the way.
The world may—and will—leave the train at any station.
Just remember: the station at which people choose to leave is far more a reflection of who they are than of who you are.
There will be a few people in our lives who will make the entire journey with us.
They will believe in us. They will accept that we are human, that we make mistakes along the way, and that despite everything, we can still reach our desired destination—together, whatever may happen.
Be deeply grateful for these people.
They are rare. And when you find them, never let them go.
Send a blessing to those who board the train at the most difficult stations, when nobody else is there.
Remember these people.
They are special. Keep them forever in your heart.
There will also be people who quietly try to leave the journey, and others who will make a dramatic exit.
Do not waste your energy on those who choose to leave.
Give your attention to the passengers who are still travelling with you.
They are the ones who matter.
If someone tries to return to the train, do not be angry and do not hold a grudge. Let them return—or let them go.
Simply notice where they are when the next difficult bend in the journey arrives.
If they are still on board, accept them.
But if they repeatedly pull the emergency brake and deliberately disrupt the journey, then let them leave the train freely—and do not allow their departure to disturb your journey ever again.
There will be times when the train moves slowly, almost at a crawling pace.
Appreciate those moments, because they allow us to see the scenery.
There will also be moments when the train travels so fast that everything outside becomes a blur.
Enjoy the feeling of speed. It can be exhilarating—but it cannot last forever.
And sometimes, the train may even derail.
If that happens, it will hurt—deeply, and perhaps for a very long time.
But there will be people who appear from nowhere and help us get back on track.
Those people will be among the ones who matter most in our lives.
Love them forever.
Because you can never truly repay what they have done for you.
And even if you could, they would probably never accept your repayment.
Simply repay them with love.
Eventually, your train will reach its final station, and you will have to step off.
Eventually, your train will reach its final station, and you will have to step off.
At that moment, you will understand something that perhaps you knew all along:
Life is about the journey—not the destination.
Know and believe that, at the end of your journey, your train will have carried the right passengers.
And remember:
Every passenger who once travelled with you was there for a reason—for a special purpose.
When the time comes for us to step away and leave our seats empty, we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue travelling on the train of life.
A personal thank you
I would especially like to thank, from the depths of my soul, those special friends and dearly loved people who, after many years of travelling together, changed carriages—or even changed trains.
I am sorry that I could not keep you in the same carriage, on the same journey.
I am sorry if, unintentionally, I ever hurt you, disappointed you, or failed to give you the attention you needed and deserved.
I wish you a beautiful and joyful journey in the years ahead, on your new train of life.
May you achieve success, give abundant love, and be happy.
And above all:
Thank you for the journey.
Finally, I want to thank you for having been one of the passengers on my train.
And so that I do not leave you feeling melancholic, let me add this:
For the bravest among us, even after stepping off the train, the game may continue forever—defying time itself.
Dedicated with brotherly love
Dedicated with brotherly love to Kostas Kavouras and Leonidas Stratidakis, honoured members of S.E.G. and basketball champions, who remain enthusiastic fellow passengers on the same train with me.
Also dedicated to my youth friends from my deep of my heart Gregory Kaloritis and Kostas Paliatsos during our University period in Brooklyn – New York.
And of course to wellcome aoard today to our new friends who want to travel in the same train with me a new jurney to Tai Chi , Pakua, Chi Quang which just started full of “esoteric” joy !
May our journey continue—full of friendship, laughter, memories and, above all, love.
