The train I was travelling by was running 4 hours late due to bad weather conditions. Just 30 minutes away from my destination, I took out my luggage, ready to get down as soon as the train stopped. After I deboarded the train, I had to check the status of the next train I needed to catch. Just as I had expected, the train was running 5 hours late, which was a total let-down. I picked up my luggage and went in search of the waiting room.
A lot of trains were running late and so I found the waiting room nearly full. Since I was travelling alone, it wasn’t hard to find an empty seat. With 5 hours left for the train to arrive, I had just settled in for a little nap to pass the time, when a lady sudenly approached me.
“Hello son! Is this seat taken?”, she asked me, pointing to the seat next to me. I shifted the luggage from the seat to the ground and replied, “No ma’am, this seat is empty”. We talked for about 20 minutes on different topics, starting off with our introductions. After a while, I thought of listening to some music to kill time, and just when I was about to put in my earphones, she said, “You know son, I was about your age when I got married and settled down, and that was by far the most regrettable thing I ever did”. Well of course, I was curious to know why she referred to it that way, so I had to ask, “Why?’, to which she replied, “Well son, I always wanted to be a travel blogger ever since I was young, and I had it in me to make it big someday. But unfortunately I got married early due to some personal reasons, and I couldn’t follow my dream”. After a long pause, she spoke again, “As of now, I am happily divorced and following my passion. Listen son, always follow your dreams, and if possible, avoid getting married early (Hahaha…☺)”. I couldn’t think of a suitable reply to that, so I just said, “You must be an inspiration to many”, at which she just smiled a small smile. We spent a few minutes in companionable silence and then the lady got up and asked if I wanted coffee, to which I happily said, “Yes”.
The freezing cold outside left us nothing to do but stay within the waiting room and pass the time with conversation, so when the kind lady came back with our coffees I asked her how the pursuit of her passion was turning out. She smiled at me and said, “It’s a blessing to be able to do the things that you love, every single day. Every single moment of a new day becomes a new adventure, where new experiences and lessons await me. Everything around me changed the moment I decided to follow my dreams, and there has been no turning back since then.” Her words made me introspect my own life and try to understand what it meant to be able to be truly and completely dedicated to your passions and dreams. I listened on, in rapt attention, as she told me about her life and work, and how she lived through each day, trying to learn something new.
Too soon, an announcement was made regarding the arrival of her train. As she got up to leave, I thanked her for sharing her inspiring story. She just smiled and told me, “Live your passion”. I was left pondering what she had said.
My train was still an hour to arrive and so I decided to take a power nap. As I was about to close my eyes, my conversation with the lady began to play in my mind, and her last words silently echoed in my head, ‘Live your passion’. I could feel myself rejuvenated with new desires and the energy to do something with my life. Then, before I could think any more, I heard the sound of my train pulling into the station.
