These days, we heard them singing about a train without breaks.
Soon, we saw that even these ones can be stopped by referee decisions. ⚽🤷♀️
Well … what about trains of thoughts?
Distraction can derail us
These can also be stopped by almost everything, mostly unwantedly …
So much I thought, experienced, tried to circumvent, often failed.
Sudden ideas, or what we notice around us.
Our phones.
Mine, the other day, on a way out. A soft chime.
Me like: much likely a joke, not now. I read it while a friend of mine was texting another acquaintance whose relative had just died after a short disease or something, so even in that try-out of a situation, my face knew how to keep straight while reading.
A song a line of lyrics of which makes our mind wander to a distant place we’ve hardly ever been. Been there, done that… 😁
If you have time, try this:
Take at least half a minute and try to find out what you want to know.
Don’t try to ignore it, let the emotions settle and the thought finish without doing anything.
Then gently return to what you were doing at the moment.
Over time, you might understand some patterns.
That “I am tired” always coming in a moment where you were just up to call a recruiter or want to fiddle on your resume? Probably it’s not lack of sleep then. Instead of another nap, what about this? Let some fresh air in, have a hydration break, but go and fiddle on that resume, pick up that phone. Write that DM. Let AI help you get rid of the blank page, but do it! Think of AI handing you a prepared craft to work on to make it sound like it’s yours.
That faint image in your head? Perhaps it’s a good idea for a next post or a metaphor offering a solution to a tricky coding question. Perhaps it’s a forgotten item in the fridge, just there to remind you of something. Don’t block, just notice it for a moment.
Over time, it cannot only keep you from breaking the dishes just because you hear a song if that’s your problem, but also make it easier to handle distraction or to get some inspiration about what to do next in your life, or to understand your inner voice much better.
Then again, it can happen that we are trying hard to think of anything else, less haunting, we are caught in a loop, still chewing on that unresolved question or the little bad luck we had this morning.
That referee decision? Our coach was just laughing. In the end, when the TV was dark, I took another look at a photo on my phone, reminding myself that there is so much more to life than just football, of course there is.
We can learn to cope with it, both of it.
I did. So here’s a little poem…
Trains which left but never arrived
The train leaves
the old station.
Other people
step out, laughing.
My luggage next to me,
I join in —
even tired, just carrying on —
under dusty lamp posts,
knowing where my way
is leading me.
Moving towards an escalator,
I remember how I used to
get up early,
already tired of that
crowded heat,
covered up to my shoulders
in things to do —
unsure about my next steps
on cobblestones
wet from yesterday’s rain
mixed with salt and
tears of frustration …
Stepping on another bus,
I remember hours of silence
in proximity —
where the distance felt
could hardly been larger,
however it left me confused
in a grey city night.
When my social batteries
had drained empty,
making me appear helpless
while all I truly needed
was a calm seat
next to a moonlit window.
When my circle of consciousness,
