The pending train

Waiting. This word is a noun, and it means the action of staying where one is or delaying action until a particular time or event. We seem to be waiting all our lives. Even if you don’t think you’re waiting for something right now, you probably are. Let’s take an everyday life example: a train! You go to the station, you take your seat, and you wait. The train arrives, you wait on the train for your stop, then you get off.

Now, let’s imagine the train is delayed, and it’s the only train you can take to get to your destination, and the train is the only way you can get there. What will you do? Most people would just wait. Now, let’s say the train gets canceled, scheduled to never arrive. What do you do then? You need to get to your destination, and it’s the only train you can take. Are you still going to wait? The obvious answer is no. Who would wait for a train that’s never going to come? But what if that train was your only ticket to something greater, to something that could completely change your life?

Most people would give up waiting and leave; others would stay determined and find another way. But there's always someone who will still carry on waiting. They have hope the train will come soon, and they don’t want to miss the chance when it does. Everyone is always waiting for a train to come—something that can come and change their lives completely, turn their whole upside-down world the right side up. But that’s all they do: wait. Nothing more, nothing less. There’s nothing more or less anyone can do for the train to come but wait. Trying to find a different way to get the train would give hope but lead them away from the train. Giving up on waiting for the train would cause regrets in life that would burden them till they die.

But the one person who waits stays waiting, not giving up, not doing anything but waiting—waiting for something that’s uncertain. For most, that train comes, and for some, it never does. We spend our lives waiting, even if it’s not for something big. Maybe you’re waiting for your next birthday or to hang out with your friends, or even waiting for the right time to sleep or the right time to wake up. You spend your life waiting, and waiting. The waiting for some people becomes too much of a burden that they stop waiting for anything. But they’re still waiting, waiting for the day they finally don’t have to wait. The train never comes for them because they didn’t want it to. They stopped waiting for the train to come as they simply didn’t want to wait.

The train may never come for everyone, but waiting gives hope, and hope helps them push forward to wait for the train longer until the station closes. And then they will be relieved that their waiting didn’t come to an end because they stopped waiting; rather, their waiting came to an end because they didn’t stop waiting.

The train is still pending. Will you wait?