TICKETS, BUSES AND THE SEED OF HOPE
Taking an alternative route to my bus
stop after meeting a friend, I wandered through backstreets with rustic
balconies, covered in trailing spring flowers just starting to bloom, then on, past
recently renovated apartments with intrinsically ornate features in pale-yellow
contrasting against the electric blue sky. This rarely-used side street offered
an interesting discovery; for the first time I spotted a dance studio that I
had never noticed before. The studio fitted in perfectly with its surroundings
and, had I been in a rush, I probably would have missed it yet again. Here was
a community in the midst of flats; a seed now growing its roots.
The ticket stamp machine on my local bus
beeps for my attention once I board. Once on the move, the scenery quickly
changes. Fields of lush vegetation flash by, the mountains of the border with
Liguria visible through a haze in the distance. Then the bus moves into increasingly
more populated areas, people milling around, cafes greeting the breakfast buzz,
grocer’s shops proudly showing of their produce, bikes and scooters criss-crossing
though the heaving traffic. As it weaves around the town, passengers with varying levels of baggage get on and off the bus. This particular snakelike monster is single-storey and articulated; the type Londoners nicknamed the ‘bendy’ bus. All
the people on the bus have their own individual reason for using their ticket,
for taking that journey, no matter their background and opportunities received.
A sprightly older lady strikes up an animated conversation with two college
students she clearly knows and asks them how their studies are going. They get
onto the topic of their futures. One is very determined and wants to become a
teacher, whereas the other remains silent, a bit despondent. The lady,
undeterred encourages them saying, “What are the things you really enjoy,
that make you feel good?” The student responds “drawing and running”.
“And which are you really passionate about?” “Running, I am a
fast-track runner. I train with a team and by myself quite a few times a week”
they respond with a warm smile of someone who had just been freed to discover
their capabilities. The seed was sown.
How many times have you felt not up to
the challenge? You got on the bus, tried to use your ticket but then instead of
validating it and getting to the next stop you needed, you abruptly decided to
hit the stop button and jump off. It wasn’t that you weren’t up to doing the
things asked, but maybe you saw the size of the task ahead and instead of
breaking it down into manageable steps, you jumped to how you felt the end
product should look like or someone doubted your ability to finish, and you
couldn’t get off fast enough when those doors flung open. You were so close, but
now you have to wait for the next bus and try again. The preacher Sarah Jakes
Robert was talking about how God presents things to people when she said “I
didn’t give [a gift] to you in the form that it is going to end up in. I gave
it to you in the form that would grow you up [sic] into the person who could
raise it into everything that it could be”.
Whatever you believe and however things
have shaped how you have grown up, step away from your situation for a moment
and imagine what your best friend or someone who knows you very well would say
about your potential ability to get to where you want to go and how you might
acquire the magic ticket to get there. Would they really say the things that
your inner anxieties or those who doubt you are telling you about what you
might have to offer? ‘There are so many people who are better than you to do
this thing, so why continue and end up failing?’ Replace these negative
ideas with those of your friends, family and or those who care: “you can
dream big, you do have the talents that you have been developing, you are going
to make it, you are making a difference, what you are doing and preparing for,
counts. It will work”.
As my physiotherapist and trainer said
when I was looking at different goals, “you’re looking at the oak tree
already, go from the seed and give it roots”. You have the tickets to take a
journey, you just need to choose one route and validate that choice, even if it
turns out to be the wrong way for you, you can always get off and jump on
another bus. So, surround yourself with people who will help to build you up,
and if you don’t have anyone near you who understands your goals and ideas,
don’t let that discourage you. Know your worth and cultivate an attitude of
productivity that isn’t based just on how you feel that day, but rather on the
talent you are shaping and you can still work that day, no matter how you feel
or the reaction from those around you. You will make it and it’s time to get
your ticket, jump on the bus and stay on to the next stop, and then the next one,
and the next, validate your chosen ticket, ready to meet the next turn in the
road.
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