Life, Brothers and Trains

As I'm a survivor of fracternal twins, I spend my early teenage years longing for my long lost brother. I even composed a fictional story of a brother and sister relationship for one of my school projects, though it was not chosen as it would have been too emotional my classmates commented. It's substance lies more in the emotions within. Anyway, cut story short, this longing within led to godbrothers being a taboo thing for me. Having put all that behind me, now I find myself collecting brotherly -like friends again! What am I doing?? :S *Sigh, sometimes I wonder whether I will ever learn.... but they really are friends with whom I enjoy company with, nothing more.

Lately, I noticed a noticeable change in one of my 'brothers'. In a way, I'm very concerned for his mental and emotional well-being. His heart has run away with him. It's funny, how the image of myself, sitting at the main train station in Perth City came to my mind at this point.

I remember enjoying and spending a lot of time during my 4 weeks in Perth in Oct. 2006, catching trains. One train came, one train left. And each time one train left the station, I found myself looking at the empty tracks left behind and that sense of emptiness, of loss, of something that left, somehow made an impression on me. Then, I seem to have felt his....emptiness. Just like how it was then. Hhmm.... LIFE! Life is like sitting in the train station??? There are many journeys to take. Each train takes you on a certain journey. On each train, you will meet people. There are many points where the tracks cross one another and meet again at another station. Hmm... an interesting view point of life.

Then I thought of my this 'brother' again. If he continued looking at the empty tracks, he might become mesmerized by them and may never move from that station. In short, become stagnated. But, there;s always HOPE..right? I remember looking at the train schedules displayed on the digital board every now and then. So, if we do look in the right direction, THERE IS ALWAYS A DIRECTION....another train will surely arrive. And when that train arrives, are we Ready? Courageous? Daring? Bold?... to take that step, to alight that train, leave the train station and go another journey, meet other people? Sometimes, we may have to journey alone, that's when it's the hardest. But sometimes, God gives us friends or someone special to journey with us for a moment, season or a lifetime. Or are we going to just wait at the station hoping for that last train that she alighted to return, hopefully again with her. Risky!!!!! I know that we cannot stay, stagnated. We have to move on, we have to change, we have to grow.

We need to move on. We need to make decisions, choices and take new journeys. On each train, you learn and experience new things. Some good, some bad. You have emotions. You have impressions. You have experiences. But that's life, right?

In Perth, I travelled north, south, east and west. I met wonderful people, I tasted glorious food, I was fortunate to be at the Swan Bells when they were chimming as part of a world commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar Square, I met aborigines blowing their (sorry forgot the word), I tasted wine at the vineyards, I ate free chocolates at the chocolate factory, I visited parks, had barbeques with friends, went shopping, visited a mint factory, had tea in a cafe on the Swan River, I visited the University I wanted to go to then and so, so much more. In short.......there's a whole lot of living out there. Why sit at that train station, all alone? There's so many people out there who want to be loved....give them a chance too.

Life is so short and should be lived and enjoyed. Work is inevitable, of course but I certainly want to live a full life. Today, my heart stopped for a moment and my eyes filled with tears as I remember a dear family friend whose heart stopped beating today at 3.20 pm. There is a silence, a void.............like the empty tracks, only this time the train that left the station made its last journey home!

Here's a song to Uncle Han Eng! Eternal rest grant unto you..may you rest in peace.

When I Get There by Anthony Callea

I wish that I could breathe
A moment just to be here
A chance to take it in
Before I have to leave

So this is how it feels
To walk into a daydream
Can't tell you how my heart sings
To see it all for real

When you do, what you love, it feels amazing
If you do what you love, you can do anything at all

I always said when I get there
I'll change the world, I'll take more care
I'll touch the sky, be more prepared
When I get there

The road rolls on and on
It twists a while and then returns
Where here turns onto there's long gone
Before we notice

When you do, what you love, it feels amazing
If you do what you love, you can do anything at all

I always said when I get there
I'll change the world, I'll take more care
I'll touch the sky, be more prepared

I packed my bags
I left my room
There's nothing more that I can think to do
Now I need to breathe
I just need to breathe

I always said (Oh yeah, yeah, yeah)when I get there
I'll change the world, (Oh wow)I'll take more care
I'll touch the sky I’ll we do (I’ll touch the sky)

I always said when I get there
I'll change the world, I'll take more care
I'll touch the sky, be more prepared (Yeah yeah)
When I get there