Dear Joshua
So I'm on the second book (the going is good) where you talk about trains that jump tracks (how that can be uncomfortable but ultimately rewarding), and knowing what we want and then living our truth, etc – you know, after all, you and Gary wrote it…..
My ex colleague jumped tracks. I'm having dinner with her this week where I will get a bit of info on what she is up to. She left her job here (following something resembling a breakdown), with a check (money – i.e. security), left her husband (I never saw that one coming at all), moved from a big swanky apartment to a small studio, found a new boyfriend (easily – men fall at her feet, she has what I like to call "a thoroughbred" natural stature), went back to school etc and while the first year or two (and maybe even now) were not emotionally easy for her, there must have been relief. I sort of envy her her courage for what she did (although she says she had no choice), but also the blank page she has now, where I'm sure she will fall on her feet. I see her falling on her feet and sometimes wish I had that courage. But to do what, go where….
And that would be one of the reasons I stay where I am (also, you said no big changes right now), but I can see why people would make dramatic moves while doing this work. Is that because we aren't living our truths? Or is it because for this period we feel empowered and supported? I was about ready to jump ship this week, but I wouldn't know what to do once in the water.
Kate
Dear Kate,
We love the analogy of a locomotive jumping tracks because it is easy for everyone to imagine. In your mind you can picture a large black steam engine pulling several cars behind it. The poor old steam engine wants to go in one direction, but the tracks are heading in another direction. As the steam engine resists the direction it's being taken, it pushes up against the side of the rails. Ultimately, the locomotive will either stop its resistance and allow itself to go wherever the tracks take it or it will jump the tracks.
Our analogy is simple. The tracks are already taking you where you want to go. It's just that you think that they are not leading you in the right direction. The locomotive has a very limited perspective. It cannot see very far down the tracks. It believes that another direction would be better, but it cannot know. The train is making up a story, not realizing that everything it wants is right out in front of it.
We also like another train analogy we've used in the past. If the train is not happy with the direction it's going, it would not want to encounter a sharp left turn. The train has built up a lot of momentum and if the turn came too abruptly, it would jump off the tracks. The train knows that a slight adjustment to its course is far better. When the tracks ahead are moved just a little, the momentum carrying the train along will easily absorb the minute course corrections.
Some people resist their course in life and after a while the resistance becomes intolerable and they create a crisis which forces them to alter their course and then drop their resistance. This is unconscious creation. While certainly their life may be different and even more interesting, it is a crisis and it is harder than necessary. If your friend had consciously made choices and minute corrections all along the way, she would not have jumped ship. She created the crisis because she was so resistant that something had to happen.
She manifested a loss of job, a loss of her marriage, a loss of her standard of living and maybe a few other things. It could just have easily been the creation of a disease or some other unwanted condition. When you are unaware of your focus of attention and you ignore your guidance system over a prolonged period of time, events will pop up that cause disruption. You can learn to swim by jumping off the ship, but it might be more pleasant to start in the shallow end with an inflatable raft.
Joshua
