Traveling on the train for about ten hours could be a quite boring for many people. But for me, it’s the only way to stop myself from being busy or rushing around doing things. The train journey forced me to be still and take time off to do nothing. So, I learned to accept what’s happening in front of me and let go of my need to think or plan all the time. I assigned myself to rest my mind and practice mindfulness as much as possible during my train journey.
The diversion of different sceneries along the way helped me to let go of my anxiety and worries about unfinished tasks and my failure to achieve my goals. Life has been quite a challenge and uncertainty of the future added to the complication. My mind couldn’t cope with so many uncontrollable variables so I tended to get stressed and to procrastinate about making decision. The long train journey gave me the chance to reflect on what had passed during the past weeks.
The sceneries of the countryside and various towns helped to center me in immediate reality. I slowly got connected to the realities of the lives of other passengers on the train; they also had their own worries and problems too. But they all had to soldier on with the difficulties of survival everyday. We had share experience of daily travails and anxieties. Yet we all tried to enjoy precious moments while we could. So, I just let go of my thoughts and let them drifting along the railway tracks.
The scenery started to become greener and wilder as we traveled for three hours. The distance between towns and railway stations became further away. The countryside began to open up and let us get a glimpse of how nature would have been like some twenty years ago. Some remaining big old trees indicated that these areas must have been dense forests in the old days. People had caused a lot of deforestation so that new towns or villages could be established and agricultural land holdings could be allocated.
What could we do? The drive for survival has always been very strong and demanding. The old tradition of living harmoniously with nature has been transformed into making profits from the land and nature. The respect for the spirits of the land had been replaced with concepts of material progress and modernisation. The problems of pollution and degradation of environment including the disappearance of protected species of animals have become prevalent. Deforestation destroyed watersheds so many villages suffered from sudden flooding during rainstorms; excessive rainfall also flooded big cities very often. Nature was telling us about karmic consequences of irresponsible actions and decisions by some individuals.
In the end, nature will win as trees would grow from seeds and propagate in abandoned areas. Forests would return and replace abandoned temples, buildings and villages. So, I enjoyed seeing more wild and abandon areas along the railway tracks. I knew that through time nature would turn the areas into woods and forests one day. There’s so much empty space in the countryside which wound never be cost-effective for development projects. No one would want to live in such places far away from all amenities, convenience and transportation. Things would find their own equilibrium through time. Humans could never control nature permanently, the power of Mother Nature is imperceptibly powerful.
The green colours of plants and trees complemented nicely with the blue colour of the sky and white clouds. Together they cheered my spirit up tremendously. The new railway track ran along a bridge which crossed over the reservoir of the dam. This area looked very beautiful with large expanse of water and infinite horizon. Sometimes I could spot migrating birds fishing along the shore. Villagers living in this neighbourhood could go fishing at the reservoir every day for their families. It’s good to live near water source just in case the pipe water broke down. This made me realized I needed to have a borehole for underground water in my garden in the near future. My brain still worked on future plans and things to be done around the garden.
The beautiful and simple scenery of nature gave me more energy and helped to heal my exhausted mind. I would sometimes take a nap after my lunch. The internet connection was not always available during the journey. So, I could hardly do any blogging on the train. Taking photos was also tricky as the train moved too fast for my mobile phone to take focused photos. I tried to click whenever the train slowed down for some reasons. These old trains had not been properly maintained, the glass windows were always very cloudy and dusty.
I was glad when the train got nearer to my destination. Most passengers got off the train at Khon Kaen and Udon provinces. The urbanisation of big cities in the northeastern provinces has been too fast for my liking. More immigrants would be settling down in these areas as the fast train project from China through Laos and Thailand would be implemented in a few years’ time. But the future is full of uncertainty and unexpected changes, the whole project might not proceed according to plan as geopolitical situation could become dangerous. The global financial situation could deteriorate so fast that financial viability of this costly project could derail the project altogether.
So, the train journey has given me some restful moments and more awakening about future uncertainty. However, nature has taught me to relax and not to get worked up by passing thoughts and imagination. Living in the present and being mindful of practical aspects of reality have centered my fuzzy mind. Looking around the train, I realised that we were all in the same boat (or train) but most of these people had no inkling of what might transpire in the near future. At least I had given warning to all my friends about the likelihood of financial turmoil this year. I warned them not to invest in any projects which would take two years for the return on investment.
Most friends knew very little about cryptocurrency so I tike them to buy some gold bars. But it’s very difficult to prepare for the possibility of a nuclear incident and its repercussions on our lives. Most people just laughed at my conjecture( only a well educated and elderly local judge agreed with me that this could take place. I hope and pray that some mitigating factors would prevent the situation from escalating out of control. We all should do some praying and meditation for world peace.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.