My days go by so quick that before I know it another month has gone by. I think this happens for a lot of people and more so the older you get. I wake up early Monday morning and off I go, before I know it here comes Friday. Saturday and Sunday seem to be a blur. This keeps up day after day, week after week, before I know it, years are passing, and quickly. I can’t believe how old I have gotten in such a short span of time…
What I described above is my one track in life. The track of everyday life, the job, the family, the hobbies, the visiting, the food, the play, the fun the friendship’s, all make up what is part of my main track in life. This is great and exciting but time will just pass quickly, kids get older, parents get older and before I know it, I am much older. And what have I really done? I know many things mentioned on track one are important and worthwhile but is that all there is to life?
No, I have a 2nd track, track 2. This track needs to keep going at the same time, like two trains can ride at the same time and parallel on 2 tracks, my life runs on two tracks. This second track is where I make time for myself, my goals, my aspirations. My place to really figure out if my main track is on course. I find it so important to have this second track going, without it, we just go with the flow and figure out things as we go, haphazardly running into situations out of our control.
Having the second track allows me time for myself, time to meditate, time to focus on exercise, time to set goals, time to try things and build things that I can then add to my main track in life.
An example would be self improvement. Self improvement takes time and needs to be continually worked on at the same time that track one is wheeling through life and everyday flying by without too much thought. Investment in track 2 items is always worthwhile in the long term but if I am not careful these investments can get put on hold for way too long and be forgotten about if I’m not careful. To help explain the concept, I look at training someone at work as an example. It takes time to train someone to learn a skill or handle a part of my job. I will have to slow down my productivity in order to train this person, but in the long run it will be time well spent. In a few months I will have someone who can handle the job like I did and free up my time for more important tasks. But doing this training is time consuming and tough to do. This is a track 2 item. Keep track one going but always have track 2 chugging along, in this example, keep training people to help you. This will pay off in the long run but maintaining it will be an extra challenge for a while.
Keep track 2 always moving, exercise can be a track two item, it isn’t urgent to do everyday but unless it is going on track two along with all the regular day to day things, you will never find time for it. Once this track two item get’s to be second nature it will make it to track one and become part of the normal day to day. But then add other items. Learn something new, challenge yourself, learn a language, start helping others, always add things to track two. In baseball this is your bullpen, the place to warm up and have a backup ready to go.
Lastly I look at track two as a place to ponder track one. Is track one on the right course? What if I did this instead? What if I read some books in a certain area to view things a bit different? Will this help me decide and change track one? Taking time to ponder and really think out the direction your life (track one) is heading is crucial.
So I will add more to track two and continually keep things moving ahead on that track, even if it is slow, it is important to keep it moving and full of challenges, lessons, improvements and possibilities.