I stood on the bridge and looked at the rail yard below. I like watching trains being sorted and shunted along the tracks leading to Munich's central station. In my first months in the city, I took endless pictures of tracks crossing, splitting, and joining. Tracks arriving from somewhere, leading elsewhere. But over the years, I became too busy to pause and watch the trains. As I studied the maze of tracks, I realized that the rail yard mirrored the shape of my struggles over the past months. Tough decisions are like track crossings. If a crossing has switches, it is a real decision—with just a slight adjustment, a train can glide safely and almost effortlessly onto either track. Otherwise, the decision is not a real choice. Any attempt to change tracks will inevitably cause a train to derail. The only safe way forward is to stay on it. After weeks of obsessing over how to shape the next years of my life, that thought gave me peace of mind.
A crossing with switches—the choice is real
Add new comment