Two Great Attributes of Life

Have you ever re-read a favorite book and a line from it seems to pop out and grab you? That just happened to me. I'm reading Atlas Shrugged again. The classic written by Ayn Rand. If you've never read it before, it is will worth your time reading it. There is a link to where you can find it on Amazon below.

Funny thing is, the line was nothing that ever caught my attention before but it floored me when I read it tonight. I've just a little ways into the 2nd part of the book and tonight I read this line:

"A train has the two great attributes of life, she thought, motion and purpose...."

How brilliant is that?! Think about it. A train with motion and without a purpose, such as a train with empty cars, is just a waste. Burning fuel while moving nothing along the tracks, just being in the way of anything useful coming down the tracks. Then a train with a purpose and without motion, such as a train with loaded cars but a broken engine is also a waste. Full of useful items unable to get where they are needed.

Motion and purpose are really the two great attributes of life. Your personal life, your professional life, just life in general. Many of us are nothing more than "empty trains" running down the track at full speed. Also many of us are "loaded trains" full of potential, yet not getting anywhere.

This newly discovered passage in a favorite book seems to have hit me at the right time. As I'm a few days into my personal challenge to blog daily to find some motivation to get a few things moving in a better direction; I see I'm a "loaded train" lacking motion.

Starting to think it's time to switch tracks.