The Journey

So cliche yet so true; life is a journey, with one final destination.

This post might be a bit confusing (or even irrelevant at some point huhu)

I was on a tube journey to Blackhorse Road station, located 7 stops away from Warren Street. While heading to that second last station on the northbound Victoria line, I saw less and less people stayed in the train towards the end of my journey.

Like the journey of life; not many people would be able to make it to the final stop. Some people went astray in the middle of the journey. Yet, there are people who were initially lost but was able to find their way although it was so close towards the end of the line. Would it matter at which stop do they come in? No, the only thing that matters is if they got to reach the final destination. I've always told myself not to judge people on who they are now, as you will never know who they are going to be in the future,

plus, I don't even know who and where I am going to be in the future, so who am I to judge in the first place? 

And I don't want myself to be judged, at least, not until I reach the destination I am heading to.

*            *            *

I was on a dry run (or should I say trial run?) to our examination hall with my roommate one morning. We departed from Warren Street station at 8.06 in the morning. We later had to change to the Jubilee line at Green Park station, making our way to the next stop to change to board the DLR at Canning Town station. While on our way to Canning Town, a lot of people came in and went out of the carriage I am in, throughout the whole journey. However, at the Bermondsey station, nobody came in nor went out. I guess it was the case because there is no other tube line connected to Bermondsey, it is solely lying on the Jubilee line on its own. On the other hand, a lot of people got down the tube at Canary Wharf station, which is also connected to the DLR line; making my tube carriage almost half empty.

Different people are on different paths of life. Along that one path that they choose, there are a lot of stops which I would refer to as the different phases of life, accompanied by a huge amount of temptations. A few seconds before the train stop at any station, an announcement will be made:

"Please keep all your personal belongings with you at all times."

Anyone would usually have a clear vision of where they are heading to, nobody would board on a journey without having any idea where they want to go (tube fares are expensive jangan bazir duit please). When that announcement was made at each stop, the word 'belonging' caught my attention.

'If each stop is meant to be temptation at each point of our life, then please keep your belonging with you. At. All. Times.'

Knowing where you belong, knowing where your life principle lies, knowing where is your final destination you're heading to, knowing your life goals; keep those belongings with you at all times. Because that's the only way to keep you on the right track. To be clear of what you want at the end of the day. Nobody went down at Bermondsey (at least from my carriage) because there wasn't any alternatives; there wasn't any other path you can choose to go. No temptations; so everyone managed to stay put. I still remember being tempted to go down at the Canary Wharf station just because a lot of people went out and it is connected to the DLR as well, though I already had a plan of my own journey in mind.

"Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it
Right is right, even if no one is doing it"

A voice is telling me: Hold fast to your stance, if you truly have faith in it, even when you feel like the world is against you. Resisting temptations is never an easy thing, and that is one of my biggest life problems that I have always been dying to deal with (well I can't even cope with my food temptation properly, so what do you expect...)

"If I had to run
If I had to crawl
If I had to swim a hundred rivers
Just to climb a thousand walls
Always know that I would find a way
To get to where You are
There's no place that far..." 

This journey is long; yet sometimes the train still stopped too long in the middle of the way, under the ground, and all I can see is just the dark wall of the tunnel through the window next to me. I can just give up and get off at the next stop, if it's a bit too much for me to take and go for other means of reaching my final destination instead. But I made up my mind; in the state of being well informed that the adventure I was about to embark on is indeed, very, very long, and bumpy. I promise myself I would try to make it to the final stop. Because I am not one of those people who would get off a journey just because they tried but things didn't work out, but I'll try hard to learn how to do it right and work things out, though very slowly, and I hope you would want to be in it with me too. Above all, I can just pray that He will grant me the patience and strength I desperately (and endlessly) need to endure this long journey that He has decided to settle me in, if that is all what it takes to get to a place I have always truly believed in.

I will keep my promise, and you can keep my word.
For sure, we don't know what tomorrow holds,
But we know, who holds tomorrow.

And I hope when the ultimate end of all the tomorrows comes, when we have finally arrived at our final stop, I can once and for all say:

I remember when I first met you
I felt that God answered my call
There was that one place I always thought about
And I just wanted to be there with you
The place that no eye has ever seen
The place that no heart has ever perceived
I had a great feeling inside of me
That one day I’ll be there with you

And now that we’re here feeling so good
About all the things that we went through
Knowing that God is pleased with us too
It’s not a dream, this is so true
Feeling the peace all around
Seeing things we could never imagine
Hearing the sound of rivers flow
And we know we’ll be here forever
The feeling is indescribable
Knowing that this is our reward

Do you remember the hard times we went through?
And those days we used to argue
But there was not one thing that could bring us down
‘Cause we always had in our minds
The place that no eye has ever seen
The place that no heart has ever perceived
The place we’ve been promised to live in forever
And best of all, it’s just me and you

I remember us praying at night
And just dreaming about this together
I’m so blessed to have you in my life
And now we can enjoy these blessings forever
Paradise is where we are now
Paradise, a dream come true
Paradise, O what a feeling!
Paradise, thank You Allah!


But before we reach there, the road ahead is not easy. I know, I know. I'll wait, I'll wait.


[Lyrics quoted from: 'No Place That Far' by Sara Evans (1998) later recorded by Westlife (2000) and 'Paradise' by Maher Zain]