ESCALATOR EPIPHANY

Yesterday, when I got off the train, I was swept up in the usual crowd of drones ambling toward the stairs that would lead us back to our home lives.  For anybody who has ever got off a train, at rush hour, at one of the most popular stops, you know that sometimes it takes longer to get up the bloody stairs and out of the station than it does to ride the train from down town to Crowfoot.

 

This is why, when I spotted that the escalator that is usually always rotating downward, was stationary, I thought to myself, "Score! I'm hauling my ass up that way."  Well, about one third of the way up............the escalator started moving...........downward. 

 

 I instantly felt like a moron, but figured, if I can....just......lunge.....upward........

 

A handsome man, all classy and businessy, looked at me with a great big smile on his face, laughing, in a nice, friendly way. 

 

"It wasn't moving when I got on!" I cried, "I figured I could be smart and beat the crowd." I said as I continued trying to lunge my way up. 

 

He laughed and replied, "Oh I think you just like it for the exercise."  I have to admit, it was actually pretty good exercise.

 

For a brief moment I thought about turning around and riding the stairs down. I'd feel like a total loser, and have to sheepishly make my way up the stone stairwell I had so cleverly attempted to avoid and....NO!

 

I told myself within a nano-second, "I CAN DO THIS!"  So I lunged harder, skirt practically up around my hips, and made it to the top, lungs burning, cheeks red from exertion or embarrassment, probably both, and exited the station, not sure at all that I had made it up any faster than the people on the "normal" staircase.

 

My heart was pounding as I walked across the ramp to the parking lot. "Now where the F&^$ is my truck? "

 

I wandered in a circle like a lost dog for about 30 seconds before I remembered that I had been late that morning and had to park, not in my usual spot but two rows over. "Ah, there it is."

 

I started the truck, pulled out of the parking lot and made my way onto the highway. 

 

As I merged, I flipped through radio stations.......Spanish (Hmm makes me want guacamole and an ice-cold beer), fundraising for the Children's Hospital (note to self, perhaps ask boss to make a donation), Christian "I Love Jesus" music (pass), Classical (nope would put me to sleep)..........Europe singing "The Final Countdown" OMG YES!!!  Don't ask me why but I LOVE this song, and consider it to be one of the greatest 80s songs EVER.  I turned it up and began badly singing along, flashing back to life in our trailer, wearing acid wash jeans and jelly shoes, eating brown beans and Tater Tots and watching Fragile Rock.........peace.

 

The song ended and suddenly I noticed that the road ahead of me was wide open. THAT NEVER HAPPENS!! 

 

Lately on the drive home I have been trying to keep my road rage at bay, despite being constantly trapped in traffic and stuck behind ignorant drivers who do not get at all that YOU KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS!! PASS, not maintain the same speed as the vehicle to the right of you so that nobody else can pass you and instead has to stare at those stupid "I have three kids and five dogs" stickers.

 

Anyway, the road ahead of me and way ahead of me was completely void of traffic....."The Path is Clear." I thought to myself.

 

And then it happened........I started giggle-crying. Like suddenly the past 10 minutes of my commute hit me like a giant, frickin' metaphor.  Something for me broke open and here is what I think my brain rapidly assimilated from what had just happened.

 

Struggling up the escalator, I had a fleeting moment of wanting to quit, but I didn't, and I made it to the top, just fine.   As I mentioned in my last post, I am tormented by my "Inner Lizard" the voice of constant pending doom. However, my escalator epiphany was that sure, things may get tough, there may be uphill battles but you won't know until you're in the middle of that battle whether you will quit and back-down, or push harder, and fight stronger to make your way out. 

 

It is not until you are right there, in the middle of an escalator with a choice to go up or down that you will truly know what you are made of and what you can do, and nor do you have to know, right now.

 

Looking for my truck in the parking lot, I realized that it is when we expect things to stay the same that we become lost. When we plod along thinking that life will not/has not changed, we can lose of sight of the fact that it will and has.

 

Listening to the Final Countdown, felt like a message from the stars saying "This is it girl, this is your final countdown to letting go, to finding a new way of looking at life and the attitude you have towards it." Blast off in Five, Four, Three, Two..........

 

And then the clear path......... In that moment I felt like the entire Universe was saying, "THE WAY is CLEAR." and not in a, "You will from this moment forth be blessed with not a single struggle or obstacle in your life," kind of way, but in a "You see you clouded fool? You see now?" kind of "Aha" way.

 

I imagine by now that either what I'm saying has rung true for you and you know what I'm getting at or you are currently dialing Adult Protective Services and giving them my address.  Rambling on about escalators, lost trucks and traffic? Right, totally sounds like universal enlightenment. PREPARE THE PADDED ROOM, WE'VE GOT ANOTHER WORKING-MOM WHO'S GONE OFF THE DEEP END! PUT HER RIGHT NEXT TO THE LADY WHO SAW JESUS IN HER GRILLED CHEESE!"

 

There is a passage in Eckhart Tolle's book "The Power of Now" where he talks about how you can't deal with the future because it doesn't exist, and that's okay. The answer, the strength, the resource you need to overcome any obstacle, will only be there in the exact moment you need it to, not before and not after.  I have this passage, highlighted, corner folded, circled, starred, underlined and stained with red wine but it wasn't until I was half way up an escalator, that was pulling me down, and I had the sudden realization that I COULD go up, that I really got it.

 

 

You will know what you can do and what you have to do only in the moment you have to do it.

 

Release your expectations for how you think things should be.

 

Find a place of peace and recall all the good things that have transpired in your life, big or small.

 

Know this, and........the way will be clear.

 

Who knew an incredibly embarrassing episode on an escalator could be so enlightening? Maybe tomorrow I'll discover a prophecy in my muffin crumbs.