At a PhD graduation that I recently attended, I was struck by a story that was delivered in a speech. (Source unknown)

Instead of my usual format of sticking with one theme and expounding, I thought it best to let you decide what you are taking away from the story. I will offer several possibilities of things to think about depending upon the way in which the story resonates for you.

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Many years ago before there were gates and signals at railroad crossings, there was a man stationed in a booth who monitored the trains and watched out for the approaching cars.

One day he noticed the lights of a train from a distance that would pass through the crossing where he was stationed. When he looked again, he noticed a car's headlights approaching the intersection and realized that there was impending danger of an accident.

He immediately grabbed his lanterns and ran towards the approaching car to signal that it should stop before it reached the train tracks.

As he got closer to the intersection, he realized that the driver didn't notice him as the car's speed remained constant. In a panic, he began swinging the lanterns faster and more furiously hoping to alert the driver of the impending train.

Unfortunately, the driver never saw the lanterns and was killed on the railroad tracks as the train struck the car.

The family of the driver decided to sue the railroad company for negligence and failure to set up sufficient signals.

The trial began and the man monitoring the booth became the star witness - and only witness. He was called to the stand to testify.

On the stand, he explained how he noticed the impending danger and immediately left his post to warn the driver by shining the lanterns. When he realized that the driver wasn't responding, he reported how he began to swing the lanterns faster and more furiously.

The jury found the railroad company not liable for the driver's death.

After the trial, the representatives from the railroad spoke with the man to thank him profusely for his testimony - as it clearly allowed the jury to return a not guilty verdict in favor of the railroad.

The man then admitted that in fact, he was feeling very guilty. They couldn't understand why when his testimony was so accurate and helpful.

He said "I don't know what I would have done if they had asked me one other question." Curious, they asked him, "What question?" He said "They never asked me if the lantern lights were turned on."


INVITATION TO EXPERIMENT
Choose as few or as many of the following possible 'morals of the story' and think about how it affects your life.

1 - Things are not always what they seem to be. We might believe that we are moving in a direction by thinking and doing but actually not really accomplishing. We aren't really present and in the moment. It's as if we are operating without OUR lights on.

2 - We are so adept at making assumptions that we forget to get curious and interested in what someone else is saying because we think we already know. It's possible that when we want to know something, we may not be asking the 'right' questions that could get us closer to what is most important.

3 - At times we believe we are doing our best, but it's possible that we could be doing even better. It can even be our inner voice praising ourselves for doing well. Keep in mind, it's the same inner voice that often criticizes us. No matter how we look at it, the inner voice is only our ego (thoughts and beliefs) and not our true Self.

4 - What is NOT said is sometimes far more important than what is actually said. Typically, there is important information to be learned from the unspoken words underneath or between our speech.

5 - We all make mistakes and some of them are costly. However, if our intentions are pure and there is a negative outcome, we can feel badly about the outcome but not necessarily about our part. We can't change the past and what we did, if at the time, we believed we were acting in good conscience.

If you feel inclined, please let me know if you decide to go ahead and try this experiment. I anxiously await hearing about your experiences. Your feedback and comments have been most welcomed:-) Keep them coming!!

Very best regards,


marion@lifecoachinggroup.com
(c) 2004-09. All rights reserved. Marion Franklin, www.lifecoachinggroup.com
Comments? Feedback? lllfeedback@lifecoachinggroup.com

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