This morning I'm running really late. I got out of the house, and booked it to my train station, then actually ran (in dress shoes, fun!) to try to make the platform before the train left.
No dice. It literally pulled away as I got up to it, slapping the doors helplessly to try to get them to let me in.
So, I waited in the cold, freezing rain. Did I mention I also forgot my gloves today? Yay!
After the next train came, I boarded quickly, heading for an upstairs seat, and got warm.
When we got to my stop, I disembarked, and tried to move out of the station, which is an outdoor one, as quickly as possible. A really large guy with a very awkward bag was moving slowly, and obliviously, and blocking the narrow pathway I was anxiously trying to sprint down.
I ducked around him on the far side, and walked quickly to the station entrance, and out from under the covered roof into the rain itself. Ahead of me, on the sidewalk, was another really big guy, with an even larger rolling suitcase in one hand, and an umbrella in the other.
Now I'm 6'2", which means I'm at eye-height to the pointy end-caps of most umbrella spokes. So I was super careful to work my way around this guy and not get an ocular stabbing. At first, I was really annoyed. After all, I'm already late.
Then I had this moment of satori, that experience of awareness that there's no seperate me from anyone else, and we all together, are one. And I also saw that these two guys moved slowly because that's what they physically had in the tank. For whatever reason, whether it be age, infirmity, ill health, lack of fitness, whatever, that rate of speed was all they had to give. They weren't intentionally blocking my way. They were just doing their own level best to get on their way in a cold, wet, gray, kind of disgusting morning, just like me. I felt like a heel for being selfish about their being in my way. What hubris!
I'm in reasonably good shape. I could certainly be thinner. It's actually something I'm actively working on again. But I've got excellent mobility. I sprinted to the platform earlier this morning. I can move fast when I need to. I'm fairly limber. My mobility is a fantastic gift. I'm grateful I've got it, and grateful I can appreciate it.