“Being dissatisfied isn’t enough—you need the courage to take the leap, to accept the risk of failing. I kept picturing the man at the station, fixated on the loudspeaker’s repeated warning to “Stand back from the yellow line.” Those words, so simple and practical, struck me as symbolic of the endless fears that keep us stuck, all the times we stay on the platform while the trains of life pass us by.
I imagined him there, motionless, eyes glued to the tracks. Maybe at first, he’d ventured near the line, tempted by the idea of boarding a train. Then the metallic voice—“Stand back from the yellow line”—had held him back. To avoid danger, he’d decided to stay put, obeying an order that felt bigger than he was. And so, even as trains went by—slow or fast, heading for exotic places or unfulfilled dreams—he never budged. He watched them pass with equal parts curiosity and regret, continuing to obey that warning meant for moving trains, not for him.”