Imagine standing at a bus stop.
You look down the road. You check your watch. You wait. Minutes pass. Then hours. Maybe even years.
The strange thing is that you are not waiting for a bus.
You are waiting for a train.
Of course, that sounds ridiculous. Everyone knows that trains do not stop at bus stops. If you want a train, you must go to the train station.
Yet many of us spend a large part of our lives doing exactly this.
We wait for change while staying in the same place.
We wait for confidence before taking the first step.
We wait for motivation before starting.
We wait for success before learning new skills.
We wait for happiness before making different choices.
And while we wait, nothing changes.
The bus stop is our comfort zone.
It is familiar. It feels safe. We know the surroundings. We know the people standing beside us. We know exactly what to expect.
The train, however, represents something bigger.
It represents growth.
It represents the dream we talk about but never pursue.
It represents the healthier lifestyle, the new career, the book we want to write, the relationship we want to improve, or the person we hope to become.
We want the destination that the train can take us to, but we do not want to leave the bus stop.
The truth is simple.
The train will never arrive there.
Many people spend years waiting for the perfect moment.
They tell themselves:
“When life becomes less busy, I will start.”
“When I have more money, I will begin.”
“When I feel ready, I will take action.”
“When circumstances improve, I will change.”
But readiness is often a myth.
Most meaningful things in life begin before we feel prepared.
Nobody feels completely ready to become a parent.
Nobody feels completely ready to start a business.
Nobody feels completely ready to write their first book.
Nobody feels completely ready to make a major life change.
The people who move forward are not the people who have no fear.
They are the people who decide to leave the bus stop despite their fear.
One reason we stay there is because waiting feels safer than acting.
If we never try, we never fail.
If we never apply, we never get rejected.
If we never start, we never make mistakes.
From the safety of the bus stop, we can always tell ourselves that one day we will get moving.
But there is a hidden cost.
While we are protecting ourselves from failure, we are also preventing ourselves from growth.
Another reason people stay at the bus stop is because complaining feels easier than changing.
It is easy to talk about what is wrong.
It is easy to blame circumstances.
It is easy to focus on obstacles.
And sometimes those obstacles are real.
Life is not always fair.
But even when obstacles exist, action remains the only path forward.
A person who walks slowly toward the station is still closer than the person who stays at the bus stop talking about trains.
There is also comfort in predictable unhappiness.
That may sound strange, but it is true.
Many people stay in situations they dislike simply because those situations are familiar.
They know the disappointment.
They know the frustration.
They know the routine.
The unknown feels more frightening than the known.
Yet every meaningful change requires stepping into uncertainty.
No train journey begins by staying where you are.
At some point, you must leave the bench behind.
The encouraging news is that you do not need to reach the station in one giant leap.
You only need the first step.
Then another.
And another.
The person who writes one page is closer to finishing a book than the person who keeps talking about writing.
The person who takes a short walk is closer to better health than the person who keeps waiting for motivation.
The person who makes one difficult phone call is closer to solving a problem than the person who avoids it.
Progress rarely arrives as a dramatic breakthrough.
More often, it arrives disguised as small daily actions.
The train station is built one step at a time.
So if there is something in your life that you have been waiting for, ask yourself an honest question:
Am I waiting for a train at a bus stop?
Because if the answer is yes, maybe it is time to stop watching the horizon and start walking toward the station.
The train is not coming to where you are.
But your destination is still waiting for you.
GK
Georgi Kisyov – Reflections & Books 
I knew this was going to be good as soon as I read the opening paragraph. 🙂 You never disappoint Georgi!
This made me smile because I’ve caught myself doing exactly this. Sometimes I tell myself I’m “waiting on the Lord,” when if I’m being honest, I’m really just waiting at the bus stop because it’s comfortable there.
What stood out to me is that God usually doesn’t reveal the whole journey before asking us to move. Abraham didn’t get a detailed map. Peter didn’t get a five-year plan. They simply responded to the light they had, and God revealed the next step along the way.
I also like the reminder that progress rarely arrives with trumpets and fireworks. More often it looks like one prayer, one phone call, one page, one act of obedience at a time. As Zechariah 4:10 says, “For who hath despised the day of small things?” Sometimes the first step toward the station is all the faith God is asking for today.
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Thank you so much for this thoughtful reflection. I smiled when I read your honesty about “waiting on the Lord” versus waiting at the bus stop because it is such an easy place for all of us to find ourselves. Sometimes wisdom is knowing the difference between patient trust and comfortable hesitation. And your reference to Zechariah 4:10 is beautiful. We can be tempted to overlook the small steps because they seem insignificant, yet those are often the very steps that shape our future. Thank you for adding such wisdom and encouragement to the conversation, my friend.
GK
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nice piece. At the root is fear. Comfortable is easy, blame works but only you change you. The old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
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Thank you, my friend. I think you’ve touched on the heart of it—fear is often the real reason we stay where we are. It disguises itself as waiting, planning, or being cautious, but underneath it is often a fear of failure, uncertainty, or change. And I love the saying you shared. People can encourage us, support us, and point us in the right direction, but ultimately the decision to move forward belongs to us. As you said, only you can change you. Thank you for adding such a thoughtful perspective to the conversation.
GK
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“The people who move forward are not the people who have no fear.
They are the people who decide to leave the bus stop despite their fear.”
And
“While we are protecting ourselves from failure, we are also preventing ourselves from growth.”
AnAnd
“But readiness is often a myth.
Most meaningful things in life begin before we feel prepared.”
Very true. When I retired and the things I had waited to do were suddenly getting put aside for more unexpected things, it was clear there was never going to be a perfect time. Even in retirement, you don’t stop having responsibilities. Life doesn’t suddenly become worry free for everyone like it does for some. So I decided to keep on the path started and write when I can. Comp!ete the courses as I can. Maybe not the way or timing envisioned, but to do the next thing God had put in front of me and follow His lead. ~ Rosie
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Thank you, Rosie. I love your perspective because it highlights something so important: life does not pause its responsibilities simply because we reach a certain age or stage. There is rarely a season when everything is perfectly aligned and worry-free. If we wait for that moment, we may end up waiting forever.
I admire the way you chose to keep moving forward anyway—writing when you can, learning when you can, and trusting God with the timing. Sometimes progress is not about following the exact plan we imagined; it is about faithfully taking the next step that is in front of us. Thank you for sharing such a wise and encouraging reflection.
GK
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And I think this will be the first one of yours to add to the In Others’ Words page!
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Thank you so much. It means a lot. Be blessed, my friend.
GK
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And just re-posted under the In Others’ Words, and under that section as well as on Substack. Congrats! ~ Rosie
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Spot on! Love the analogy.
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Thank you so much, my friend! I’m glad the analogy resonated with you. Sometimes a simple image can say more than a long explanation, and I think we’ve all found ourselves waiting at the wrong stop at one point or another.
I appreciate your support and kind words. Wishing you a beautiful day filled with happiness, purpose, and a few steps toward something wonderful.
GK
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Thank you, once again!
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The bus stop isn’t a place of inactivity. Its intention without movement.
Most people aren’t doing nothing they’re researching, planning, waiting for certainty that never arrives.
Growth requires leaving the familiar system and accepting the discomfort of motion.
The line that stayed with me, “the train will never arrive there”.
The destination doesn’t move toward us. Thought provoking piece.
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Thank you for this thoughtful reflection.
I like your distinction: “The bus stop isn’t a place of inactivity. It’s intention without movement.” That is such an insightful way to put it. Many people are not standing still because they don’t care; they’re planning, researching, preparing, and waiting for certainty. The challenge is that certainty often never arrives.
And I think you’ve captured the message perfectly. There comes a point when preparation has done its job, and growth requires movement. It asks us to leave the familiar behind and trust that the next step will reveal the next.
Thank you for sharing such a meaningful perspective. I’m especially glad that line stayed with you. Sometimes the simplest truths are the hardest to ignore: the train will never arrive there.
GK
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thank you for the inspiration 🙏🏽
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You are very welcome. Thank you for your support. Have a beautiful evening.
Gk
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I overheard someone say feel the fear and do it anyway. At the time , I couldn’t understand what they were trying to say. The more I pondered , the thought, the more I realized that what they were saying is that fear can stop you from moving from progressing and you’re suddenly standing still as you said, at a bus stop waiting for a train. What is that saying, watch out for that first step…its the hurdle and once your out of the gate and no longer paralyzed by fear, the next step is easier and each consecutive step gets easier until your jogging then running full tilt boogy.
The train represents growth. Perhaps that’s been the stumbling block…it wasn’t perceived as growth nor as a challenge but as an overwhelming obstacle they didn’t put any faith in..it was a wide open endless canyon. Each baby steps half step quarter step is a step in the right direction and it dies get easier.
Hindsight will show victory and give back the power lost that caused the overwhelming fear. Just a thought reflection. Loved the analogy. Brilliant. Easy to understand easy to connect the dots. 😊
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I really enjoyed reading your perspective because it captures something important: fear itself is not always the problem. Often, it is what fear convinces us to do—or not do. As you beautifully said, when fear takes over, we can become stuck, standing still and waiting instead of moving forward.
I also love your image of the first step being the hurdle. So often the hardest part is not the journey itself but getting out of the gate. Once we take that first step, we begin to realize that the obstacle we imagined was often larger than the reality we face. Then one step becomes another, and before long we are moving with confidence we didn’t know we had.
And I think you’re right about growth. Sometimes we see change as an overwhelming canyon instead of a series of small, manageable steps. But growth rarely asks us to cross the entire canyon at once. It simply asks us to take the next step.
Thank you for your kind words about the analogy and for adding so much wisdom to the conversation. Your reflection is a wonderful reminder that courage is not the absence of fear—it’s moving forward despite it.
GK
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Some pieces move in a circle — the ending quietly answers the beginning.
That’s why this one feels like a palindrome day.
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What a beautiful observation.
I hadn’t thought about it that way, but I can see exactly what you mean. The piece begins with the question of waiting and ends by gently revealing the answer: the train was never meant to come to us—we were meant to move toward it.
I love your comparison to a palindrome day. Something is satisfying when the ending quietly echoes the beginning and brings the journey full circle. Thank you for reading so thoughtfully and for sharing such a unique perspective.
GK
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A nifty perspective about a mistake we all tend to make.
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Thank you, my friend. I think you’re absolutely right. The interesting thing is that it isn’t a mistake made by a few people—it’s one that almost all of us make at different points in our lives. We become so focused on waiting for the right circumstances that we forget progress usually begins with action, not arrival.
I’m glad the perspective resonated with you. Sometimes seeing a familiar challenge through a different lens is exactly what we need. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
GK
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