The Subway Roulette of Life
Confession: I'm obsessed with subways. As a kid who grew up in a small farm town, the mere idea of a subway blew my mind. We board a secret train and are violently propelled through a hidden underground tunnel through a labyrinth of routes, intersections, and stations. It mesmerized me then….and still does!
However, it's what happens next that most fascinated me. After the train stops, we walk up a set of stairs and enter an entirely new world. We descend from one world, and ascend into a completely different one. New sights, new people, new scenery, new vibe. Still to this day, I get a euphoric feeling when walking out of a subway station.
New York, Hong Kong, London, Prague, Paris, and Beijing. I've spent meaningful time on all these systems, and I've felt like a little kid each time. Sometimes, I'll hop into a subway tunnel and pick a destination station at random just so I can be surprised by whatever I find at the top of the stairs. Some of the best experiences, meals, and memories are tied to a little game I like to call Subway Roulette. It's a choose-your-own-adventure game, but we don't really know what we're choosing until we arrive.
First time boarding the Hong Kong subway with our dear friends, the Hoags & Keungs
Life is the same way! We have so many choices. An infinite number of decisions with an infinite number of possible outcomes. And they are just that: choices. Each day, we have the opportunity to make thousands of decisions that can alter our life. The ball is in our hands.
The scary part, though, is that just like in Subway Roulette, we don't know what's waiting for us on the other side of our decisions. We might have a guess. We can picture it in our head. We can somewhat orient ourselves around the idea. We can even try to shape it just the way we want. However, it's a complete mystery until we get there.
Our parenting journey is a perfect example of this concept. Sarah and I talked about having kids on our first date! Becoming parents was one of the focal points of our relationship. We would start having kids around 30, have 2-3, then be done by 35. We were so naive and foolish! But we set our little plan into motion, not really knowing what was at the top of those stairs. Little did we know that infertility would gut us from the inside out. It was a long and grueling journey.
Five years into our battle to become parents, I remember waking up on my 35th birthday with a deep sadness. So much for my plan! It was a mess....I was a mess....we were a mess. But fast forward just three months, and we were shocked and blessed with the adoption of two little baby boys. "2-3 kids, then be done by 35." Our dream came true.....in the most unexpected way possible. God has a sense of humor.
Life is Subway Roulette. Make the best choices possible, hold on, and embrace what's on the other side of those stairs.