FRIDAY, 5 MARCH 2010
“Am I on the right track?” I hear a voice ask. “Are we doing the right things now?”
Imagine you are planning a trip, let’s say Pretoria to Cape Town. You booked your train ticket; you pack your bag the day before leaving; you go to bed early; you get up on time. More than an hour before departure time you’re already at Pretoria station. You check in, find your compartment, load your luggage and wait patiently at the seat next to the window for the train to depart. Promptly at the right minute, the train starts moving, and you’re on your way to your planned destination.
Me asking myself why “we” are still broke even though “we” are apparently doing the right things is like me asking in my train travel story when the train is drawing closer to Kimberley, “Why are we still not in Cape Town? Something isn’t right. You say we’re on the right train, apparently heading to Cape Town, but I don’t even see the outline of Table Mountain yet! What’s going on here?”
My advice to the “traveller”: Calm down. You will arrive when the train has made stops at all the right places, and you patiently continued the journey and resisted the temptation to get off at Three Sisters or De Aar because you could swear another train will get you to Cape Town faster. You are on the right train. Just stay calm.
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