Brains, Trains, and Automobiles

I want you to imagine you are alone on a train, one that promises to bring you to the most important stops in your life. Perhaps you want to get off at your graduation, or The Bahamas where you will spend your days sipping mimosas. You have been on this train for so long that it is the only one you have ever known. Then one day, the operator tells you that there is something wrong with the train, but says that there is another one that will take you to the same place. Since both look the same, you decide to get on. While on your journey, you notice two things, there are significantly more stops, and you are no longer alone. This isn't your train anymore- its someone else's. The passenger is annoying, distracting, and causes you to miss some of your most significant stops, so you try to get off to find your first train- that train that you know and love because you never miss a stop. So, you ask if someone fixed the train and they tell you that it is out of service. Since you don't want to ride on a train that doesn't belong to you, you decide to catch a ride. The driver gives the same false promise that the last train gave, and when you look up, you realize that the person driving, deciding where you go, and how you get there, is the same passenger on the second train- epilepsy. You begin to question yourself and wonder if this person was with you on your first train, waiting for the perfect moment to derail your life, forcing you to hop on the "E" train.

But the truth is, this person, the trains, and the car only exists in one place: your brain. It may take you a while to realize it, but the one person who decides the things you do, and how you do it, is you. Take it from someone who missed some of their biggest stops in their adolescence, such as Senior Prom and High School Graduation. It was so easy to blame the stranger on train because I didn’t quite understand them yet. If you’re wondering, my only regret is that I spent too much time letting my epilepsy hold me back.

So if you ever find yourself on a train with a person named Epilepsy, don't run away. Consider befriending them instead.

-TGWE