A train delay can disrupt our daily routine and make an ordinary day feel frustrating. Yet even small inconveniences may offer us a chance to change our perspective. This reflection explores how dissatisfaction spreads, why it is difficult to think positively, and how the Japanese saying Saiō ga uma can help us accept the uncertainty of fortune and misfortune.
This morning, the Yamanote Line suspended service because of an accident involving a person, and I had no choice but to change my route to work.
When my daily routine changes, even slightly, I lose my rhythm and begin to feel dissatisfied.
Even the time I usually spend writing this blog becomes broken into small fragments.
Dissatisfaction tends to spread.
Once one part of my schedule goes wrong, all sorts of other things begin to bother me, and I start to feel as though the entire day is becoming a bad one.
Still, I wonder why I, as a human being, feel dissatisfied with so many things simply by being alive.
If even being alive itself made me feel dissatisfied, perhaps there would be little point in living.
And yet, I am not truly dissatisfied with life itself.
Deep down, I believe that being alive is a good thing.
Perhaps, then, I should try to transform such feelings of dissatisfaction into something positive.
The train is delayed, and I have to take an alternative route.
Instead of thinking, “What a nuisance,” I could tell myself, “I can enjoy a different view on my way to work,” or, “Even if I cannot get a seat, standing is good for my legs.”
But it is not so easy to think that way.
There is an old Japanese saying, Saiō ga uma, which teaches us that fortune and misfortune are unpredictable.
If I could put that wisdom into practice every day, perhaps even my sullen expression would soften into something closer to a smile.
Still, that is easier said than done.
Perhaps happiness begins not by eliminating dissatisfaction, but by leaving room for another way of seeing it.
・・・
dwell on
To keep thinking about something, especially something unpleasant.
「好ましくないことを、くよくよ考え続ける」
disrupt
To interrupt something and prevent it from continuing in its usual way.
「中断させる、混乱させる」
lose one’s rhythm
To become unable to continue at one’s usual pace or in one’s usual manner.
「いつもの調子を崩す」
dissatisfaction
A feeling of not being pleased or content with something.
「不満、不満足」
broken into small fragments
Divided into short and disconnected periods.
「細切れになる」
alternative route
A different way of reaching a destination.
「代替経路、別の道順」
What a nuisance.
An expression used when something is troublesome or inconvenient.
「なんて面倒なのだろう」
sullen expression
An unhappy, unfriendly, or gloomy facial expression.
「仏頂面、不機嫌な表情」
put something into practice
To actually use an idea, principle, or method.
「考えや教えを実践する」
easier said than done
Used to say that something sounds simple but is difficult to carry out.
「言うは易く行うは難し」
Saiō ga uma（塞翁が馬）
A Japanese expression derived from a Chinese story. It means that good and bad fortune are unpredictable, and that an unfortunate event may eventually lead to something good.
「幸運と不運は予測できず、災いが福に転じることもあるという意味」
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