I’m reading a fascinating book right now about “The Beast” (“La Bestia” or “El Tren de la Muerte” in Spanish), a freight train that travels thousands of miles from the Guatemalan Border to northern Mexico, where it then feeds into several other lines that ultimately land in the U.S. The interesting part about the train is not the freight that it carries or its path through the jungles of South America, but rather the thousands of immigrants who jump its cars and cling to them for dear life in an effort to cross illegally into the United States. Never being satisfied with just reading a great book, I also took in a great documentary on the same subject.

Taking the train is, by most accounts, the quickest, most direct means by which illegal immigrants can enter the U.S. However, the locomotive’s desperate travelers pay a steep price for the privilege of riding the rails. The train has earned is various, ominous nicknames due to the many enormously dangerous challenges presented by its days-long journey north. The cars themselves present the most immediate threat, as countless immigrants are killed or maimed either by failed attempts to attach to the train while it is moving, or by falling off while in transit (“countless” in a literal sense, as many fall from the train in the middle of the jungle or desert, leaving no trace as the train moves on). In addition to the physical dangers posed by the train’s movements, the migrants also face the threat of attacks from drug cartels or roadside bandits, or arrest from police and other authorities. Their journeys are further complicated by the constant challenge of finding food, water, and rest along the way.

It is an unbelievably perilous path, and regardless of where one falls on the political spectrum (for the record, I’m Christian/conservative/law-and-order), any reasonable reader cannot help but to empathize with the migrants in their plight, or admire their desperate courage. Seeing the lengths that others are willing to go to in order to enter this great nation of ours – even if illegally – should make us think twice the next time we’re tempted to lose out temper because the line at Starbucks is moving too slow.

Aside from the glaring humanitarian aspects of the story, however, something else impacted me – the train itself. It is, in many respects, the central character in the book, compelling in its ability to both carry people to freedom or throw them to their deaths. And it struck me … the train is a lot like time, and we are a lot like its passengers. As I began to explore that idea, I discovered many corollaries that I find apply in any man’s life:

• Like time, the train travels the same path, day-in/day out, year-in/year-out. It’s not affected by weather, emotions, political affairs, etc. It just keeps moving along its predictable path.
• The passengers (migrants in the book, or everyday people in daily life) can either take advantage of the train and ride it to a better life, or they can play around and not take the train seriously, or they can ignore the train altogether. The train doesn’t care, it just keeps moving.
• Just because the migrants are aware of the train doesn’t mean they approach it the correct way. Many of them just decide to hop on without any planning, forethought, or strategy. That is a bad move. Yes, they’re on the train, but it’s called La Bestia for a reason. It will move, shake, jerk, go faster than one thinks at time, and slower than expected at others. It can act as a friend to the migrants in conveying them to their goals, but it is not their friend. There is a difference. The train keeps on chugging away, completely oblivious to its occupants.
• Those who take the train seriously, show it the respect it deserves, map out their journeys in detail, execute well, and stick with the train through all the inevitable winds and turns of the mountainous jungle path, will reach their goals. Think of the highly successful people you know, perhaps yourself.
• Those who play games with the train, fail to show it the proper respect, neglect planning, drop off too early, fall asleep on the journey – they face very different outcomes, potentially getting tossed off into the dark wilderness, with no direction, and no hope of reaching their planned destination.
• One other striking feature (perhaps the most salient) is the role of leadership, particularly in the documentary. The migrants tend to travel in groups, and the truth is, typically most of them are clueless. Even the ones who have tried before don’t necessarily show state-of-the-art thinking, and that’s part of the reason so many of the immigrant hopefuls end up failing in one way or another (death, dismemberment, arrest, etc.). Most of the migrants are scared, incompetent, lacking in confidence. They only know that, with everything in them, they want to make it to the Promised Land. The group being profiled in the documentary, however, is led by Jaime, a 30-year-old former gang member, who is seeking to return to the U.S. after being deported years earlier. Jaime has turned his life around, settled down, and found a woman whom he wants to marry (Lupita, who accompanies him on the trip). This alone would make for a compelling story, but what really grabs the observant viewer’s attention is the leadership displayed by Jaime. He really shows himself to be a remarkable young man. He organizes the group and keeps them in line and on-purpose; he encourages them when they face the inevitable challenges of cold, hunger, frustration and fear; he makes key alliances with other traveling groups at some points along the trip, then cuts those alliances when he feels that it no longer benefits his group’s objectives; he displays wisdom and foresight, but even when he gets it wrong (when, for instance, he inadvertently leaves the group stranded in a heavily policed area just outside of the U.S. border) he maintains a fearless front for the rest of the group; finally, on the banks of the Rio Grande, Jaime escorts his group over, one by one, coming back for each member at great risk to himself, until they are all safely on the other side.

Jaime demonstrates the last great facet of time management – leadership. Others in our lives want (and deserve) success, protection, peace, self-fulfillment, but the truth is, very few of them will know or understand how to get there. It is up to strong, knowledgeable, wise, and selfless men to ensure not only that they reach their own goals, but that they act selflessly in bringing everyone in their circle along with them for the ride.