Byte: Byron Athene ~ The Story Of The Wrong Train Miracle!

Byron tells a sweet (and hilarious!) story of how the simple mistake of taking the wrong train changed everything for his ancestors. It brings up the question, are mistakes in fact divine timing? Can they usher in magic, in wholesale change? Listen in and you'll find out!

Transcript

Hello,

Everyone,

And welcome back to another episode of the podcast.

This week,

My guest's story reminded me that sometimes it's the choices we make in life,

Or maybe the choices we don't even know that we're making,

That create the magic for us,

That create miracles for us,

And his story alternately had me laughing hysterically and really deeply thinking and considering that each and every day,

Every single one of us goes out there and we make choices,

Whether to go to this store now,

Or maybe in two hours,

Whether to use the bus or drive to work,

Whether to buy a coffee or a tea at our favorite coffee shop,

And really,

The magic is inside those choices,

Because who knows?

That selection of tea could have your barista,

Well,

Maybe they just learned a really interesting anecdote about that tea and where it came from,

And then you strike up a new friendship,

And before you know it,

You and the barista are going out for lunch or coffee or joining a game night.

We never know as we walk throughout our lives what kind of magic and what kind of adventures our choices are going to bring us,

And that's what my guest Byron Athene talks about this week,

Or at least the miracle example he gives,

And really,

It did.

It arrested me and made me reconsider the movements I make every day.

Now,

Byron is a philosopher,

A counseling psychotherapist,

A certified mindset coach,

Hypnotherapist,

And author,

But also,

Byron tells this really powerful story about having a debilitating stutter his entire life and then hiding from interacting with other human beings in a series of office jobs,

But then he has this and I'll let him tell you about it.

So now,

Here's my conversation with Byron Athene.

Because my grandmother's then-husband didn't want to ask for directions,

They got on the wrong train,

They ended up in Yorkshire,

Which was a completely different place to where they wanted to go.

He must have acted like that was the plan the whole time because of his ego or whatever.

Okay,

So I think the first minute comes to mind was the moment I realized just how lucky we are to exist as individuals.

That,

Yeah,

That was just mind-blowing.

In fact,

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that,

Yeah,

It's like nothing had to be here,

But then something was created,

Certain things happened,

And the things that happened led to certain people being here.

Those people did specific things which led to certain people being born.

Those people did certain things that led to other people being born.

Fast forward 300,

000 years into the future and we are born.

And it's amazing because I think if there was anything different at any part of that chain,

We wouldn't have been here.

Not as individuals,

It would have been someone else.

It would have been another sperm and egg combination.

So,

Yeah,

When I realized that,

Yeah,

That blew my mind.

It continues to blow my mind.

How did you even have this thought?

How did I have the thought?

Well,

I think the first time I had the thought was thinking about something that my grandmother did before my mum was born.

And I just kind of,

Yeah,

This,

Okay,

This crazy story.

Crazy story,

But okay,

Right,

So I'm of Jamaican descent.

So,

My grandmother and her then-husband first came over.

This was in the,

I think the 50s,

I think.

50s or 60s,

Maybe 60s actually.

So,

Then,

Okay,

So they came from Jamaica.

They planned to settle in one of the bigger cities in the North.

I'm not sure why they chose North over South,

But North.

So,

I don't know,

Maybe Manchester or Liverpool,

One of the bigger cities.

Because my grandmother's then-husband didn't want to ask for directions,

They got on the wrong train.

They ended up in Yorkshire,

Which was a completely different place to where they wanted to go.

He must have acted like that was the plan the whole time because of his ego or whatever.

And so,

Because they chose Yorkshire,

My mum then joined them,

And that's how my mum met my dad.

So,

I was like,

Okay,

Well,

If he wasn't so,

I don't know,

Silly,

For want of a better word,

I wouldn't have been born.

I wouldn't have been born.

So,

Then,

That made me realise that it doesn't even just apply to those bigger life moments.

I think that applies to small things as well,

Like eating a certain food or making a certain move or having a certain thought.

If anything was different before the moment of conception,

I think it would have been another sperm and egg that met.

Okay,

That story is hilarious.

It is,

You know,

Now that I was listening to you talk about your miracle moment or your miracle thoughts,

And this story really illuminates how you got to that point,

Because they were not supposed to be in Yorkshire.

No,

They certainly weren't.

And so,

Because of that,

Everything shifted and changed,

And here you are.

And it's like that,

Stroke of luck or stroke of fate,

That nobody knows how a certain choice is going to change entire worlds.

And that is exactly what happened.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So,

Thank God people do have egos.

Like,

Having an ego isn't that bad a thing all the time.

It can lead.

And I suppose,

If anything,

That led me to a realisation that something bad isn't necessarily bad if something really good comes from it.

So,

I did sort of see the world in a sort of like black and white way previously.

Like,

Yeah,

If you either did good or either did bad,

I think I came to realise that you can appreciate everything,

Because even those bad things could lead to good outcomes.

Hey,

Everyone.

Thanks for listening to this episode,

And I hope you found it as delightful and hilarious as I did.

I mean,

Honestly,

If they wouldn't have gotten on the wrong train,

Byron would not be in the world.

And so,

You've got to look at incidents like that,

At encounters like that,

At mistakes like that,

And kind of wonder,

Huh,

Are they really mistakes?

Because it seems like Byron wouldn't be able to be on this show unless someone had taken the wrong train oh so long ago.

I want to thank each and every one of you for listening.

And you know what would make my heart sing?

Is if you like what you hear,

Leave a rating or write a little review.

You have no idea how much those ratings and reviews help other people find this podcast.

Thank you for listening.

And here's my one request.

Be like Byron.

I mean,

I would say have a sense of humour,

Because it's very clear that Byron has a sense of humour.

I would say it's be a philosopher.

But I think each and every one of us has our own view of life,

Or is trying to suss out how we think this world works,

Where human beings' places are in this world,

All that kind of juicy stuff.

But no,

I'm going to say be like Byron and listen to your family stories,

Dive deeply into your family histories,

And find out the juicy bits,

The good bits,

The parts that are funny,

The parts where if someone had made a different decision,

Well,

Everything else would have changed.

And life as it is right now would not exist.

I think it's beneficial to look back on these twists of fate,

These twists of mistakes,

And understand that maybe there is so much magic inside those moments,

So many miracles that have the opportunity to birth themselves from those mistakes.

And then I think you'll go through your life and wonder,

Maybe after you've made a particularly big mistake,

You might be a little more gentle with yourself.

And wait a while,

Allow some time to pass,

So that even you too can witness what kind of magic and what kind of adventure those mistakes and your choices are opening up for you.