time: isn’t she fickle.

There is never a time like the present. Time waits for no one: it can be kind if you want it to be, but if you are wasteful then time will come back to bite you in the arse. It doesn’t matter who you are, because many of men/women have fallen as a result. WE often forget how much of a blessing it is to merely have something of our own – to know the things that we are passionate about. Everyday roughly four (4) million people commute into Manhattan alone for work. With a significantly high confidence level, I would say the amount of people that are unhappy with their lives, jobs, social class outweighs those that are happy and if you feel otherwise thats fine and you should stop reading right now.

Let me preface this by saying that your job does not make you. Finances aren’t for everyone and if you find peace and happiness within your life this is all that is important. However, money is needed to survive PERIOD.

Is it me or is everyone in New York City the most unhappy New Yorker that you have yet to meet? I wonder if the rest of the world is like this, I will never know because every encounter is an independent event and I try to keep an open mind about all. Although I have seen my fair share of deranged taxi drivers, angry homeless people, reckless investment bankers, untrustworthy friends, and misrepresented adults, this isn’t enough of a sample size to say people are unhappy.

Ironically enough, we were hit with a snow storm yesterday, I had just finished a great fitting with a close friend & now client, the snow was racing down aggressively almost like there was a turf war between it and the concrete – for those who don’t know please see West Side Story… It took me about 5 minutes of eating snow flakes on Washington Street to actually come to terms with the fact that the puddle in front of me was 3 feet wide and it spread around the corner so the only way around was to jump on to a pile of snow and quickly leap over the puddle. After roaming and feeling sorry for myself for about 2 minutes, I finally hunted down a taxi, you know when you’re so anxious to get in that you fail to realize there is another person in it and they aren’t done paying yet nor ready to embrace the cold… yea I was that guy.

A woman approaches me from behind, late 30’s, and she says: “Are you taking this one?” I know many many many of people who would have replied with, “Well what do you think,” but I didn’t, I said, “I was going to, do you want me to drop you off somewhere” she replied with, “I’m with a bunch of kids (3)” I said, “Well then you should take the taxi” She couldn’t believe it, her smile was ear to ear, I swear she looked just like this if you can just keep in mind that she was caucasian…

ear to ear baby

She replies, “Wow gentlemen still in exist in New York.” I was already walking away, but I turned and waved. What I did wasn’t a big deal, I’m sure that if she would have waited for another 10 minutes she could have found herself another taxi. I wasn’t really in a rush to get where I was going, not because it wasn’t an important place to be, but because these types of gestures mean everything to me. The world doesn’t revolve around me or you, but there are times when our actions can influence the world of another – seize the opportunity.

Just a quick detour, don’t worry I stopped the meter. Back to New York and the unhappy people that I share it with. As we get older, there will be more opportunity cost associated with change. Change is a funny thing because with youth we can do it almost instantly: we change sports, majors, school projects, hobbies, friends, but as you get older change gets cumbersome. I’m not afraid of change, I am afraid of what can develop if you fail to acknowledge that a change is going to come.

As I stated earlier, time isn’t waiting, so if there is something you want in this snow globe that is life go get it because tomorrow is never promised.

I cannot speak for you, because I do not know the strife, pressures, burdens associated with your change, nor the things that make you happy. Frankly, I know nothing about you, nothing at all, but if you’re reading this far well then I guess I somewhat poked your curiosity.

Sincerely,

RAF