New Year: An Example in Patience

New Year's Eve was an interesting experience. I was staying in Manhattan with a friend cause the hotel prices were outrageous. He lived very close to Times Square (2 blocks) and thus we took our time in getting there. Most people were assembling by 4 pm and we had dinner at 7:30 pm and arrived at 9:00 pm. This was the 100th anniversary of the Times Square party and there were expected to be 1 MM people. As we got to the barricades, we had a special pass to get through since my friend lived in the area and so one of the NYPD escorted us into the area. But he could only put us into the area but not up front. That seemed near impossible with people literally standing body to body. My friend and I decided that we would take our time and use patience to our advantage. We only had to move 15 ft. or so to get to the front. and we had 3 hours. If we moved too quickly, people would notice us pushing, so rather than acting like rabbits, we moved liked turtles. As we began our moves, inching slowly but surely, other people got on our bandwagon. Two girls and two guys from LA were the first to decide to join us. However, after 15 minutes of moving, they decided it wasn't working and gave up. My friend and I, knowing we had moved about a foot, didn't give up and kept moving, literally an inch at a time. Every time the crowd would cheer or move just a little, we used it as an opportunity for progress. Next to join us were two guys from Brooklyn. They lasted 5 minutes and then became frustrated and began to push. Within seconds, the cops came in and pulled them out of the crowd (who knows where they ended up). To make a long story short (rather than give you a move by move 3 hour assessment), by the time the clock struck 12:00 am, we had a clear view of the screen on Times Square and the ball drop as well. The crew from LA got only a sneak peak and the group from Brooklyn, well who knows. Everybody else who had been there since 4 or 6 pm, well, we got a better deal I think, since we didn't have to wait as long.

So the lesson I learned from this New Year's event, and I pray it will benefit me in the coming year and in life, is that one needs to have a goal in mind, move towards that goal at every opportunity, but be patient. Initially having been dropped into that crowd, we could have given up, but we decided on a goal. Like the crew from LA, we had amble opportunity to give up but we kept our patience and didn't do it. Or like the Brooklyn boys, we could have gotten frustrated and began to push, but then would have been thrown out of the game. Slowly but surely, always looking for opportunities, we moved inches which turned into feet. Those feet would have turned into yards and miles, if time permitted, but in the end, the prize was ours. And isn't this what life is all about, with over 60 yrs to live? One has to flexible enough to move with the opportunities that come their way. There are setbacks, as we faced (it wasn't a straight line to the front), but keep your eyes on the prize, whatever that prize might be. If you are impatient, you either give up or get noticed and get kicked out. I pray in the New Year, that all of us take advantages in life as they come to move towards out goal, always reminding ourselves that "good things come to those with patience.

Oh yeah, and one more thing I learned. You know how on TV everyone seems to be cheering in the crowd. Not so in real life. Most of the time we were there, people were just standing around and talking. Then the TV cameras would come, give us some flags, and tell us to waive them and cheer when the camera panned across. And that is exactly what we did, and when it was over, we went back to standing around and talking!!!!!