Carpe Diem!

Today I ate lunch at the New York Public Library.  It is a majestic piece of architecture, flanked on either side by lions made of stone.  The library takes up a full city block on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 41st Avenues.  Tourists and residents alike line the makeshift park directly in front of the library to people-watch while eating a quick lunch or taking a break from a long day of sightseeing.

I got more than I bargained for today in the park.  Instead of just enjoying my lunch and observing those around me, a life lesson snuck up on my consciousness and joined the ranks of the others in my personal value system.

I watched two young women walk up the library steps.  They passed an empty table, recently vacated by a lone tourist.  Empty tables are a rare commodity in the park during the busy lunch hour time.  The women looked at the empty table, walked a few feet passed it and stopped to discuss their options.  The table, albeit small for two occupants, was in a shaded area, with two chairs and would have afforded them a front row seat to the bustling Fifth Avenue traffic. 

I casually observed them as one would observe two elephants mating in the zoo.  I chewed my spinach salad and listened to them discuss whether they wanted to take their chances for a better table further down the park.  I was flabbergasted as I listened to their exchange.  Did they know how long an empty table stayed empty at the library?  Did they not see the opportunity that was before them?

Finally, they decided that the table would suffice.  They turned around in unison only to discover that the empty table was no longer available.  Disappointed, the girls continued through the park and finally made themselves comfortable on the stone steps of the library, smack in the middle of the noonday's broiling sun.  It was the best they could find.  Or was it?

That's when it occurred to me that many of us have the same moments of hesitation and contemplation in our lives when we should be moving forward towards every open door.  When we are given an opportunity, we should take it for what it is instead of complaining that the particulars aren't perfect, as in the case of the small table.  They overlooked the benefit of the shade and the front row seat to Fifth Avenue.  Hell, they overlooked the chairs! 

And so, as they ate their lunch in the sun, on the scorching ground, with their food precariously balanced in their laps, a wiser, more opportunistic pair seized the table.

Don't let someone else claim what could be rightfully yours.  Don't talk about what could be if only you had a few breaks in life.  Get out there and claim your dreams before someone else claims it for you!

My Career, My Way

"You blew a good opportunity here," she said to me with unconcealed anger.  "You didn't know how good you had it and now you want to leave?"

"Yes," I replied.  I was firm in my resolve that this temporary position was just that...temporary.  It was time for me to move on.  My agency had relayed the news to her.  She was bubbling over with hot apathy towards me.  "It doesn't seem to be a good fit for me," I said calmly, trying to keep the bridge aloft.

"I gave you every chance to excel here.  I know there isn't much to do right now but if you had just stuck it out for a few more months it would've gotten better."

She doesn't understand the value of time, I thought.  Each day I sat at a desk and allowed my brain to turn to mush was a day that I was not excelling in the world.  I did not have months to squander.

"There's no health insurance, no benefits," I reasoned with her. 

"I told you from the beginning that's how this company operates! Seventy percent of the people here are employeed on a contract basis. I worked at this company for three years before they hired me as an employee.  Look at Stacey," she continued.  "She's been here for four years with no health insurance and she's  single mother!"

"I'm not Stacey," I replied.  "This is a Fortune 500 company and it's using people's talents without rewarding them adequately.  I won't settle for that."

"I can't believe you would do this to me.  I wanted things to be different with you!"

And then I realized that her reaction to my abandonment of the position was not about me.  It was about her.  She had hired four different employees in the past twelve months.  Her reputation in the company was marred.  No one could work for her.  Her cold demeanor, curt remarks, constant aloofness, confrontational attitude and intimidating managerial style had resulted in several employees before me bolting from the job. 

"You have made a big mistake," she looked me squarely in the eyes.  "You will learn how good you had it here and you'll regret leaving."

I was too stunned to respond to her bold assertion.  I left that firm for a better position that challenged my intellect and gave me the benefits I rightfully deserved.  But I did not gloat that my life was better and that she was wrong.  Instead, I worked harder to move from that place to the next. 

My level of success in life is determined by myself and not those around me.  And even if I do take a misstep in life, at least I can say I did it my way.

Happiness on Layaway

Anyone who moves to New York City with the hope of finding happiness is a fool.  I should know, I was one.

Unlike any other city in the world, New York offers the promise of unlimited success, constant excitement, thrilling romances and any other dream that lies unfulfilled in your heart.  Nothing is impossible or unattainable in the City of Bright Lights and Big Dreams.  With this notion pumping through my veins and carrying a restless anticpation to my heart, I packed my bags in Tampa, loaded my Chihuahua into my Nissan Sentra and headed North.  It was a bold and fateful decision.

A few months after my arrival, my predominant belief was that my life began to flourish when I came to New York.  I had opportunities to act on stage and, at the very least, audition for well known casting directors that I did not have in Tampa.  I met a wonderful man within months of my arrival in the city, whereas I lived for years in Tampa without so much as a casual relationship.  My social life had improved tenfold and there was never a dull moment to be spent in the city.

So why do I believe that anyone who moves to New York in search of happiness is a fool?  Because I realized that I had the same opportunity for happiness in Tampa, England, Paris, Venice and every other city that I had the chance to rest my head.  Happiness was not dependent upon location, it was dependent upon choice.  I placed my happiness on a  lay-a-way plan.  I decided that I could not be happy, could not write, could not act, could not date effectively anywhere in the world except New York.  How wrong I was.

The choice to move to New York was a good one.  Undoubtedly, there are avenues available for me to travel down here moreso than anywhere else in the world.  But if I had a chance to relive the past few years of my life, I would live it fully in the moment, now, here, today, where ever that place might be, instead of placing my happiness on hold.  Because for many, the future is a destination that never arrives.

Make a conscious choice to be happy today.  Tomorrow is promised to no one.