Sitting Here Waiting

4:45am

I'm sitting in Penn Station looking at folks trying to get a nights sleep.  Everyone with their eyes closed are either napping waiting for a train and some are sleeping waiting on a home.  I can say this for a fact because at least 4 late nights out of the week, I'm here going home and I see the exact same faces waiting...just waiting.  Some look less shabbier than others but there is a constant amongst them.

Today, I'm late so I have to catch the 21 and I see a new crop of faces but the constant is still the same.  Stressed facial expressions, worned out shoes, clothes varies, territorial, and either sleeplessly awake or sleeping with one eye open, always ready to protect what's theirs.  Very polite or rude, I would like to help each of them but all I can think about is how I don't wind up in this position or worse.  Not even a day.

I spent the train ride reflecting on myself and how to better myself but seeing this gave me a sense of how quickly Life can change.  What more reason do I need to stay on my toes and stay afloat above the poverty that's already at my neck?  Pinching pennies with work that taxes my body, pushing myself to reach new plateaus for myself, maintaining a mental and emotional balance so I won't drive myself mad and I wonder...was it finances thay brought them here?  Were they reaching a dream and it crumbled around them?  Did they lose their mental or emotional stability?

Sit at a train station for a little while and you'll notice the many MANY different paths of Life.  I'm willing to assume I sat between a rich man, a poor man, a poor but happy man, a rich and wealthy woman, a kid with infinite hope and a kid who lost all of it.  Honestly, I'm venting but it makes me feel grateful right now.  I'm going to take what little I have and make the absolute best with it and watch it all evolve and grow.

Til 5:30am when I'll be on my way home but it's 5:10am now, so I'll be patient and sit til then.