The subway system in New York City is both a masterpiece
and a puzzle. I am amazed at how fast and efficient it can be and puzzled by
the detours it creates when not all trains are running according to schedule.
Last night, I waited at a stop for over twenty
minutes while three trains came and went that were of no use to me. While
waiting, a silver haired man, who I assumed to be a seasoned New Yorker given
his thick Brooklyn accent, asked me if I was waiting for the train that had not
come. When I told him I was, he said he had been waiting for over twenty minutes
before I even made it to the station. After he made that statement, another
train came. It wasn’t the right one, but I chose to take it to the next stop
and wait there. He chose to stay at the original stop.
Once I got to the next stop I watched yet another
train come and go that I didn’t need, then it dawned on me, there was another
subway line at that stop that I could take to advance my trip and I could
transfer to the train I needed later on in the commute. I kicked myself for not
thinking of it before, but that's when I realized what a puzzle the subway
system is and what a puzzle life can be.
As soon as I got to the transfer stop, the train I needed
was at the station with doors wide open to receive everyone that needed to
transfer. When I got on the train I was greeted by the man who had been waiting
at the original stop, he said, “The train came as soon as you left.” To which I
replied, “If I hadn’t left, it wouldn’t have come.”
Everyday we are faced with puzzles that stump us.
When they arise, we have two options, sit and wait until the solution comes, or
choose to walk away, and solve another puzzle that will provide us with a
newfound clarity. A clarity that will enable us to solve the initial puzzle.
Both the man and I ended up making it home on the
same train, but we each chose different journey’s to get there. One of overt
patience, the other of explored opportunities in the meantime.
The next time you are stumped by the puzzle of
life, which path will you choose?