Why I Love New York City
This post is a continuation of Why I Travel So Much.
I always knew she was the one ever since I laid my eyes on her brightness my freshman year of college. But it wasn’t until I took that ballsy first step of visiting her that I started realizing how much she could offer me, how much I would grow with her, and how deeply in love I would fall for her.
It’s hard to put into words what she has done for me. I should probably reflect on this past year and share what she has made me taught me and the experiences I’ve had with her. This is a bit stressful, I’m not sure how to get all of the thoughts that are racing through my mind on paper. But let’s try, here we go.
1. “Come here, I’m about to take you higher.” – Jermaine Cole
She was not built for the weak. She’ll make you wish that you never left that bubble you were in where someone would be there to catch you if you fell. She’ll make you feel lonely even in a crowded room. She’ll introduce you many people who are making more money than you, or doing something that seems a hell of a lot more fulfilling than your mundane job. She’ll repeatedly kick you hard while you’re down. But if you’re willing to take such a beating, and you’re willing to find ways to lift yourself up off the ground, she will lift you higher and higher every time you get back up.
P.S. > She does a damn good job of turning boys into men.
2. “Your real friends will serve you long, acquaintances will fade.” – Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones
Yes, she is a gold mine for networking. Everyone she introduces you to works at some interesting company that might align with something you need or want. They might also know a person – who knows a person – who knows a person that purposely took a leak right next to Leonardo DiCaprio (that would be me). I’m not a big fan of people who try to network for personal benefits. If you look at most successful entrepreneurs, they build relationships with people, not clump them into their LinkedIn network and act like they know them. When I meet someone new, whom I feel is a genuine person, I focus more on how I can help them instead of how they can help me. It’s ironic how this works though. When you approach relationship building (not networking) with the intention to give, you some how end up getting back more in the long run.
Don’t be “that guy.” Build real, honest relationships with people you enjoy being around.
3. “I’m different, yeah I’m different.” – Tauheed Epps
She breeds them differently down here. Everybody who moved here to be with her is already considered a risk taker. Maybe it’s the types of people she surrounds me with, or the types of people I choose to be surrounded with, but I can’t stop feeling that everyone around me has some immense wisdom and knowledge that I can learn from. They left their ideal life to make $5k more, yet live at 2x the expense. They have the same 24/7 hustle mentality that I pride myself in. They all set those big ludicrous goals for themselves that I admire. They’re all trying to find meaning with their life and not afraid to admit they have yet to know what they want. They judge less what you do, and more what they’ve done. They are the ones who can inspire, teach, relate, grow, and most importantly, enjoy my successes as well as mourn in my failures.
These are the types of people I was in search of. They are the ones I choose to surround myself with. They are the ones I emulate.
4. “Nothing handed out, I’m about to take mine.” – Yeezus
Self explanatory. She won’t hand anything to you. She’ll throw you in with the sharks and watch you struggle trying to take what you desire. She’s like my father when I was 7-8 years old. He didn’t hold my hand and teach me how to swim. He picked me up, threw me into the water, and watched as I figured it out.
I figured it out.
5. “Life movin’ too fast, it need to slow down.” – Yeezy
She moves fast. She’s the type to tell you that she already loves you just after a week of knowing you. Does she mean it? Who knows. But she has mastered the art of speeding up time without us really realizing it. And she won’t even take a look back to see where you are. You have to keep up with her, or get left behind. When I take a look back at where I was a year ago and compare it to where I am now, I’m shocked at how much I’ve experienced in this time span. The 1 year I spent with her equals to all the years combined that I spent with my ex-girl.
But one thing I would personally like to work on is not being too caught up with the future and where I want to end up, because I tend to forget where I am now and the journey I’m on to get there. Although she moves fast, it’s important that I enjoy the precious times I have with her in this very moment.
6. “Started not to give a @#$% and stopped fearing the consequence.” – Aubrey Graham
The more I cared what others thought and what they said about me, the less I accomplished and the less happier I was. Then on November 1st, 2012 I woke up and said “@#$% what they think, I’m going to do me.”
That was the day I started accomplishing much more and becoming much happier.
7. “I came. I acquired. I spread.” – Shazzy/Shazzus/Me
She’s not the girl that I’ll end up with, and she knows it. But she is the girl that I’ll never forget and I’ll always have a small place inside my heart for. Our relationship is temporary. I came to her, I’m going to take everything she has to offer, and then I’ll eventually leave. Not everyone is privileged enough in life to enjoy her company for a long period of time. At the end of our relationship she will have taught me more than any other girl could have, and I have made a promise to her that I will make the world a better place because of it. I will share and pass on all the knowledge she has blessed me with to those who seek it.
That’s the only way she’ll agree to let me go, and the only way I’d actually leave her.
This is the type of environment I thrive in.
She was made for me, and I was made for her.
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