Lessons On The Subway

I was on the train heading to a meeting. At one of the stops, two kids got on. One was 8 years old and the other had to only be a few years older. They came to the middle of the train car — right where I was sitting.

The younger kid sets his backpack on the floor and pulls out a speaker, the older one announces that his friend was only 8 and he is going to be doing a dance routine for us. The music starts and the younger kid began dancing as his friend cheers him on. H performs a routine that included him maneuvering around the pole, spinning and hanging upside down. I must say I was impressed. After he was finished, his older friend jumped in and now, the younger one was cheering him on. After their routine, they went around with a hat to see if they would collect any money. Only one or two people gave them some loose change and maybe a dollar. But, as the 8-year-old prepared to leave the car by putting away the speaker, he started to talk to his friend about how he is going to improve his routine and the things he wants to try later.

This is what impressed me the most. Not only did this 8-year-old kid have bravery and hustle, it was apparent that he had passion. He didn’t seem to care that he only got a few cents, he cared more about the action — his passion.

This lead me to think about what it takes to be successful. You can have bravery and hustle, but without passion, it’s difficult to keep moving forward. This kid had hustle in him, a very important trait, but his passion gave him bravery, it gave him the ability to do what he did. Even though it didn’t gain him a reward right away, he still cared about improving and moving forward with what he loved to do.

This experience shows that support is important. I meet people that try to do everything alone, but it’s not productive or healthy. Support from a friend, colleague, or family can be the difference between success or failure. We all need someone to cheer for us. We all need to cheer for someone. We can all grow together.

There are lessons all around us, take the time to absorb what you experience and learn from your surroundings.