Happy New Year and I hope you had a great Christmas. With each New Year, doors are opened to learn lessons and achieve new goals. Personally, I learned an important lesson from my sons when they woke me at 7:30 a.m., standing in my room sopping wet and eager to tell their story of the night before.
To share some background to the story, I must start by saying it begins with a pair of sneakers. But not just any sneakers. According to Silas, they were "the new Jordans." Silas, being the young investor that he is, decided he MUST wait in line outside South Shore Plaza to buy a pair of these limited-edition and extremely desired sneakers, to sell them on eBay for profit. Of course, I had reservations. I did not want him waiting from midnight till opening outside, nor did I want to accompany him on this overnight shopping adventure. I explained this and told him he could buy the sneakers after Christmas, despite the cost increase. Well, Silas had this covered as he had already paid his brother, Christian, $20 to take him and wait for him. So they were off to wait, and wait they did, from 12:30 a.m. to 7:30 am... in the freezing rain.
This brings us up to my sons waking me up, shivering and soaking, sneakers in hand. As my maternal instincts kicked in to take care of my boys, I was taken aback by the smile on Silas's face as he said, "I got them Mom." Quickly followed by, "But I think I have frostbite." The rain had started partly into the night and Christian begged Silas to leave, but determination kept Silas strong and Christian could not help but support his brother. As it turns out, that very day, the sneakers that they bought for $180 were being sold on eBay for $525.
But this story is not about possessions. It's about passion. After all of his effort and endurance, Silas chose not to sell the sneakers because they were "too special." Seeing this sense of accomplishment in my son was refreshing and inspiring. I think we can all reflect at the beginning of this New Year on what motivates us and what we want to achieve. We all have strength in us but sometimes we do not take the time to realize what will awaken it. We have to open our minds, set goals, and work hard. Your attitude determines your altitude.
I understand that a pair of Jordan sneakers may not be the priority or prized possession for everyone. But we should all have goals and if we all put our heart and souls into our quests, there is no limit to what we can achieve. As we do so, we must also support those we love in their passions and goals. The role of Christian in Silas's sneaker journey was vital. He did not leave his brother. Genuinely supporting others is immeasurably rewarding.
On that morning I learned valuable lessons from each son. My Silas, my fighter, the baby who insisted on coming 3 months early, reminded me to recognize goals, set to achieve them, let nothing stand in your way, and appreciate the rewards. We all should have this fight in us for the things that we love. But as we do so, remember to be a supporter as Christian was. We need to both work for what we love and support those we love as they do so as well. I hope you are richly blessed and rewarded for your hard work and for serving and caring for each other in the New Year.
Christian Silas
God Bless You,
Sandra Ishmael
