Sometimes, I don’t think people stop often enough to really “smell the roses” in life. I think people think that because maybe their age in numbers is on the lower side that they’ve got A LOT of time left in life. And while, numerically, that may be true, life really flies by. Yeah, you may only be 18, but it won’t be long until you're 21. Then from there, it really won’t be long until you’re 50 and heading over the hill. People don’t realize that life goes by so quickly until they wake up one morning and have no idea where the time went. Did you really just spend four years in college and then wake up on graduation morning thinking “Shit, am I really now heading off into the real world?” Before you know it, you will be old. You will have had a family, and then your family will be starting families of their own. How did it all happen? Where did the time go? What is left to be that next big thing in your life?

We think that because we have endless years on Earth that we’ve got all the time in the world. But you never know what you’ve got and where you’re going. When your dad oddly asks to you go to the animal sanctuary for a day visit, don’t stick your nose up and deny him. Think of it as a way to appreciate one another. Pay attention to your dad when he asks you to go to see a movie with him. He’s not going to be around forever, and you should be sure that you’re taking advantage of every opportunity to spend time with him when you can. When your mom asks you to go grocery shopping with her, do so. Don’t whine about it and drag your feet. One: you will one day lose the ability to have her buy groceries FOR YOU so soak it up for the time you’ve got left. Two: I’m sure that spending two hours in the grocery store doesn’t seem fun, but it’s a moment in time that you are sharing with someone you love and that should be valued REGARDLESS of what the task is.

Take time to go on adventures and see the world. You can always say “I’ll do it later,” but then later becomes never. And then next thing you know, you’re sitting in a rocking chair wondering what life would’ve been like if you had done the things you wanted to do. There’s always a ton of reasons to hold you back and keep you from doing things that you want to do, but ignore them. If you feel the traveling would cause you to be tight on money, FIGURE IT OUT! There are cheap ways to travel, and it’s worth looking into so you can see the world in which we live. Do you want to sit in your house for 60+ years just watching time pass you by? What kind of life is that? Go out and live it. The time to do things is now, and that will always be true.

Don’t let life pass you by. Love the people that you love. Do the things that you want to do. See what you want to see, and be who you want to be. You never know what the next day will hold when you wake up, and that’s why you need to live life as if you truly understand that concept. Admire and see the world. Spend time with the people you call your friends and family because you want to enjoy the time you’ve got with them. One day, you’ll wake up and you won’t have the ability to pursue those luxuries anymore. Buddha once said, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind of the present moment.” His words mean to focus on the now and enjoy what is going on in your life with the utmost focus. The way I see it, you should live every day like you know it will be your last, because then you will take full advantage of the life you’ve got.