In my short 19 years of life, I think one of the most important things that I have come to realize is that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, in life is merely temporary. It's a bittersweet thing, but an important thing to realize because it teaches us that life isn't as bad as it may seem. Or, it teaches you to enjoy the times that make you the happiest because they won't last forever.
Sometimes, you just have those days or weeks where nothing can go right. Everywhere you turn is the wrong way, and you keep running into roadblocks. Everyone in their life has faced a time like this, and everyone will definitely go through these times again. When I first came to college, it was a rough adjustment. I loved being at school and my environment, but transitioning from your comfort zone to a completely different place but having to stay on top of school with it is hard. And there are so many other things that people my age struggle with that I may not understand. But what I do understand is that it's all temporary.
Fear, anger, pain and sadness are all feelings that we use to stay on the defense from problems that we don't want to look in the eye. It's valid to feel those things, but there comes a point when these things can consume you as a person and take away any source of happiness in your life. These feelings may not be temporary, but the amount of time that we allow them to consume our lives is because before you know it you're 70 and regretting decisions you didn't make because of your fear or pain. The feelings are valid, but the moments that we relish in them are temporary. At the end of the day, it's important to realize that the moment to feel down has moved past and we have to keep pushing forward. It reminds me of the Twenty One Pilot's lyric, "The sun will rise and we will try again." That's all you can do to push forward: keep trying.
Life isn't all melancholy, though. There are those times where we feel like we're on top of the world. It's different for everyone: getting the grade you worked hard for, spending time with your friends, dancing to your favorite song or just simply feeling content in the moment. I think this is something most of us take for granted and tend to dwell on the sadder moments of life. We don't really recognize the moments that make us smile the widest or laugh the hardest; we just enjoy them.
But when I tell you to thoroughly enjoy those moments, I mean it. Don't just laugh till your ribs hurt, remember how it feels to laugh that hard and take in the exact moment. Remember the feeling of getting an A on that exam you busted your ass for. Remember how it felt to dance carelessly with your friends in the bar vividly. Because there come those moments where the world is scary and dark, and we can't seem to find the light at the end of the tunnel. If we remember the vividness of those happy times, that light comes closer and the world feels less heavy on your shoulders. So, be sure to remember the happy times and relish in them so when times get dark you can make your own life.
At the end of the day, it's important for us as humans to recognize that everything is temporary. It gives us a breath of relief from the hard times and reminds us to relish the happy times.
