For as long as I can remember I have been told to not only be future oriented but simultaneously enjoy the present moment. Instruction after instruction, everybody leaves out the part about how difficult that's actually going to be. At the most contradictory stage of our life, we worry about, well, pretty much everything. But really, can you blame us? The term "young-adult" isn't exactly clear; it's a contradiction in itself.
What job will I have? Who will I marry? Will I even get married? Will I be happy? Those are just a few of the questions likely to be running through our minds as we try to emerge ourselves into this so-called "real world." You know, all the questions that you so badly wish you had a life coach to answer for you, to help you face your doubts and fears? Fears that if we fail and fall down after a bad day (or week), we won't be able to get back up. Doubts that if we change our minds, majors (one, two, or three times), friend groups, or if things don't go how we planned for them to initially, that we won't be happy.
As young adults, we fail to recognize that a change of plans can be a good thing. The way that life challenges and reconstructs the plans we make, show us that happiness isn't a place that we will one day reach through a job, relationship or new experience. Happiness isn't a feeling that will suddenly come upon us after receiving our college diplomas or moving into our first apartment. Although those are all great accomplishments and milestones in our lifetimes that may make us happy in that moment, happiness lasts for longer than just a moment. Happiness is appreciation of all a bunch of little things, especially for us in our twenties.
Appreciate the time you get to spend with your loved ones.
Appreciate the way your stomach hurts after a long night of laughs with your best friends.
Appreciate the feeling of the sand in your toes and the sun on your face on a hot summer day.
Appreciate how beautiful the crisp, white, snow looks as it falls on a cold winter day.
Appreciate the sound of the ocean crashing on the shore.
Appreciate how your favorite song can give you chills.
Appreciate when a stranger holds the door for you, or smiles at you when you're having a bad day.
Appreciate the people in your life who genuinely want what is best for you.
Appreciate when a class gets cancelled, especially if it's before noon.
Appreciate that your mistakes don't define you. Rather, they prove that you are trying.
Appreciate the little things in your life. Watch the big things grow.
And, the next time you find yourself wondering why you don't have your whole life figured out just yet, remind yourself it's only because you're too busy living it.
