As children, humans often spend their time wishing that they could be more like an adult. Kids wish that they could do "adult" things such as drive a car or have a job and money to spend. Then in their teenage years, teens wish that their elders would treat them more like an adult. Teens want nothing more than to have their parents give them absolute freedom and treat them as if they were already grown. Finally, once that person becomes a young adult, they anxiously await for their moment to enter adulthood.
We spend our entire lives wishing that we could be older. My question is: When does it end? When do people stop wishing for that next step in life and just enjoy things for the moment? Too often it is that people wish away their youth and eventually find themselves a few years later just wishing they could have it all back. Life moves quickly and if you don't stop and enjoy it, you just might miss it.
When you are young, adults often tell you to enjoy being a kid as long as you can. Sooner or later, this just becomes background noise. You have heard it so many times that it no longer means anything to you, but it should. Adults know what they are talking about when they say that your youth goes by quickly because they have experienced it themselves.
Being young is something that I believe everyone takes for granted. Nobody truly understands how great it is to be young without a care in the world. Sure, there are some things that you have to care about when you are young, but those things pale in comparison to the things you will have to deal with years from now. You have the rest of your life to work and make adult decisions, so why not be young and live for right now?
In high school, everybody anxiously awaits the day they get their driver's license or finally turn 18 and are considered a legal adult. Next thing you know, you find graduating high school and going off to college or getting your life started. Shortly after, you wait for the day that you turn 21years old and are legal to buy and drink alcohol. After that, you suddenly find yourself graduating college and entering the "real world," which is known as adulthood, but what comes next? What else is left in your youth to wait for?
In fewer words, my piece of advice is, stop waiting and start living. Stop waiting for that next moment in life and enjoy the moment you are in. Those days that you are waiting for will come at some point, sooner than you may think. Start living life and enjoy being young. Make dumb decisions, be lazy, have fun and take advantage of every opportunity that this life has to offer.
“One day, you’re 17 and you’re planning for someday. And then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.” -Nathan Scott, "One Tree Hill"
You truly do only live once and most importantly, you are only young once, so enjoy your youth and hold on to it for as long as you can. Being an adult can wait.
