Doesn’t life come at you fast? It feels like one minute you’re playing four square in your driveway with your friends, and the next minute you’re graduating high school. I may only be twenty-one years old, but that gives me enough memories to formulate a reflection on this short life of mine so far. With only three semesters of college left, I have been reflecting on how fast time is flying by.

It feels like yesterday when I would get out of elementary school and go play football with my friends.

It feels like yesterday when I could just worry about what type of video game I was going to play that night. Now I have a bunch of responsibilities and stresses that come along with being twenty-one. My main point is, don’t get caught up trying to grow up too fast. Just saying the phrase, “I’m twenty-one” feels like a joke, but it’s true. Enjoy where you’re at now and don’t speed things up.

I’m sure we can all recall a time in our childhood that brings back fond memories. Mine included playing outside with my friends and playing games. While some of these things can still happen today, they just feel different. Nowadays it feels like there are underlying stresses in every activity we do.

Winter break is here for college kids, but under that happiness and joy of being home, comes the thoughts about next semester. Stressing about how much harder your classes are going to be, and how little money we all have leaves some of us debilitated.

These types of stresses were never a problem a decade ago, but now we’ve got to deal with them.

Let’s all think of a memory from high school. Is it beating your rival school in football? Or maybe even meeting your current best friend? At the time, high school felt extremely stressful, but I can tell you that it shouldn’t be. All of the nights I spent doing homework or worrying about grades in high school were wasted away when I could have been making memories.

I’m not telling you not to stress about your grades, but I’m telling you to enjoy the time you have in high school. My high school years were really fun so the four years flew by. I guess I never took the chance to step back and enjoy the time I had in high school. Now I’m already halfway done with college and it feels like high school ended yesterday.

Writing this helps me think about my time right now. If I wish I could go back and take the time to enjoy where I was at, I should take that advice in college. Reflecting on my past lets me enjoy being twenty-one. I can now take a step back and appreciate the things I have now. I don’t have many bills stacking up, and I don’t have a mortgage. I’m not responsible for a child, and I just need to take care of myself for the time being. I’m still fairly young so I should enjoy where I’m at now.

Many young people stress too much and don’t look at the positives until they get older. Let’s change that and think about the positives now. Whether you’re young and have a great job, or you’re getting your degree, there is a reason for happiness. Life does come at you fast, but everyone has the ability to slow it down and enjoy your time now.