When I was a little girl, I was so excited to turn 10 (finally double digits!) and then 13 (teenager!) and then 16 and 18. I thought it would take forever to get older. But the older I got, the more I realized that life literally blew past me. I was so busy with school and extracurricular activities that I really wasn't enjoying life. I was always going and doing and I never stopped to smell the flowers, so to speak. Now at nearly 20 years old, I'm beginning to regret speeding through life.
I'm starting my sophomore year of college, just like most of the people that I grew up with. This summer hasn't really been a summer because of that. I work 40 hours a week trying to make enough money to afford school payments. When I started working a grown-up job, my mind was blown. It's nothing like being a waitress at a local sports bar or babysitting on the weekends. It is hard, nearly back-breaking work. I would much rather be lounging by the pool in the summer sun than have clothes soaked with sweat from hard work. While the checks that come once a month pay off, I wish sometimes that I was still a little girl. But instead of wishing my life away, I would have stopped and smelled the roses. I would have given my mom a few more hugs and told my stepdad that I love him. The transition from living at home and being a carefree teenager to living hours from your hometown and having to take care of yourself is hard. Your mom isn't with you at college to take care of you when you're sick. Your dad isn't there with you to threaten all the dumb guys that try to hit on you. If you're like me, you've found a family away from home to help you through those things, but it still isn't the same as having your parents there at your every beck and call.
Don't wish your life away. Even if you enjoy every second of it, you will be an adult with all sorts of responsibility before you know it. You'll be paying bills and college tuition. You won't have much money to have fun unless you start saving when you're a teenager. Wishing for adulthood is probably the worst thing that you could wish for. Enjoy your childhood playing with your imaginary friends. Enjoy your teen years gossiping about the cute boys and the mean girls. Enjoy it all because, in a blink of an eye, you'll be an adult with your own kids who will probably wish they were adults, just like you did.
