Every week I seem to be in the same routine -- wake up on Monday morning and curse the day for being at the beginning of the week. I drag myself out of bed, pour my coffee and get on with my day.
By Tuesday I think the weekend will never come, Wednesday drags, then by Thursday I finally start to see the light at the end of the week. Then Sunday comes and the whole process starts over.
I know this is normal, and for the rest of my life I most likely will follow this routine.
Wishing time away when you have something to look forward to is normal, especially in college. We countdown the hours until birthdays, holidays, parties, dates, interviews, going home... our whole lives are really just about waiting until the next event.
This practice isn't something we just developed on our own, though.
I remember when I was younger, my class made paper chains with 50 loops of paper. Each day, when we put down our backpacks, we would take a loop off the chain and count how many days were left until summer. Advent calendars are made for Christmas, planners have up to three years worth of calendars and there are even apps for our phones that tell you how many weeks, days, minutes even seconds until a certain date.
Unfortunately, we don't have an endless amount of time. While we're wishing away the sand in the hourglass, we're missing what's happening here, right now.
While I study my life away and spend hours dreading the thought of a late night practice, I constantly tell myself "in 3 hours it will be over" and "just get through this week" when I should be enjoying myself. This time next year, my life will be completely different than it is now. I will be a college graduate, hopefully, be going to grad school, working just about full time and living back at home with my parents sleeping in a twin-sized bed in my childhood bedroom. I can guarantee I will wish I had just one more day back in college, even if it's a Monday.
With the holiday's around the corner, my roommates and I are constantly looking ahead, telling each other to just get through these next couple weeks and then we have time off to enjoy ourselves, spend time with family and appreciate the comforts of home. Of course, that will be awesome, it's my favorite time of the year and I am genuinely looking forward to it. However, while looking forward, I'm not enjoying my time living in the present.
Someday, you're going to look back to the moment you are in right now, right this second, and wish you could have it back. So next time you wake up on a Monday morning take a second to enjoy all that you have in that instant -- your future self will thank you.
