Being a human being in this changing, fast-paced world can be a daunting thing at times. There are social constraints that need to be followed and certain societal expectations to be adhered to. Especially living in a city like New York, where no one ever sleeps and people are always bustling to millions of different tasks in a single day, it can be hard to take a moment and relax.
Even as a college student, I find myself getting overwhelmed about the amount of tasks that i have to do in a day and most of the time, I just make sure I am moving at all times in order to get them all done. At the end of the semester, at the busiest time of the year, I took a moment to slow down to see beyond the day to day rhythm and actually appreciate the world that was going on around me. You see, while we are busy running from class to work to home, the Earth around us is working in a similar movement, creating waves of minuscule change that we notice not as they are happening, but rather as they accumulate. Instead of processing the slow events of caterpillars eating to plumpness and creating a cocoon around them to turn into butterflies, we are all recognizing the first and the final stages; not paying attention to the way such changes occur.
As I took the time to slow down my thought process and actually observe the world around me, I was able to appreciate the way that the simple things in life could create the most happiness. How a child falling while riding a bike causes the most extravagant but instantaneous reactions in parents. How the soft fur of kittens feel against the skin on cold winter mornings.
More than that, I was given the peace of mind to reflect on my year. We know that from year to year we change as people. We become more outgoing, more creative, more open to trying new things; but generally these changes aren't registered in our minds until someone points out "Wow! I never knew you liked that?" or the even more obvious "You've changed." Yes, indeed I have. Change, good or bad, is a part of life. We are always working on ourselves and undergoing a constant change in the way we see the worlds. Especially in college, students are open to so many different lessons and are taught to think on a level that was never expected of them before.
I was so surprised to find out how much I actually had change in a single year from high school to college. I was able to hone in on the things that I could not stand and fully realize the topics that made me excited to learn and function in the world. I could care less of what others thought and paid no mind when they tried to point out that I had "changed."
Now I am the first person to point it out. Yes I have changed, it is nearly impossible to stay the same day after day. It is also important however, to take a moment and fully realize how much you have. The change of pace and better understanding of why you don't like certain things or talk to certain people anymore will fill you with a peace unlike anything before. Take it from someone who has gone through it before.
