On the brink of adulthood, some childhood memories seem to slowly be fading faster and faster into my past. Where did the time go? When did I get so old? Thinking back, I can now recall times where I sat bored in my middle and high school classes, wishing the days and weeks to pass, in hopes of summer. Then summer would fly by in the blink of an eye. Why? Time.
Time plays some devilish games with us; As our favorite times fly by, the dull ones seem to drag on. Here I am, a young adult, wishing I was still just 5-years-old pretending to be asleep in hopes that Dad will carry me up to bed.
Don’t get me wrong, I love where I am now, but it all just went by so fast. To look back and realize I only helped speed up the process of growing up along the way…what was I doing? Being jealous of those older than me, only to find out once I reached that age that it was nothing special. Learning through accelerated classes because it “looked good,”when they were actually weighted no differently compared to the other regular classes. Wearing definitely too much makeup for a seventh grader, just because it’s what the older girls did. Never believing my elders when they said life flies by, and finally, despising the phrase, “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”
Well, now you’re older and I’ll tell you; slow down, kid. What’s the rush to grow up? We are caught up in a world that emphasizes our future and relentlessly seems to push us to grow up. We constantly stress over our next step in life, while we simultaneously overlook the steps we are taking now.
From someone who is all too familiar with life being too short to take it for granted, listen to me when I say, slow down. Enjoy and embrace what you are doing now, and put your futuristic mindset on the backburner. I bet now that you think of it, you did not even realize how often you actually are thinking of the future and overlooking the present. Right now is a gift; that’s why they call it the present, right?
I know I am guilty of rushing through life at some points, and I am hoping this can help you also realize how you need to slow down too. Live in the now. Celebrate the little things; and just take a deep breath and smile. Stop rushing through this beautiful life blindly. Whether it is five years or just five minutes from now, please don’t waste your seconds now rushing to get there. We’ll get there eventually, I promise. As much as I didn’t believe them when they said life flies by, I am mistaken, as it definitely does.
The great Ferris Bueller once told us, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Although he lied about a lot in that movie, this quote is certainly true. So, I say this to your inner child that still doesn’t understand how fast life goes by:
