Sometimes I’m not so great at enjoying the present moment... okay, most times. I spend most moments excited for all of the opportunities and experiences that lie ahead... thus forgetting that I was once so excited for where I’m at right now.

In high school, I wanted to be in college. Now in college, I want to be out in the real world working my first job. I am always looking at whatever is looming on the horizon. I’m always prepared for the next adventure. But being ultra-prepared is not always a good thing. Sometimes, it’s better to unpack and set up camp right where you are, sit down, breathe, enjoy the view.

I need to stop being under the faulty impression that there is a mountain top I can reach. Life doesn’t end at one point. Life after college doesn’t lead to you to top. How could it? If that was the case, the peak of your life would be at age 22 and then the rest of your existence would be a sad, downhill stretch. Life isn’t a mountain, it’s a mountain range.

It’s a range that accounts for your range in experiences, your range in emotions. What would your euphoric happiness be without your devastating lows? What would a night out with friends be without a long night of studying to compare it to? And what would life after college be like without having all of the experiences that college brings — both the good and the bad? Everything that happens is helping you in some way. You’re always growing, whether you realize it or not. Whether you’re crying on your bedroom floor wishing for elsewhere or you’re celebrating in one of the best days of your life.

If you keep hoping for something better, you will never be satisfied. You will constantly be left wanting more because the grass will always be greener. But instead of envying what someone else has, you envy your future self.

Don’t envy your future self. You haven’t met her, or him, yet. Those battles, struggles, joys and successes will come in time. But for now, those are endeavors you need not worry about. Your concerns should be on the present moment because it’s all you have. Use what you have right at this second to make the most of today. If you’re in high school, don’t wish you were in college. Don’t wish your time away like I did. I focused too much on the aspects of it that I hated, rather than focusing on those that I loved. I miss the days of running with my high school cross country team, making it to the state meet my Senior year. I miss when I was finding my passion for writing in my Junior year English class. I miss people that I didn’t think I would miss.

And, speaking to myself here, if you’re in college, don’t wish you were graduated and taking on the real world. You have the rest of your life to do that. You will have ample time to see the world, to work, to enjoy your twenties, and enjoy the release from the title of a student after nearly two decades. That time will come, and quicker than you think. So don’t wish it away, because it will be a period of your life you will look back on fondly. Even though I’m struggling with being happy where I am now, I must realize that I will miss this. I will miss learning every day, after doing so for so long. I will miss the people that I see when I walk to class who greet me with a smile and unknowingly brighten my day. I will miss being surrounded by a copious amount of people my age, all going through some of the same experiences as I am. I will miss how much I have grown in such a short time and how much I am learning about life, love and myself.

So, I choose to stop focusing on the future and to start rejoicing in the present. I know I will be better off for it. I will always have more than enough things to reminisce, and more than enough things to look forward to. So, it’s worth my while to revel in the multitude of things that are happening right now: those which I was once hoping for, and those which will one day become another beautiful chapter in my crazy storybook of a life.