As time moves on, it has become very apparent and clear to me that my life will never be the same. Even though this statement is abundantly obvious, it is incredibly difficult to wrap my young mind around. When I was in high school, and up until halfway through my junior year in college, everything seemed to be the same. You saw the same people every day, you had the same teachers, or at least saw them, every day. It isn’t until you go to college and witness everyone move away firsthand that you realize just how short everything really is.
Even though I only graduated high school three years ago, so much has already changed, and to be frank, it terrifies me. Two of my favorite high school teachers do not even live near my hometown anymore, and I know almost no one in my town anymore. As I grow older and older, it seems like I become a stranger in the town that I once cherished so. With every year, another friend moves away and more people I do not know move in.
The problem is that in the moment, it seems like everything will always be the way that it is. For humans, it can be difficult to imagine things not being the same anymore. We are creatures of habit which means change isn’t always our most favorite thing in the world. But you see, time has other plans. As time moves forward, everything around us changes whether we approve of it or not. People move away, they change and ultimately nothing is ever the same as when you left it.
Time has a way of sneaking up on you. One day you wake up and realize that everything may seem slow at the moment, but in reality it is speeding by while you watch helplessly. There is no way of avoiding it, only sitting back and trying to make the best out of it. I never thought I would be one to say it, but I find myself thinking more and more, ‘Where in the world has the time gone?’ It’s pathetic really, me being 21 and already I am nostalgic about my past. But honestly, it’s hard not to be.
While there are times in my past that were unpleasant, there were a lot of really great times as well. That’s the problem with change, we never know what it is going to be. Yes, we may have a general idea of what will happen, but no human can predict these things. I never would have thought that my favorite teachers from high school would no longer be around to go visit over winter break. I never would have thought that my family would move away from the house where I grew up in. But, all of these things happen. Like the shoreline of the ocean, it changes every day and there is no option but to accept it.
Change is inevitable. As much as we’d like to make the good things stay the same, this simply isn’t possible. The only way we can control change is to embrace it for what it is; new opportunity. There are great things in our lives, they surround us; but they will not always be there. Embrace the good things in your life and enjoy them with the knowledge that they may be different the next day. But never forget, with every good thing that passes, another one is looming around the corner. Cherish the good moments, and stand with open arms for new ones.
