PEACE.
Peace of mind. Peace that we know this moment, right here, this very second, is exactly where we need to be. Where we are meant to be. Don't question how or why or where your next steps will take you. Rather, ground yourself in peace and comfort and hope that today, tomorrow, and next week will be met with new opportunities, a fresh start.
The 10 hour shift you're working right now slowly passes because you keep looking at the clock, slowly ticking as if we are dependent on time. False. Time is dependent upon us. We control how many hours we spend watching Netflix, scrolling through social media, lifting weights at the gym, studying for tests. We decide how to make the most of our time. Waste it or use it but it's your decision, not the minute hand slowly make its laps.
The test you're studying for right now is important. It may determine your future. So study. Spend your time invested in the future that you want. A corporate job? Teaching? Nursing? Freelance reporter? It all takes time. You can't tap your heels and somehow, miraculously, bippity boppity boo to graduation with a diploma in your hand. Time will get you what you want.
The screaming kid in the back of your car will eventually (hopefully), with time, stop. And the teenager that just stomped their way up the stairs to their room will eventually, with time, stop. Listen to each sniffle and each foot that nearly comes through the ceiling. Listen carefully. Because, with time, one day you'll be wishing for one more tantrum or one more overdramatic episode. Cherish the time. The best and the worst of times.
Absorb every moment of this life you live. Every red light on your way to work, every sleepless late night, every laugh, every tear that falls from your cheek. Every. Single. Second. Because one day you'll blink and time has escaped you. You will have let it slip through your fingers and fall into the abyss. You can't get that time back. It's gone. So have peace with yourself, your circumstances, your time. Peace with this ever changing, simple life you live. This moment. Have peace.