Why The Rush?

What do you want to be when you grow up? Where do you want to go to college? What kind of job do you want to have? Do you want to get married? How many kids do you plan to have? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 

These are all questions each and everyone of us has been asked, probably starting at a very young age. We are taught that the future holds something greater for us than the present. And although that is a refreshing reminder when going through a rocky part of life, I don't believe that is something we should focus on, on a daily basis. I believe we should plan for our future no doubt, but I don't think we should only hope to find happiness and joy in our future. Because one day, the future will become the present and we will still be searching for that promised happiness in the future when in all reality, the present holds the happiness we have been searching for all along. "You never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory." I agree with that statement completely. In the world we live in today, we are taught to center our lives around our future and it isn't until we look back on the past that we realize those moments held all the happiness we were yearning for.

So why the rush? Why the rush to grow up? I remember not being able to wait to be a high schooler. And then came time to drive, followed by major senioritis in high school and not being able to wait to get the heck out of my itty bitty home town and on to bigger and better things in college. And then came being and official adult and turning 18 and actually starting college. Now that I'm officially a senior in college, I have my moments where I feel like I need to get out of here ASAP and just start the next chapter and get a real job and really start my life. Then of course comes the thought of marriage and kids(although I'm not planning on that happening anytime soon). But as I sit here scrolling through old pictures I can't help but smile and laugh and feel a hint of sadness as I briefly relive those moments. High school was a breeze. I had so much fun, so little responsibility in comparison with the grand scheme of life, my problems that were earth shattering then I now laugh at. Life was so easy. Now I'm not saying I would want to go back to high school and do it over again, once was plenty for me, but I have some wonderful, goofy, amazing memories that I will cherish forever. If only I would have been able to truly appreciate everything in those actual moments. 

Now as I am in college and starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I begin to realize that this growing up thing is for real, it's actually happening. I'm beginning to want to slowly press on the breaks and try to make this time last as long as I can. I begin to feel myself not actually wanting to grow up as I thought I had always wanted to. Now I don't want to stay in college forever by any means, but this last year, I want to truly enjoy and appreciate because I will never get it back. I want to look back on my life in college and have some absolutely wonderful memories with my friends. Whether it's football games, Fuzzy's girls nights, faking an SOS to bail a friend out of an awkward situation, dancing the night away, driving down back roads discussing life, laying in bed with my best friends laughing so hard we cry, or crying so hard we laugh, those are the moments I want to love and appreciate and the memories I want to cherish. I don't want to look back and only rember how I rushed through such amazing years of my life only wishing to go back and live them again. 

We have the rest of our lives to grow up. Why rush it now? Why not live in the present and do your best to yes, plan for the future but not center your life on the idea that future holds all your happiness? Life is good y'all. You and I are blessed in our own ways, why not appreciate it and soak it all in while you can? Don't grow up too fast, you'll find the love of your life some day, you'll have a great job some day, you'll have kids some day(if you want them). Don't rush through life, cherish and love your friends, if you're good to them, they'll be good to you and they'll be there for the long haul. Thank God for each day He has given you. We will never have the chance to live yesterday again, so while it is still today, live it and enjoy it, don't rush through it. 

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift; that is why it's called a present." -Bil Keane