Over the last couple weeks, the weather has given us the usual surprise box of delights. It was upon one of the strange, almost foreign, sunny days in which I found myself, completely and utterly happy. For over an hour I lay basking in the sun upon my dorm’s floor, uncaring of the multitude of assignments, homework and writing that needed to be completed. I found myself completely enveloped in the warmth and glow of a sun that had seldom shown its bright and wonderful face.
Have you ever had a moment in which you were completely and utterly happy to just exist? This moment is commonly found riding along a smooth road, watching the scenery meld by, or after a large meal. We all can experience them, and we all find them somewhere a little different. In summer I tend to find mine napping on the beach or watching the waves from up high upon a sand dune. In these moments we are not dwelling in the past, nor are we contemplating the vastness of the future. This does not mean we have chosen to ignore them or deny them their right to exist. Instead we live in the only moment we have, the present. I will claim no right to the words I have spoken or thought, since I am not the first to do so.
Our time here is incredibly short. Yesterday I was playing tag on a playground, today I am a college student, and tomorrow I will be an old man. If an individual could live forever, they would blink and all their loved ones would be gone. I am not scared of death. Death is painful, yet so is sorrow, love and living. Upon this though, if the thought of non-existence occurs, fear stabs through me faster than any bullet could end me. I have no twenty-year-plan. I do not even have a plan for next week. There is no such thing as job security or even order for that matter.
The world is all just one existence of inherent chaos that we choose to perceive in ordered patterns. You are just a single thread of humanity that hangs in the void of time. Each of us is woven from those of our ancestors and wound about each other to create that which is the most intricate design. Life. You are the link to the past, and carver of the future. In this you are given one major choice: You can choose to be miserable. You could place all your hopes into a future you never chase after or love someone with all your heart and never admit it.
I beg you to choose to be happy. The past will not change and the future is not predictable. Thus, place the present ahead of the rest and enjoy this moment. Seek and desire all that is now, never letting the past hold you back or have the future push your ideas down
