I heard this morning that an acquaintance from college passed away this morning after battling leukemia for the past year and a half. Although I wasn’t close to him, several good friends of mine were, and I hurt for them. It’s such a wake-up call when things like this happen. One day, he was a young man, enjoying college, enjoying life, making plans and making new friends. The next day he was terminally ill, and now…he’s gone.
One of the things that I think about when something like this happens is what I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: people trying to rush their lives before they have even begun. I admit, I at one time wanted college to be here NOW, and I wanted to be an adult NOW, and there are times when I want to fast forward three years when I can be married to my boyfriend. But…I can’t fast forward life, and as I am realizing all of the things that make up the whole “adult,” thing, I also note that it’s not worth rushing life and rushing yourself. I know all these people getting married and wanting kids at my age, and they aren’t taking any time after college to be themselves, and to understand what life is about. And there are people rushing into grad schools and top-tier jobs and wanting the best of everything, now, when they moved out the frat house or the dorm six months or a year ago.
We all want to be able to say that we are living in the moment: that we’d go skydiving if we had the chance, that we’d splurge on a vacation when we should be saving, that we would eat the good food rather than the crackers. We all like to say that we’re not rushing, that we’re doing what WE want, not what others want. The holidays are coming, and that is usually the time when people act more spontaneously, and when they eat too much and drink too much and love a lot. So, I’m going to do just that. I’m going to live now, not in the past, not in the future. I’m going to think about what I have and enjoy that, because you never know when it might be gone.
Jenna Sauber 