Why You Shouldn't Dread Growing Up As Much As You Do
Allow yourself to do one thing a day that makes you better.
denrz / Shutterstock By Ashlyn Thomson
Everyone always says to enjoy the time you have since you won’t be young forever, as if getting older is a bad thing.
Like most of you, I was told to enjoy my teen and pre-teen years, to relax and to enjoy high school, because after high school you grow up and every single person made it seem like a terrible time.
What? Do you drown in a deep dark hole when you turn into an adult? Is life really that bad?
You see, most of the people who have raised this topic to me have a family, a large house, a job — one which they don’t love — bills, responsibilities, and a few hobbies, so they believe their best years were the ones behind them. The years full of no responsibilities, no rent, no children, and a time where the only struggle was what to wear on Saturday night.
But shouldn’t they be looking forward to the future, and trying to better themselves and everyone around them? My answer is yes.
I believe that everything happens for a reason, and if we are here again tomorrow shouldn’t that mean we are given another chance to make something of ourselves?
Doesn’t that mean we should look forward to today, to tomorrow, and live each day like it’s the last one? Shouldn’t we enjoy what we have and be thankful for another day?
I personally like growing up; I think it’s fun. Every new day is a different adventure. You can change your whole life in such a short few seconds that everything you do leads you to your next destination.
So if you live each day going to work at a place you hate, then come home to a location that doesn’t feel peaceful, eat only because you need to eat, then sleep because you have nothing else to do, and then repeat, how are you bettering yourself? How are you living the life you were given?
Don’t waste it like that; take advantage of the time you have here on earth. Don’t wish upon the past but be in the present and look at the future.
Make a move where you and the people you surround yourself with are benefitted!
You see, we tend to take things for granted in first world countries, and I am not saying we don’t deserve the things we do have, but at the same time, let's step back and look at life.
We have clean running water that comes instantly after releasing the tap; we do not have to walk multiple miles to the river and carry dirty, unsanitized water over our heads so that maybe we can have a glass of drinking water.
We have a roof over our heads with heat and air conditioning, rather than having a hut or a cardboard box. And we have a successful economy which means we can go and buy anything we need at a store instead of eating once a day.
So instead of wishing to be back in the old days where life “wasn’t so hard,” why don’t we take a minute and think?
Think about life, think about what we have, think about how grateful we should be and that not everyone has the chances to live life the way we do. Think about bettering yourself and being grateful for the things and time you have.
Allow yourself to do one thing a day that makes you better. It can be anything from holding the door open for a stranger, to helping someone in need.
When you better yourself, you better those around you, and if everyone did this, think about what our world would become.
Just a quick thought but maybe bettering yourself is a part of growing up.
Ashlyn Thomson is a writer and musician who writes primarily about relationships, money, and self-improvement topics. Visit her author profile for more.