Nothing but A Memory

Growing up is a pretty hard concept to wrap your mind around. All the things you’re used to; the things that make you happy, sad, excited, or mad, can change in an instant. You realize you aren’t a little kid anymore, and to me the worst part about it is that all the simpleness in life is gone. When you were 5, all that you had to worry about was how late your parents are going to let you stay up or How many times can you ride your bike around the neighborhood before dark even the simplest thing as to where the best hide n seek spots were in the neighborhood. But in the blink of an eye, worrying about balancing a job, sports, school work, a social life, and family, is all thrown at you before you know it.

While babysitting over the summer it really occurred to me that I was really starting to grow up and was no longer the little kid with no cares in the world. I would just sit back and watch them play tag for hours on end and watch their imaginations soar, just thinking about how much I would give to be that carefree again. I miss calling up friends on the home phone and asking to “play”, running up to random kids and being best friends in 2 minutes giving no cares about what they’re wearing, how weird they are or anything of that sort.

It’s pretty sad how at a young age, all you want to do is grow up and be old, then once you get there you spend the rest of your life wishing you could just be a kid again. I wish I could tell kids that they need to take advantage of their young age because it fly’s by so quickly and once it’s gone it’ll never come back, but I know when I was told that as a kid, I just shrugged it off and couldn’t wait till the day I became a teenager.

One of the most depressing stages of growing up I’d have to say is college. Not necessarily for those going into it, but also for the people who have a lot of close friends leaving for college. Sure it’s probably really exciting to start a new chapter in your life, but it sucks for those left behind. My sister went off to college 2 years ago and it really didn’t hit me that she was gone until about 2 weeks after we dropped her off and in a way I felt lost. For the first couple days it seemed unreal and I just thought that she was off at a friend’s house and would come home the next day because I mean c’mon I lived with her for 17 years of my life and now she’s just gone.

I miss all of the things we used to do together growing up, and knowing now that all of it is just pictures and memories is nothing but depressing. Sure I’m excited to go off on my own in a couple years, but what’s next after that? The future is one of my biggest fears. You never know what’s coming but you just have to face it head on. As much as I hate the fact that all my favorite memories are just a part of the past now, there’s really nothing to do but look forward to the future and remember all the good times you had.

Some people hate when others act immature, but in my opinion, be a kid as long as you can. Do stupid, immature, silly things just because you can; just because 20 years from now it’ll all be memories, and heck why not make those memories worth remembering. Take advantage of the fact that you can still go play at a park, ride your bike around, play board games, watch old Disney shows, or even do cartwheels ’til you’re dizzy. Make mistakes while you’re young because let me tell yah, no one ever learned from sitting on the couch watching their life pass before them. All I have to say is live it up because before you know it, it will all be gone.