02/15/08
I’ve sat here for four hours pondering something smart to say to impress everyone, maybe about politics or economics, but to be honest, I’m not even registered to vote.
All I can think about is my recent life, and my recent discovery.
I figured out the secret to life, and it was sitting right in front of my face.
Happiness is the key to living life to the fullest. It seems so simple, but at our age, it’s easy to lose sight of your dreams and goals you’ve had since you were young. Believe me, I know.
We get so caught up in being the best in school or athletics that we forget to do the little things we’ve enjoyed our whole lives.
When I was 15, I wrote a list of 30 things I want to do before I’m 30 and have even crossed a few off. No. 1 would be to live on a beach somewhere. Cosmetology school is about No. 15, while going to an Oprah show is No. 13. Somewhere on there I wrote that I want to eat sushi (you’d think I would’ve done that by now) and travel to Italy. One even says to dye my hair black (the only color I hadn’t been), which I crossed out on my last day of my senior year in high school. My parents freaked, but hey, I liked it.
It used to be in my car on my dashboard reminding myself of everything I wanted to do in life but was slowly pushed to the floor.
The past few years have been spent figuring out my major and playing basketball, and somewhere along the way I think that piece of paper flew out the window.
Thank goodness I have another copy.
We, as students and young adults, spend too much of our time worried about making others happy that we forget about ourselves. The scary part is, it only gets worse as we get older.
I don’t plan on changing the world with this column, but I do hope I reminded someone that those goals you made when you were young are achievable, even if it just consists of a few things you’ve always wanted to do.
I’m almost 21 years old, and to me, that means my life is just beginning.
I’ve got nine years to make my list, and who knows, maybe when I’m 30, I’ll make a list of 60 things to do before I’m 60.