One moment you’re five years old, you open your eyes and the next thing you know you’re ten years old. Still Blissfully unaware and innocent to the world around you.
You close your eyes and open them again and you’re suddenly sixteen. Amidst the rush of growing up, teenage struggle and teenage fun. You think you know what the world is like and how it works. You build friendships and eagerly plan for the future.
Once again you open your eyes and you are freshly eighteen, old enough to legally drink and party. Adulthood has opened its doors. You are slightly aware of the reality of the crazy world around you. Freshly out of school and planning your next move towards a big career, exploration and adventure.
Once again you close your eyes and open them. You are a few days away from turning twenty-one and becoming a fully fledged, responsible adult. You are fully aware of how cruel the world can be, but at the same time you are aware of the opportunities you can take to better yourself and enjoy life. But crazy always gets in the way. You look back and wonder where childhood went? and why did it slip away so fast? Why were you so eager to grow up? You are awakened to the fact that you were wrong at sixteen, when you thought all twenty plus year olds had their shit together.
You realize real life has just begun. The hardships, the good times and the unbelievably great times, the experiences and the life lessons, the friends that have come and gone and the loyal ones who have stayed, falling in love and heartbreak and falling in love all over again. You cherish the peaceful moments and wish the world wasn’t so crazy as you watch it get madder and madder as the years go by.
You realize your blissful innocence and ignorance you once held many years ago and you long for it, sometimes quiet painfully too. Especially when things get chaotic and seem to be falling apart. You wish to go back to that younger self of yours and tell them to shut up about growing up so fast and to just enjoy your youthful moments. Because once you reach twenty-one and realize this, there is no turning back. Only forward, navigating the sea of adulthood, while trying to stay sane.
Knowing all this, take a page out of your childhood lessons and realize if we live in the now, enjoy the moment, go with the flow, roll with the punches and come out on top, we can embrace the child-like thinking of mystery and wonder, adventure and play. Don’t let the cruelty of the world taint your life with struggle when you can embrace spontaneity, strength and the power to push through everything and anything. Our childhood has seemed to flash by us in a blink of an eye but we can still maintain that child-like nature of peace, comfort, wonder and courageous bravery to keep us going strong.
If you are reading this and you are still in the throws of childhood, don’t let it waste and slip by. Embrace every moment, be a kid as long as you can and don’t worry or bother about wanting to grow up so fast. You only get one childhood, live it up.
With adulthood, now have no fear! Conquer every day, work hard, play hard and always keep that inner child within the love of your heart and mind to embrace the world with love, mystery and adventure.
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