Slow it Down

          For the past few days, the first days of the New Year, I have been confined to my house with a terrible cold and sore throat. I can't remember the last time I physically felt this bad :(. I am however glad that I am getting this out of my system before heading back to school, at least while I am sick at home I have my mom to help take care of me and put up with all my coughing and whining. I am not over exaggerating when I say that my past few days have been ultimate lazy days filled with watching TV, reading books, sleeping and drinking tea. All of this down time has left me thinking about anything and everything it seems, which has actually not been overwhelming but somewhat calming. It's the beginning of the New Year which means that people all over the world are thinking of New Years resolutions and goals for this upcoming year. Until today I hadn't really thought about any resolutions that I wanted to make. To be completely honest, I am not one to really stick to my resolutions. Every year I say that I am going to do something whether it be read more books for fun, go to the gym everyday, or eat healthier. I generally keep up with these resolutions for a few weeks and maybe even a few months, but after that they generally start to fade away. It wasn't until today, while sitting (slightly miserable and sick) that I thought of a resolution or desire that I have for this upcoming year, one that I deeply desire to keep. 

          Looking back over the past year, I am lost for words at how fast it went by. It feels like only yesterday that I was sailing with my family over New Years, or that I was saying goodbye to my friends going to Spain. Where did this year go? 365 days were gone in the blink of an eye. 365 days is a long time! How did it go by so fast? The only plausible answer that I can think of for this question is that we let/make it go by fast. If you really think about it, we are what truly makes everything move by so fast. I think so often, I look forward to things, or countdown to things that I forget to live in the moment. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with looking forward to something, but there is a difference between being able to look forward while living in the present, and looking forward to something in order to try and escape the present. Think about it for a moment. When you look forward to something or countdown to something, are you so focused on reaching that moment that you are neglecting the moment that you are in. It is hard not to do this. You want to reach that point so badly that you would skip over days to reach there. I think we get so caught up in moving forward that we forget completely that we are given days to live before that moment. If we are always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one we are in?

          I am not trying to sound morbid, I am only trying to speak what I believe to be the truth. But, everyday we live on earth is one less day that we have in this life. When I hear it that way, I cannot help but think that there is no reason to try and hurry the days. When I look back on my life I want to feel like I lived every moment. I want to realize that whatever I do each day is important or worth it, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. I don't want to waste my time looking forward to something and forget about the time I have at the moment.

          With all that said, there is one thing that I desire for this New Year: Slow it Down. I want to make every day meaningful and important. I don't want everything to move by so quickly, and I feel like I have the choice to slow everything down so that it doesn't pass so rapidly. I don't want to try and move so fast that I miss things. As hard as it is for me, I'm not going to try and make five year plans or ten year plans. Realistically five or ten years down the line, it probably won't be exactly how I pictured it anyways.  I don't think that it is until we slow down that we are able to experience that sensation that life is just perfectly ok the way it is. I do not think that it is until we stop rushing through life, that we realize how much more life we actually have time for. When we slow down we are able to see the beauty that surrounds us. This is my deepest desire for this new year. I just want to slow it down, and I do believe that I have that power. This is one "resolution" that I will not let myself give up.

"The trick is enjoy life. Don't waste away your life waiting for the better ones ahead."

The Perfect Song for this: