I just started applying for BYU and Utah State... It feels really weird. Surreal, I guess. When did I get this old? I just turned 18. I'm applying for college. My childhood is literally over. But... I'm almost okay with it. In NFL (non-fiction lit) we're reading "Tuesdays with Morrie" -- which, by the way, is an amazing and life-changing book. Everyone should read it. It's a true story about a man named Morrie Schwartz that is dying from ALS. As his body deteriorates and he comes closer and closer to the end, he has the chance to look back on his life and evaluate it. Mitch, a middle-aged man that visits him regularly (on Tuesdays, of course) wonders if Morrie ever wishes he was young again, or that he could re-live certain experiences or times in his life, or that he was back where Mitch is now. But Morrie's strategies of dealing with death and aging are not average. He responds with, "How can I be envious of where you are when I've been there myself?" Morrie's attitude about life is to experience everything at its fullest extent, and to make the best and most with what you are given. And Morrie, literally on his death bed, looking back on his life, regrets nothing. Granted, a disposition like that would make it exceedingly difficult to regret or wish to go back to anything. Of course there will be happy memories, but life always goes on and it is impossible to ever go back. It is all you can do to accept it, but better to live in that moment and soak it up. It's unfair that Morrie had to look death in the face to realize this about his life-- and even more unfair that people hear his message and never act on it. It's unfair that other people have to grow old and not be happy with what they've done with their lives, or not be happy that they have grown old in the first place. How exactly am I supposed to appreciate life with as much vigor and enthusiasm as Morrie did? How do I live in the moment? How do I live without regrets? Maybe it's just me, but I have a feeling that I'm never going to get used to getting older.
Do something difficult every single day. Look for the beauty in others. Always ask the questions that linger on your tongue, but you are too afraid to ask. Surprise yourself. Keep no secrets concerning your heart. Testify to a stranger that Jesus loves them. Shoot for the stars. Roll down the windows. Watch a sunset, then sunrise. Write poems in library books.
Never wait for the rain to stop.