IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FUTURE
By: Mariapia Onorato Caruso
The future consists of a series of events in every person’s life. As kids, we dream of our teenage years, as teenagers we dream about college, in college we dream about family, work, success, and so on. When imagining what will be, we don’t stop and appreciate life for what it is or live in the moment, as our consciousness drifts from the present to the future.
As a senior in high school, I have spent the majority of my time thinking about college. Thinking about where I’ll be happy, how I will do, what I will study if that will work or not. In times like this, I forget what it means to be a senior in high school, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I am 18 years old, and I should enjoy my last years of adolescence since soon I will have bigger things to worry about. I should enjoy the “easy” life and appreciate what I have instead of worrying about what will come.
The future is so unpredictable that I am not sure why we spend so much time worrying and thinking about it. Two of my family members died last year and another one has been in the hospital since. Unexpected, but it happened. I wish that I had spent more time with my uncle but every time I would think to go visit him or to text him, I would think “Oh I have so many years ahead of me to spend time with him.” We hold back from doing something now because we think tomorrow is a guarantee. That there will always be a tomorrow, another day to spend time with family, another day to tell someone you love them, but in reality instead of thinking so much about what you can do in the future, what holds you back from doing it now?
This drift of consciousness fits especially now with Covid-19. I feel like I took life for granted last year. I never expected that in the future I wouldn’t be able to go out without a mask or be in school with shields around my desk, we can’t expect anything for the future. If we live in the now, then we can avoid regretting the past in the future. Only by spending more time appreciating the little moments or letting our desires take us, can we feel a sense of relief and presence.