By: Michael Ginsburg
I’m sure you’ve
heard the adage “live in the now”. While I’m not sure if I’d argue to live by
coined phrases like this, I certainly agree with it. Each day we live, for the
most part, is taken for granted; as are the things we possess and the people we
have in our lives. Life’s plotline, whether it is predetermined or not, is ours
to live—not for tomorrow, but today.
Something that
haunts me everyday is my need to worry about the future and what’s ahead of me.
Since I was a child, I remember many instances of this. When I was about 6
years old, my parents told me I was going to start playing in a basketball
league in a few weeks. I bawled my eyes out for about an hour or so. Years
later, I was set to go on a trip to Israel. I was excited all year for it, but
as the time to leave grew nearer, I became increasingly nervous. The anxiety of
going away bothered me for weeks leading up to it.
In each of these
instances, the fear of the unknown rattled me to the point where it affected
daily living. Something that was going to happen in the future gnawed at me
before it even started. Hence, I was living two, three even four weeks ahead of
where I actually was, which left me unable to enjoy the present.
Looking back on
both of those examples, I can’t help but laugh at myself. Basketball, for at
least 14 years, was a centerpiece of my life. Perhaps you’ve heard of Malcolm
Gladwell’s theory that claims it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be
considered an expert at something, like basketball or playing the piano. I once
tried to calculate how much time I actually spent playing basketball and came
up with an estimate of 2,521 hours of practice. This comes out to roughly 105
days of my life thus far, spent playing basketball. This sport that once had me
crying because of my fear to play turned out to be one of the most important
things in my life.
On a similar note,
my trip to Israel—over which I lost many hours of sleep—was undoubtedly one of
the best trips of my life. I had experiences
that I’ll never forget and met friends that I’ll always love. It’s funny to think how naïve I was when I
sat around worrying about everything that could possibly go wrong.
My point is
obvious, right? Whether you need to declare your major or begin playing a new
sport, is irrelevant. They both entail this lack of certainty and make you
think about what’s ahead of you. While it’s not always bad to look ahead, there
just isn’t a reason to let the future ruin the present. Don’t worry about
tomorrow; it’s out of your control. Everything plays itself out—for the better
or worse. Everything turns out okay in the end, and if it’s not okay, it’s not
the end. If it’s meant to be, it will. These clichéd adages are the ones to
consider in our daily life. Enjoy the journey as much, if not more than the
destination.
In the wise words
of Eric Cartman, “I don’t like thinking about what I want to be when I grow up,
because when I grow up, I want to be something that I know I can never be.” I couldn’t agree more.
Check out previous post here: The Spectacular Now
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