The following #POPCreators entry was submitted by Camille De Leon. Submissions under POP! Creator Community appears “as is,” without any editorial intervention.
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When we were 10, we wanted to grow up quickly so we won’t have to force ourselves to take a nap in the afternoon.
When we were 16, we wished we’re an adult so we could leave the house and do everything we want to do, with no parents scolding us.
When we were 25, we got tired of working and desperately wishing we’d be young again, only dealing with exams and projects and homework and not thinking on how to pay the bills.
But we’d also hope we’re already 30, because we thought by that time, we have everything figured out.
When we became 30, and we’re still lost, we looked back on how many years have already past, and we question ourselves, “Is this really the life I want to live?”. Then we hope for more. We search for more.
When we were 60, we wake up and realized that we are no longer in the prime of our lives. Gone are the days when power and success are greatest. Instead, we seek for wisdom, for meaning, and for understanding.
Then we will be in our 70, 80, lucky those who will reach 90. But we’re still the same, desperately wanting to have a better tomorrow and wishfully thinking we can go back to yesterday.
You see, we don’t get to appreciate our age because we always thought we’d be happier and better in the coming years. And when we reached that certain age, we’ll be disappointed because it’s not what we expected. But the truth is, life will never get more beautiful when we are young or when we are old. Life is magically beautiful now, right here, in this exact moment.
At 10, we never realize that this is our time to play, to run around, to watch cartoons, to sleep as much as we want. This is the time that we are free of burdens and responsibilities. Only to appreciate it at 25, constantly saying, “I wanna be a kid again.” At 25, we got exhausted and we don’t get to see that this is our proudest moment. We finally succeeded in finishing school and have been earning a living to provide for ourselves and our families. These are the years to fall in love, to travel, to chase dreams and opportunities. This is the time we could try and make mistakes and learn from it. Then again, only to see the beauty of our quarter-life when we are at 50.
We waste our time with a lot of wishful thinking and forget to live in the moment. Every stage of our lives is different, and we have to accept that we will always have hardships. Each season is beautiful if we only have a grateful heart to appreciate everything, good and bad, little and big, happy, and sad. We don’t know how exactly our lives will unfold, or how much time we got. We are only given the chance to wake up today not having the slightest idea of what tomorrow brings. So, let’s live our lives to the fullest with no regrets, making every single year of our age the best life we could ever have.
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