...for the Joyful

Look Up.

One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received.

It seems a tad arbitrary to just look up, but if you really go into depth about those two simple words, it will unravel a moment of overwhelming comfort which just today brought me close to tears.

In this chaotic life, it seems as though simple moments are pushed to the side.

Family dinners, a few minutes of silence, or even a second or two to glance up above are a few of life's simple pleasures that have slipped away through the hands of our generation.

Over my four years in high school, I have found that each year I get older and older, the less and less of these moments I allow myself to soak in, and that scares me.

It scares me that at 18 years old, I have my whole life ahead of me and on the path that I'm on, the only parts of my life I'll be living are the scheduled events and commitments I have racked up, unable to trade them in for a coupon labeled "day of nothing. take a breath."

Crying alone in my room last night, failure could most definitely be a valid word to describe the bulk of my emotions. Right as I was about to grab for the tissue box, a friendly facebook chat grabbed my attention. In the sea of words, all I needed to fish for was Look Up. Frustrated, bitter, and determined to do one thing right, I looked up at my ceiling and broke into even more tears of frustration.

Today though, that piece of advice was greeted with tears of another sort. Tears filled with emotions I hadn't experienced in weeks. As I got out of my car, I remembered these words. Standing in the middle of my street, I followed the directions and the reaction was one I wasn't expecting.

Joy beat through my heart and welled up in my eyes.

The simplicity of nothingness and the ability to feel as small as a grain of sand was something that sent my mind spinning.

Why do we ignore the simplicity around us and allow ourselves to be controlled by our schedules?

I forgot joy could come from such a simple action.

I have found that the hardest road to take is often the one most traveled when it comes to our work load.

If I join sport A, college B will accept me.

If I stay at the gym X minutes longer, boy Y will like me more.

If I never say no, my life will be easier at some point.

Well, when is that point?

Is it ever really reached?

No, I beg to differ.

By stretching yourself too thin, you get sucked into the mindset that free time is a waste of time.

I have been living my life with the idea that I am worthless, useless, and stagnant unless I am always on the go, always adding more miles to my road travelled, and never having to feel the weight of failure at the nearest turn pike to grab a bite to eat and take a breath of fresh air.

So, what will you do?

Get out of your car, Look Up and experience a moment of free time, or will you continue down the road, never taking the nearest exit in fear of wasting time that could be better spent getting you closer and closer to your destination of Nowhere.