February 27, 2014
It may still be cold outside, but I can feel the warm sunlight of spring on my skin. The light shines through a thinly blue sky without the hindrance of cloud cover. Driving in my car, listening to a young, light-voiced girl sing on the radio, the sunlight feels even hotter, but the spring even newer. It is in this time of year with the days growing longer at what seems like an unstoppable pace, that I feel the young spring dancing in its fresh vitality.
Still on the outer cusp of the dragging winter and still feeling the edge of its dulling effects, I found myself thinking about what I would have been doing today when I was younger. What would I have been doing five years ago? It brought on memories of friends and leisure, but also of hard work and strain. It made me feel nostalgic to bask in light memories, and amused in how difficult parts seemed.
I think that it is important to look to our younger selves -to feel them again. Even if we are not all that old, perhaps especially if we are. There were less responsibilities, and less we worried about. We felt lighter and freer. We spent more time with friends. We spent more time loving. We spent more time living and less time fretting over life, trying to make it perfect. Life was not perfect, but we did not expect it to be. We did not know what to expect and that was exciting. Life was as exciting as it was simple. But it did not seem simple and that made it even more exciting. It makes us remember that as hard any stress may seem, it seemed so then too. And now those memories seem as soft as absent clouds. We feel pride from the accomplishments, and have long forgotten the pain it took to bring them about. The present is much fiercer than the past, but if we can keep a wide perceptive, our current problems become like clear skies as well.
What would you have been doing today five years ago? Or 10 or 20? Longer?
This next week, try to let go of some of your stress. It most likely won’t matter in five months let alone five years from now. This week try to remember and do more of what you would have been doing five years ago. Feel younger. What’s the saying? “You’re only as old as you feel.” Try to do more of what you enjoyed doing then. It is true that we may not always find the same joy in the same activities as we grow, but it is also true that we too often allow a misshapen sense of maturity take from us joys we still can have. Smile. Let yourself feel young. Let yourself feel your own vitality.
I hope you enjoy your next week. I think you will.
Cheers.
-Michael Speck
P.S. I apologize for the absence of posts lately. I’ve been working on a secret project for the site for the past two months. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I hope it will help to improve your experience here in a big way. Thank you for your patience!
Mike D
March 7, 2014
Thank you for sharing bud! I’m really enjoying your posts. Keep them coming.
Michael Speck
March 7, 2014
That’s great to hear! I was happy to see a comment
Thanks for the support!