Things become hectic around this time  of year. The holidays are almost here, college applications are due, semester exams and even scholarship applications: it seems like they all run together and you’re left trying to juggle everything at once. Usually, I let the stress of everything get to me and I tend to have minor meltdowns, however lately I have realized that it won’t be the end of the world if something isn’t exactly perfect.

Although, it’s taking me a long time in realizing that I don’t need to stress over things so far in the future, I have finally come to accept it. With my personality I panic over everything and I feel if I’m not stressing or doing something involving that event then I must not care about it enough. My dad always tells me, “Jennifer, you need to stop and smell the roses because sooner or later they won’t be there anymore.”  I can worry all day and anticipate things far into the future, or I could just enjoy the moment I’m in right now. The future can be scary there’s no doubt about it, but no one knows what the future holds, it’s unexpected and anticipating it, is half the fun. Maybe I have despair and disappointments waiting on me, or maybe I have something amazing ahead; but either way, it’s uncontrollable, it all happens for a reason, and it’s all part of a greater plan that I can’t alter.

All the time I spend worrying about what’s going to happen, I’m overlooking everything that’s occurring right in front of me. Things started to become real this past week when I went to my last pep rally as a high school student.  I’ll never watch the boys play from the stands again, I’ll never sit in the Student Section with my friends and I’ll never be able to compete for the spirit stick as a senior. Senior year is flying by fast, and there’s a lot of things I’ll never do again after this year is over. There’s too much to be grateful for and so little time to cherish it all, so I might as well live in the moment before it passes me by. Too soon I’ll be standing at the gates of my future, moving somewhere new and strange and becoming a responsible adult ready to take on the world.