Goodbyes are never easy, so I won't say any. Rather, to those who are moving on-from school or from life-all I will say is thank you, and happy trails.
We have many things to look forward to: parties, dates, concerts and a wealth of other events populate the schedules of our lives so that we can press on and persevere when our temporary futures do not seem as bright as they once did. We look forward because that is all we can do-the present is but a fleeting temptress, and the past, an elusive phantom that can never be recovered.
One of the greatest enduring challenges in my life is that of living for the present. Maybe I am too hard on myself, but I find the task of \living in the now"" to be wholly insurmountable in most all occasions. Even when doing something I really enjoy, I can't help but detach and think about ""what's next""-the next class, the next test, the next paper, the next interview, the next appointment, the next responsibility.
Perhaps the ability to truly live in the present is a gift we are only able to utilize in our childhoods, a ""super power"" that slowly seeps from our bodies as we pass from rite to rite in our youth and gradually press on toward adulthood. I suppose the worst part about concocting and understanding the complications of living in the present is the realization that I rarely ever do it. There are but a few select activities one can involve themselves with that allow for almost entirely living in the present: riding a roller coaster, doing a shot of liquor, public speaking, bench-pressing just above your maximum amount, performing a solo in front of an audience, engaging in an act of passion. Only in these all-too-brief moments are we really free to enjoy the present.
Yet the more I think about it, the more I lead myself to believe that life really isn't meant to be enjoyed at every moment, that the present was never supposed to be uninhibitedly embraced. In my estimation, constantly and unwaveringly living for the present is quite analogous to being eternally drunk or high or in the midst of passion, and while those things can be fun and enjoyable, they would certainly lose their luster without moderation.
It is our greatest challenge as human beings to get the most out of life before life gets us. There are so many things that act as antagonistic agents aimed at subverting our personal quests in life, whatever they may involve. Fear, anxiety, loneliness, embarrassment-these are but a few of the obstacles which seek to drag us down to the proverbial murky depths.
I view this summer as an opportunity, not to ""find myself"" as so many attempt to do, but to learn how to at least adroitly counter these hostile obstacles, if not avoid their grasp altogether. If I succeeded, if only in the slightest degree, hopefully I can tell you about it in the fall.
As my second favorite actor-turned-governor of California always used to say, ""I'll be back.""
