T minus what Till My Birthday

Nathan enjoys running around, playing Roblox with his friends, and eating chocolate. Like most 9-year-olds, his focus is on electronics – playing different games on the iPad, chatting with his friends, and create opportunities to connect and to play together.

One day, he declared, “T minus 16 until my birthday!” He was very excited about his upcoming birthday. He was thinking about what to do on his birthday, what friends he was going to invite over, what games to play. He decided to have a strawberry shortcake as his birthday cake.

“T minus 7 until my birthday!” shouted Nathan while he was running around in the living room. His eyes were lit up. His big grin was contagious. He continued to think about the actual day, how he would feel, how he would spend, what he would eat.

All my life I was looking forward to the next phase. I thought to myself, I would be happy if I could get into that high school, if I could get into that college, if I could get into medical school. When I got to each milestone of my life, I was happy and excited – for a short while. Then I was thinking, now what?

Instead of looking forward to the next page of my life, why not experience and fully immerse myself in the present, and enjoy every bit of it? I can choose to enjoy and live life as if I have already reached the next step. I get to feel hopeful, contentment and excitement on the way to my destination. This is the life I’d prefer to live.