Wishing Your Life Away...

“You’re wishing your life away…” my great grandmother would say to my mom when she expressed a wish for something in her life to pass quickly. The phrase resurfaced from time to time growing up with my mom. It stuck with me, even in the absence of my great grandmother and mother.

One day in college, my best friend and roommate was lamenting about an abundance of schoolwork that needed to be done and wishing for college to be over.

The words came back again and popped out of my mouth… “You’re wishing your life away…”

 I’m not sure how much she appreciated it. I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic or condescending. It just came to me, like a gift, as she was complaining about our workload. Her wish for our tedious work to be done was completely rational and made sense. I agreed.

However, I also knew that I really enjoyed living with her and that we would never get this time back. Like the seasons change, from fall to winter to spring and then summer, so would our current circumstances. We were (and are) confined by time.  Eventually, we would outgrow this stage of our life and go onto the next. As it should be. But we wouldn’t live together anymore.

Now I cherish the memories we made while living together and going to school.

Sometimes, we are so focused on getting to the next step that it seeps the joy out of the current moment. I’m definitely guilty of this because I tend to be future-focused… always planning what’s next. Who really knows what’s next?

I trust my great grandma.  She was right. Life is far too short to be wishing it away.

Tomorrow will come and then I will live tomorrow as today. We only ever get to live in ‘todays’.

Measured Time

Measure your time in

Many laughs with kindred souls

Before you wave "Bye".

My great grandmother had already lived the majority of her life. She was giving the best advice she could give to someone, who most likely had far more days and wishes left ahead than she did. Advice can be the most wonderful gift to give…

The days go by so quickly…

Have a wonderful weekend, full of laughs with kindred souls.

I know I will.