It is no anomaly for a common conversation between people to include talk about how they wish their lives differed from their current states. To wish their high school careers would end for college, their college careers to end for real work, and then ironically to wish they could go back to college when they have reached the world of work. To wish that they could fast forward a week until they took a certain test or to fast forward until they lost feelings for someone they cared about but didn’t reciprocate those feelings. It’s far too often that people don’t appreciate their current situation and make the most of the day at hand, and it is because of this that the most important ethical quality to me is appreciation of the present and to make the most of every opportunity given.
In middle school I had very little fun and always wished I could just fast forward until I grew up. This continued through my first two years in high school until one night my best friend and I stayed up most of the night just remembering things that we had done in the past and how much we had enjoyed them. At this point it hit me that I wasn’t fully appreciating all the things I had been able to experience in life at the time that they happened. Instead I found that I was always looking into the future to what would happen weeks, months, or years down the road. I told myself that I would try to simply fully enjoy whatever opportunities were put in front of me for the present.
I thought that this would be a difficult transition that would take time but I found that it was a rather immediate change to my life. I found myself enjoying more activities and enjoying previous activities more than I had before. Many of my friends will tell me that most of their best memories are the result of nights that they enjoyed at the time (but weren’t immediately spectacular), that they increasingly appreciated the more they looked back at the memory. I can happily say that this is not the case for me. Whenever I plan on going out to do something fun, that night my primary focus regardless of what I have planned in the future. It’s because of this that I’m able to fully appreciate whatever event I am currently partaking in.
By no means am I trying to say that everything in life is going to be fun, there’s tasks that everyone has to do that they aren’t going to enjoy. But, by looking at things in an optimistic perspective and appreciating the fun things as they occur, one is capable of living a much fuller life. It is because of this mentality that I can truthfully say that I truly do relish every day of life that I am given and don’t want to miss a single day of it. If everyone could add a little bit more optimism into their lives and appreciate the opportunities currently given to them, the world would be a friendlier, more productive place than what it currently is.