Diaries of a Twenty-Something: Being Present

The best advice I’ve heard is to be the age that you are today. You’ll never be at this stage again and if you’re not careful, you might lose the magic that exists in the present moment. Today is today for a reason.

Of course, it’s only human to let the mind wander — to think about who we’ll soon be. But without being the age that we are today, without embracing life as fully as we can, the following decades may never live up to our dreams. We’ll remain in a state of waiting for the next, never feeling satisfied.

Aging is a particular recipe in that way. It differs from person to person but it’s delicate all the same. It requires patience, care, and time. Let yourself rise. Let yourself sit. Let yourself stir around. Let yourself sprinkle in something sweet. You don’t want to risk losing the essence of what you’re becoming. Don’t miss a small ingredient that could change your outcome entirely.

My new goal is to age gracefully like a dancer, someone who is aware of themselves and the space around them. A person who floats from one moment to the next with an elegant and purposeful motion. Someone who feels deeply and moves through emotions with courage. Before the curtains close, I plan to embrace every minute of the beauty that it is to become me.