Was there ever a better time in our lives? As kids, everything in the world was perfect. I used to wake up on a weekend to watch the early morning cartoons, have a bowl of cereal, and then I’d play all day long. It was such a simple life, but it made sense and it worked. I was doing exactly what I wanted to do. During the summers, I’d do that same thing every day as my routine. I never complained that I was bored or didn’t have anything to do, because there were always toys to play with, new games to make up, and friends to hang out with because their routines were the same as mine.

As I grew older, things changed a little bit as video games and sports became the important things, but there was always time for these things. Instead of waking up for cartoons, I’d get up to watch Sports Center, and then switch over to a few cartoons before meeting up with my buddies for video games or playing some basketball. As high school came into the picture, I played basketball more and more, and woke up some mornings to mow lawns before it got too hot outside to work. For some reason though, it was never too hot to play basketball. In the summers you could find me down at the courts by the time of day. I would play at noon each day for a few hours, go home to rest up and get some dinner, and then I’d be right back hoopin’ at 7:00 again until the lights went out. It was perfect!

Then we have to keep growing up, and mess up our routines. I graduated from college and now I work Monday through Friday at 8:00 in the morning. I have to worry about paying my bills, making payments on student loans, grocery shopping, laundry, and everything else that I always saw my parents doing, but never had to care about. I never had a responsibility to do those types of things, but now they are my life. After college, reality hits hard and it takes awhile to grasp the whole picture. This is why I bought an XBOX, because that little kid is still a very big part of me. I don’t watch cartoons anymore, but movies have replaced my cartoons as an escape from the real world. I have to run 4-5 days a week now or else I start to feel like a piece of shit!

I recently read an e-mail forward about a “quarter-life crisis” and it all made sense. This period right after college is a time of growth. You realize who you are and who you’ve been. You become busy with work and other responsibilities, but seem to have a lot of extra time to think about things like this. Reminiscing of the old days is an everyday occurrence because life was so much simpler as a kid, in high school, and even in college. You find new things to keep you busy, things that interest you, but never had the time or patience to do in college. I’ve realized the importance of doing what I want to, because until now, there wasn’t a time in my life when I didn’t do the things I wanted to. Just because I work 5 days a week doesn’t mean I should give up the things I love.

Life…it’s a series of experiences and changes. As a baby, you can’t walk or talk. We grow up, learn to walk and talk. At the end of life we are old and again, we can’t walk or talk.