Enjoy it While it Lasts by Naomi

Enjoy it While it Lasts by Naomi - April 2021 Scholarship Essay

If I could give myself from five years ago some advice, I would tell myself to hold onto everything, live in the moment, and enjoy it all while it lasts. Enjoy the family road trips that we take from Wisconsin to Los Angeles, even though they are long and quite terrible towards the end, they are worth every special memory that is experienced. Enjoy the simplicity of only having to worry about boys being mean to me because they liked me. Do not be concerned about messing up in band class, but just continue to do my best and play with passion. Relish every single opportunity to sleep in! I would implore myself to smile through the countless insults my brothers served up daily, because they grow up, go off to college, and all that is left is the deep feeling of melancholy from knowing that they have grown past this stage. If I could tell the younger, more naïve self that I was five years ago - I would tell her to enjoy the sweet little crushes she had on boys, because these simple relationships get much more complex down the line. I would tell myself to truly look in the mirror and appreciate each pimply, chubby, awkward stage because I am beautiful inside and out. Enjoy the simple moments of happiness that come from playing outside with friends, making a good play in baseball, or having a birthday filled with love and attention from the people I love most. I would remind myself to savor experiences when they are new and exciting so that these memories are a vibrant reminder of the world that I have walked through so far.
All of this advice, however, is a lesson. A lesson to heed my own advice now, so that in another five years, I will not have to admonish my future self over hesitation and limits. So my advice for myself, past, present, and future, is to take everything in, enjoy life, and live in the moment, instead of wishing the past some advice, or worrying about the future. I will live my future life out loud, with abandon, in vivid color with no regrets.