“It takes a very long time to become young.” – Pablo Picasso

It’s kind of funny —I am an eighteen year old boy who should be basking in what’s left of my youth, but I feel like I am a middle aged man with nothing but repetition left in life.

Wake up. Go to school. Go to work. Do homework. Eat. Shower. Sleep. Repeat.

I mean people have warned me that life out of high school sucked, but no one could have really prepared me for this. While my peers are out of state at some fancy University, having the time of their lives partying, drinking, and networking with a variety of people.. I am here, stuck on this rock, going to a community college, and living paycheck to paycheck.

I was told that doing great things in high school would amount to great things out of high school, but that was just a way of getting me to go to class. I’ve done sports, I was a vital role in the school’s yearbook, I was enrolled in advanced placement classes, I participated in numerous clubs (service/leisure), I have held leadership positions in those clubs, always went out of my way to volunteer, and I even represented the state in a national competition and placed 3rd overall.

All these things may have been a great experience for me, but it just sucks knowing that it all amounted to this. Here I am. Stuck.

Although my life isn’t the greatest at this moment, I like to look at it knowing that it could be worse. I mean there is always someone out there in the world that has it worse, just as there is always someone in the world who has it better. This sort of gives me a modest way of looking at life: I am not walking around with my nose up in the air nor am I moping around hoping everyone takes pity on me.

As for the quote above, I don’t really know what Picasso meant by it. I’m guessing that it takes a very long time until you actually get to understand the meaning of all of this crap. And that it takes a very long time for you to actually enjoy life because we have to work for it.. That you know, we will have the opportunity to be ‘youthful’ when are have finally made a name for ourselves. When we stop trying to please everyone and start doing things just for the hell of it.

While typing this, I’ve realized how dull my life has become and that’s just no bueno. So although life has been stressful let’s try to remember the fun in life –and let’s not get all caught up in this shit. I think with a balance of work and fun, time will be that much bearable.