(www.sass-pants.com) — It’s January 31, and Target is already stocking bathing suits. The accessories section is packed with brightly colored reversible canvas hobo bags perfect for a day at the beach or an afternoon in the park. There’s ne’er a winter article of clothing to be found save for a few left-behinds in the clearance section.
Did I miss something here? It’s been winter for barely a month, and already we’re into bathing suit season? This is even more baffling than seeing Valentine’s Day-oriented advertising the day after Christmas.
What ever happened to enjoying the moment? Why are we constantly being herded forward, to something other? This goes far beyond out-of-season clothing or inappropriately timed holiday advertising — though those are certainly a big part of the equation.
When I was in middle school, I looked at high school kids and thought they knew everything. The girls who babysat for my brothers and me were so put together, so smart, so confident, so worldly. They were cool. I felt like once I got to high school, I’d know who I was, what I was doing. Then I got there, and I realized I was still clueless and so was everyone else around me. If I could just make it to college, then it would all make sense — college girls know what’s what. Of course that was a bust, too.
And then I figured once I got out of school and was firmly ensconced in my twenties, things would fall into place. Quarterlife crisis, anyone? It’s finally occurred to me that there is nothing wrong with being where I am right now and kind of figuring stuff out as I go. But how much time did I waste just waiting for the next phase to start, focusing on THEN instead of NOW?
You know that saying, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans?” I think life is what happens while you’re waiting for life to start. Your life is happening right now. Making plans and dreaming about the future is wonderful and fun and exciting at times. But there can be too much of a good thing, and I think we’re there. We’re so focused on what will happen when we get a better job, when we have a new car, when we have time for such-and-such, when summer gets here, when next year comes, when the economy rebounds, that we overlook what is going on at the moment.
Not everything has to be about striving for more and forging ahead. There’s something to be said for contentedness. There’s something to be said for enjoying the cold on your face instead of cursing the thermometer while desperately clutching a bathing suit you can’t wear for months.
We’re in a constant state of urgency: gotta climb the ladder, gotta buy the house, gotta have the sweet ride, gotta buy the best gifts, must, must, must, go, go, go.
Whatever happened to just being?
Contents Copyright © 2009 Kristen King
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