This past year, I have found myself continually referring back to a quote from Dr. Suess that I heard a long time ago: “Don’t be sad that it’s over, be happy that it happened.”
This can be interpreted in various ways – ranging from the meaning of how life moves on, to being grateful for what you have – but I believe the message is clear: Don’t live in the past.
Heading into my senior year in high school, I envisioned everything would be the same and cliché. But my view was the foil of reality. Not only did the prospect of college hit me like a barreling train, but also it seemed impossible to miss the thundering roar of the election.
For me, college is just a step away, and as graduation approaches, it is easy to fall into a neverending tide of doubt and questioning. High school has been amazing, but there is nothing I can do about what is or has happened, only what can be. So I continue to put one foot in front of the other, happy and content with the choices I have made, the path I carved, excited for what is in store for the future. Thus, there’s no need to revel in the past, but instead I strive to create that ideal, dream-like future.
Now, I may still be a young, naive high school senior, but maybe that’s a good thing. I do not have any grudges to consume my life, nor do I have any reason to expect anything less than perfection.
In November, just as college essays and applications were due, America was caught up in a vicious election.
No matter which side you supported, there were rallies and allegations filling the streets and spilling into the surrounding households. When the election results shocked a majority of the country, many people were shattered, unwilling to accept the truth.
Yet, no matter how much profanity and yelling rolls out of the mouth, nothing about the election will change. There is only what has yet to happen, and if the cards are played right, 2017 will be better than the past years. Life moves forward, even if one chooses not to, so what good is living in the past? Be grateful for what materialized and then look toward the future.
Yes, 2016 turned out to be quite the fiasco for some, and a chance to breathe free for others. It does not matter who won: America will survive. The only question left revolves around the choices made with the time given to us.
Will you be stuck in the past, playing out those perfect nights, feeling as if they left you behind? Or will you enjoy what happened and then go and try to make a difference somewhere, some way in the future?
People make choices that define who we are every day, some good, some bad. That’s how life works. But don’t get caught up in grievance for the past, but rather enjoy the positives and strive to make the future you want a reality.
Lucas Robbins is a head sports editor for El Diablo, the Durango High School student newspaper. His parents are Jeff and Denise Robbins of Durango.
