Whenever I turn on the television set or pick up the newspaper and read the front page headline, I am confronted with tragedy; the headlines stare back at me bold and black, telling of another victim involved in one more heinous and brutal crime.
The news never ceases to amaze me with the barbaric acts of violence that occur on a daily basis. I know I'm not the only one who is disgusted by the downward mobility in morality that's taking place in this world today.
There is, however, one blessing in all of this - I am constantly reminded of how fragile life truly is. As someone once said, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. And that is why it is called the present." Perhaps it sounds lame, but in the end, it's the truth. Every day that we are given is a gift and should not be squandered but lived to its fullest.
We believe there will always be a tomorrow. The truth is hard to face, because the truth is tomorrow may never come. Life is but a series of moments, and not one of us knows which moment will be our last. All we can be sure of is this moment right here, but now... even that moment is gone.
If you are anything like me, you try to hold onto those moments, but like water in the palm of your hand, they manage to slip right through. Isn't it strange how as we live through our moments, they can seemingly take forever, but as we look back on them, 10 years ago can feel like just the other day?
All of this is to say that instead of wasting time as we all do, we should make the best of every moment. Too many people waste their time arguing about matters that really don't mean anything, and time is too precious to waste it arguing over petty differences.
With Spring Semester halfway over, it is time to "carpe diem," which, as most of us know, means seize the day. If your grades aren't up to par then it is time to buckle down and study harder. This is true for everybody, but even more so for freshmen. With three more years left in their college career, it is easy to say "I'll do better next time." They tell themselves there's always more time to get their grade point average up to where they wish it to be. Believe me I know, because that's exactly how I felt when I was a freshman.
Nevertheless, this line of thinking is a trap that only leads to failure. There is not a moment once a student is on campus when they shouldn't be doing their absolute best. This is not to say that there isn't time for fun, but it should never be the primary goal, not when the future is looming over the horizon and the idea of entering the real world can be rather overwhelming.
There is much to be done in this world today. Most of us think there will always be time later to get it all finished, but what if there isn't? My English professor put it best a couple of weeks ago when he said, "Everybody gambles. After all, just waking up is a gamble."
Write to Joshua at jsfaris@bsu.edu
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