Welcome Back Waves,
And here it is… the school year has begun. Yay!
Maybe it’s a first one, a next one or a last one. Regardless, it is a precious one.
“It will fly by,” “Don’t take a second for granted,” “Be present,” are all pieces of advice we have received for years — sometimes welcomed, sometimes white noise that goes in one ear and out the other. The idea that life is fast so we must take advantage of it, is not some brand new, profound discovery but it is the truth. It is way WAY too true.
This is my last year at Pepperdine and I have never been more terrified of anything. There is so much I will have to say goodbye to –– life I will have to relearn and rediscover. There is also an abundance of things to look towards. It is undoubtedly the most exciting time of my life. But in my 3 college years and 21 person-years, I have learned that presence really is everything.
To be present is to be alive. To be present is to think, and love, and breathe and most of all “slow down.” John Mark Comer in his book “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” explained in his book that the root cause of our inner chaos is hurry. What am I rushing to? Where do I have to be? What do I imagine is ahead that I will miss? We, as a generation, have forgotten how to rest and how to focus on the people who are sitting in front of us, rather than the ones on the digital devil in our back pocket. We are wishing our lives away, rushing ourselves into disaster.
Our souls are begging us to stop and take emotional inventory. I too am guilty of flooding my mind with technology and I live in constant pursuit of the next moment. What is the next task to accomplish, the next memory to be made? I have to have something to look forward to or work toward because on many levels I’m afflicted by the unknown. But, with increasing stress and a decreasing attention span my soul is aching for a modicum of peace.
This is the year to literally stop and smell the roses. Take every moment captive. Do one thing at a time. Do something for the first time. Do something for the last time. Make a memory. You will never be in this spot again, so snap some mental pictures and take your sweet time.
With care,
Ava Heinert
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Follow the Graphic on Twitter: @PeppGraphic
Contact Ava Heinert via email: ava.heinert@pepperdine.edu
