One day, at the horse barn where I work, I looked over to see a horse craning his neck under the fence to eat the grass on the other side, despite the fact that he was in an extensive field full of perfectly good green grass. This particular incident is a perfect example of the phrase “the grass is always greener on the other side.”

I have found that people generally don’t appreciate their present; instead they long for more. They get stuck in the past or too focused on the future. High school seniors, of course, are notorious for their inability to appreciate the present, but thinking about it, everyone is guilty of this. At this point, it is probably important to mention that finding joy in where I am isn’t my strong suit either. I find myself reminiscing about the past or dreaming about the future rather than being in the present. 

So many adults say we shouldn’t take these years for granted, and even though I now better understand this sentiment, I still get rather annoyed when it’s said because most people still seem to long for the “greener grass.” They either wish they could relive the good old days when they were young, or they want to move forward to better ones. 

The point of all this: life is hard wherever you are at, and we should work at finding the joy in where we are right now. Not just because we’re in high school and these are supposedly some of the best years of our lives, but all throughout our lives. It goes fast, and, from what I have heard, it gets a whole lot faster. Enjoy what you can now, even if your life is far from perfect, because you can’t go back. I know there are parts of high school that really suck, but there are some good things too. Find the good things in life, and from now on, I’m also going to try and enjoy the grass on my side of the fence.