When was the last time you did something for the first time? As my 20th birthday approaches, I keep finding myself thinking about “firsts.” Every year of my life, I try to accomplish as many firsts as I can. This summer, my first internship has filled up my days.
This summer, I rode the Millennium Force — it only took me 10 years — and my first rent payment is due. At the same time, I also celebrate “lasts.” On the morning of my 20th birthday I know it will be the last birthday for a long time that I wake up without a massive hangover eating my head, the last time I spend a summer at home and the last time I ever let myself drive my car with the gas light on.
Thinking about these firsts and lasts made me wonder: Is there an age where firsts just stop happening? Do we ever run out of things we do for the first time? It worries me to approach an age when firsts start to end and lasts start to begin. I was inspired by this idea of firsts by the book “The Power of Now,” by Eckhart Tolle. I have not yet completed the book, but from what I have read the only way one can truly be happy is letting oneself live in the present moment.
When I say “present moment,” I do not mean to live for today, because many of us do that already. What I mean is to live for right this very moment.
It’s difficult to be truly unhappy in the present moment. Most of the time when we are unhappy, it’s because our minds are occupied with thinking of the past or fearfully worried for the future.
When our minds escape from the illusion of time and focus on the current moment, it’s easy to see how much of our precious time we are wasting by not focusing on the beautiful seconds of right now.
What does this have to do with firsts? In “The Power of Now,” Tolle says, “Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.”
I interpreted this as meaning one thing. Whenever I’ve done something for the first time, it’s always been because I was focusing on “the right now,” and not the future or the past. Obviously, you should use common knowledge and apply it to “the right now.”
Remember when you could’ve jumped off the high dive, but didn’t? That was probably because you were thinking about the future and what could have happened. Think of how many firsts people have missed out on because they have done that same thing in other situations.
When I look back, some of the best times of my life were when I was living in that specific moment and the ones I regret were when I was overanalyzing the future and the past.
My goal is not to motivate someone to do something uncomfortable for the sake of living in the moment. Yet, whenever I have been pushed to that level, the only thing I ever find myself regretting is saying “no” in the first place. Some of the best decisions are made when we stop overanalyzing and over planning and when we just say, “screw it” and go for it.
Obviously it’s easier said than done. Try never to let the world harden the spirit and turn you into the person who focuses on “the last times.” There will always be firsts, no matter how old and wrinkly we might get.
We should challenge ourselves to live in a manner that allows for firsts and to appreciate how far we’ve come in life, as well as to realize what we have learned with each and every one. The present is all we ever really have, so go and live accordingly.
Cristina Toscano is a State News guest columnist. Reach her at toscanoc@msu.edu.
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