The Good Old Days

During winter break we often take the time to go back to our hometowns to relax and see old friends. Well of course like any other college student, I took this time to binge watch a TV series on Netflix. I started watching The Office in the beginning of the summer, but I just now finished it up. I really connected with the show in a lot of ways, but the greatest was something that has been on my mind for the past few weeks especially.

Now without giving too much away, the series finale takes place one year after the main storyline and acts as a "where are they now?" to the characters of the series. Andy Bernard, one of the main characters during the last few seasons, has moved on from Dunder Mifflin. While talking about his new life he gives this response,

"I spent so much of my time here at Dunder Mifflin thinking about my old pals, my college acapella group. Weird thing is now I'm exactly where I want to be, I got my dream job at Cornell, and I'm still just thinking about my old pals. Only now they're the ones I made here. I wish there was a good way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them."

When I came back to Sibley East for a few events over winter break, I took the time to walk around and catch up with some old friends and teachers. While I sat at a wrestling I asked myself for one split second, "What if I had not gone PSEO?" This began my first hope of reminiscence during break, which was added to as I took another trip to McDonald's at two in the morning with one of my greatest friends.

Looking over the past few months in my life I started to notice that I had done this beyond these past few weeks. As Kevin puts it, "Honestly, where does it end with you people?" How far was I willing to let myself idolize the memories and events I had experienced? How far was I willing to take away from the power and potential that the present holds?

I myself know that one of my greatest faults is looking too far in either direction. I can build up my future all I want, but the present decides whether or not I make it to that future. I can idolize the past but no matter how much I think about it I cannot transcribe that into the present events that are going on around me. We are given this most powerful ability to dream up anything we want, but most often it is our greatest downfall.

Coming back to winter break, while looking at those shelters of memories all I could not help but reflect back on how my life was in comparison to how it is now. However, this is where I faulted myself. Looking back feels great but we are not meant to live in the past, we are meant to keep moving forward. I can without a doubt look back and pinpoint the greatest year of my life so far in my journey, but what good does that do me?

No matter how much I look back I cannot go back there and I am only losing out on what is going on around me now. College is meant to be the true good old days but I kept living in the past and I truly feel I have missed out on some opportunities while I have been here at the University of Minnesota. However, I still have two and a half years to make a difference unlike Andy's situation in The Office.

As Andy puts it, "I wish there was a good way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them." We have to consciously make the decision each and every day to not look too far in either direction, but to focus on the events going on right here and right now. Know the power that you hold each and every day as you make it all worthwhile. This is something I will actively do as I begin this upcoming semester, and as I finish my college career.

Now if you know anything about me, one of my greatest weaknesses is the nature of looking too far in either direction. However, to me it is worth the struggles to overcome the reality that I have put myself in the past few months. I do not want to end up looking back at my college career, or my future job, or the path life brings on me and idolizing the "good old days" while life continues to move forward.

Throughout my journey I have found that if a quote or phrase is a cliche, it is most likely true. I have always blown off a cliche, much like we all do. But I kept finding time and time again that as I progressed in life I found a reality behind those phrases, which stressed their importance. We look at those phrases with annoyance until we learn the true meaning behind them. So here I will give you another phrase that applies to this situation: grow with each day.

As Dwight puts it, "Before I do anything I ask myself 'Would an idiot do that?' and if the answer is yes, I do not do that thing." So ask yourself, would an idiot let their life drift away in front of them while they do nothing to enjoy it to its fullest? My answer is yes because I do not want to miss the true good old days that I am living in each and every day. From here on out I will actively work to make each and every day worthy of holding the title. I hope that you yourself seek to make each day worth of the title and together we can create the greatest of times.