Where Did the Time Go?

Have you ever found yourself freaking out into a mini existential crisis when a long-buried memory emerges into your brain, or when you come across an old photo on Facebook—either of yourself or someone you know? Recently, I experienced this when I saw a picture of a little boy I used to babysit. His mother had posted the photo saying that he was about to start first grade. I remember him as a baby, and the realization that he was now a first-grader completely threw me off. My brain stumbled over the fact that I was 17 years old when I last babysat him, and that was seven years ago. Seven years feels both long and incredibly short.

Seven years. It almost feels surreal. High school, which feels like it happened just yesterday, was where I was seven years ago. Time has a strange way of compressing and expanding, leaving us disoriented. I just turned 24, still quite young, yet I cannot help but wonder where all the time went.

I find myself caught in this strange paradox. There are moments in life that we eagerly anticipate, like graduating, starting a new chapter in our lives, or moving to a new place. We focus so much on the future, on these milestones, that we forget to live in the present. We become so consumed with the “next big thing” that we fail to appreciate the now. Then, before we know it, we are looking back, living in the past, and wondering why we did not cherish the moments we had.

I have often wondered why I did not enjoy high school or college more. All I wanted was to get out, to move on to the next phase of life. I was impatient, always looking forward to the next chapter. And now, I find myself asking why I was in such a hurry. Why did I not take the time to enjoy those years, to live in the present instead of constantly chasing the future?

Regret has a way of creeping in when we least expect it. We look back and realize that every time period seems better than the one we are living in now. But the truth is, the past is gone, and there is nothing we can do to get it back. The future will arrive when it is ready, whether we are prepared or not. All we truly have is the present—the here and now.

This realization has become my mantra: live in the moment. The present is fleeting, just as the past once was, and the future will be someday. By focusing too much on what is ahead or what is behind, we miss out on the richness of the moment we are in. So, I am trying to savor the present, to appreciate the here and now, because it is all we really have. The past is a memory, the future is a dream, but the present is a gift—one that I do not want to waste anymore.